When the Men Were Gone is the debut novel by Marjorie Herrera Lewis. First released in October 2018 by William Morrow, this historical fiction set in Texas and based on a true story examines one woman’s struggle to keep the boys of her town safe from the war. Tylene Wilson is a high school administrator and lover of football. She knows that if there’s no coach, the football season will be canceled. What will happen to the senior boys if there’s no football to keep them around?
Synopsis from Goodreads
It’s a man’s game, until now…
Football is the heartbeat of Brownwood, Texas. Every Friday night for as long as assistant principal Tylene Wilson can remember, the entire town has gathered in the stands, cheering their boys on. Each September brings with it the hope of a good season and a sense of unity and optimism.
Now, the war has changed everything. Most of the Brownwood men over 18 and under 45 are off fighting, and in a small town, the possibilities are limited. Could this mean a season without football? But no one counted on Tylene, who learned the game at her daddy’s knee. She knows more about it than most men, so she does the unthinkable, convincing the school to let her take on the job of coach.
Faced with extreme opposition—the press, the community, rival coaches, referees, and even the players themselves—Tylene remains resolute. And when her boys rally around her, she leads the team—and the town—to a Friday night and a subsequent season they will never forget.
Positives
The book is under 250 pages, making it an easy one to read between larger books.
The description Lewis gives of Brownwood makes it easy to picture the town. One could insert almost any small town into the book, as long as they are football crazy!
Negatives
There is one glaring historical inaccuracy in the book. Camp Bowie was a real training facility, as mentioned in the book. But the mention of the airplanes bringing back the town’s deceased soldiers from overseas is not accurate. During World War I and World War II, the policy was to leave the dead in massive cemeteries in Europe. The book mentions a few times that the planes flying overhead were returning the soldiers to their families. And for the most part, that was not what happened.
There are a few pacing issues in the book. As a short novel, there were times where it felt much longer. Yet, there were other times when I would have loved to spend more time with some of the characters.
My Opinions
When the Men Were Gone is a beautiful story about having the courage to stand up for what you believe is right. It’s a great combination of World War II historical fiction, small-town story, and football. And I love reading all of those.
As someone who loves football, I was excited to read a historical fiction book about a female pioneer in the sport. It was also interesting to read a different take on women stepping into men’s roles in the workplace. Usually, the stories you hear are of those women who worked in the factories or delivered the planes to the coasts to be sent overseas. You rarely find a story about women filling other voids, such as coaches.
Where it fell a bit flat for me was the historical inaccuracy of the bodies of the fallen being returned from overseas to their families. As someone with a military history buff in the house, it bothered me that this was used as a plot point. While I understand it helped Tylene’s argument for having a football season, it just did not sit well.
If you are like me and enjoy reading stories about sports or historical fiction that doesn’t focus solely on war, you should give this book a try.
Looking for some more books to read? Check out my other book reviews and my monthly reading wrap-ups.
I think I would enjoy this. We’re a football family, my son played in high school. I loved the show Friday Night Lights.