“Anne Montgomery’s book, The Scent of Rain, was a page-turner. Filled with complexities of faith, religion, science and human nature, this book took me to remote Arizona and left me thirsty for both water, and the next page.” Anne Marie Amazon
Treehouse Publishing Group
2018 Independent Publisher Book Awards: Bronze Medal Winner for Fiction: West-Mountain Region
Contemporary Fiction/Young Adult Fiction
Rose Madsen dreams of becoming a science teacher and will do anything to keep from being married off to one of the men in her Fundamentalist Mormon (FLDS) community, including enduring her mother’s brutal beatings. Adan Reyes dreams of better days with his mother when he escapes the foster care system in Phoenix. When their fates become intertwined, Rose and Adan escape into the mountains, only to be hunted like animals. After they are discovered, they must decide if everyone they meet is determined to keep them locked in lives of abuse, or if some adults are worthy of their trust.
“A deftly crafted and compelling read from cover to cover.” – Midwest Book Review
“Essential reading for both young adults and adults alike. There is literally nothing else I can say, except buy this book.” – Childishly Passionate Reviews
“A heartrending, heart-wrenching fictional narrative … Even in the midst of tribulations, The Scent of Rain celebrates the resilience and persistence of the human spirit.” – The Haunted Reading Room
“The characters in ‘The Scent of Rain’ added to an already amazing storyline.” – YABOOKSCENTRAL
“I loved ‘The Scent of Rain’. It is very apparent that Montgomery did extensive amounts of research … I absolutely think everyone should read it.” – The Book Return
“Whew. What a whirlwind. The story had been building and building and it all came to a tumbling end.”- Hasty Book List
“Anne Montgomery’s book, The Scent of Rain, was a page-turner. Filled with complexities of faith, religion, science and human nature, this book took me to remote Arizona and left me thirsty for both water, and the next page.” Annie Marie Amazon
Was Bud Richardville’s wife an Allotment Annie? It’s quite possible that she was.
During World War II, American servicemen were confronted by many dangers on foreign soil, but they were also at the mercy of some homegrown risks: women who spent their time enticing men to marry them. These women seduced young servicemen—many of whom were naïve and away from home for the first time—into whirlwind marriages, just as they were about to ship out.
It would be discovered later that some of these women, who would be dubbed Allotment Annies, were married to multiple servicemen at the same time. Elvira Taylor is one of the few women to be prosecuted for what was essentially polygamy, after she was found to be married to six sailors at the same time. Taylor might have gotten away with her crime had two of those men not reportedly met in an Australian pub. There they did what men in love do. They took out photos of their wives, and were shocked to discover that they were married to the same woman.
But why would women marry multiple men during a war? The answer is simple: money! Wives of servicemen were issued a weekly allotment of $20, which doesn’t sound like much today, but back in 1945 was equivalent to almost $340. Multiply that by four and Elvira was pulling in $1360 a month. When you consider that the median income in the U.S. at that time was just $1,400 annually, you can see why women were tempted to game the system. On top of the weekly stipend, wives were entitled to a one-time death benefit of $10,000, which works out to about $170,000 today.
I’m now patting myself on the back for doing a little math—not my best subject—but the numbers are important in regard to Allotment Annies, women I will now defend, if only a little. High-paying job opportunities were practically nonexistent for women at that time. Though they toiled in factories and in other sectors for the war effort, I’m sure many realized that when the boys came home, their time in the workforce would end. They’d had a taste of earning and managing their own money, and no doubt many chaffed at going back to being dependent on men for an income.
We will never know just how many women married servicemen for the paychecks and death benefits, but the issue was well-known to the military which produced videos warning men about the practice. Even Hollywood got into the act with the 1945 film noir release of Allotment Wives, a story about an Army investigator who tries to stop a woman from preying on unsuspecting soldiers.
I mention Allotment Annies because over the course of my research for my World War II historical novel Your Forgotten Sons, I became convinced that I’d found one. The book, inspired by a true story, traces the path of Sergeant Bud Richardville who was inducted into the Army in 1943 as the United States prepared for the invasion of Europe. He met a woman named Lorraine—at least that’s what she told him—and they were quickly married before he deployed.
The marriage would cause Bud great pain and confusion, and it wouldn’t be until years later, long after both Bud and Lorraine were dead, that questions about the union were broached. Had Bud married an Allotment Annie? And why is it that records indicated there was never a marriage, even though Lorraine received and cashed his allotment checks? Bud writes about his “wife” constantly in his letters. Clearly he believed he was married to Lorraine, but so apparently were two other men. Whether these marriages overlapped is unclear, but in those days divorce was practically unheard of, so multiple marriages would certainly have been looked upon with suspicion.
One wonders about the mindset of the women who duped unsuspecting servicemen into marriage as they headed off to war. Were they desperate, greedy, or just cruel? It’s unlikely we will ever know.
Your Forgotten Sons
Inspired by a true story
Anne Montgomery
Bud Richardville is inducted into the Army as the United States prepares for the invasion of Europe in 1943. A chance comment has Bud assigned to a Graves Registration Company, where his unit is tasked with locating, identifying, and burying the dead. Bud ships out, leaving behind his new wife, Lorraine, a mysterious woman who has stolen his heart but whose secretive nature and shadowy past leave many unanswered questions. When Bud and his men hit the beach at Normandy, they are immediately thrust into the horrors of what working in a graves unit entails. Bud is beaten down by the gruesome demands of his job and losses in his personal life, but then he meets Eva, an optimistic soul who despite the war can see a positive future. Will Eva’s love be enough to save him?
Author Anne Montgomery 