You Know When the Men Are Gone

Siobhan Fallon's short story collection offers a glimpse into a world few civilians will ever experience: Fort Hood, TX. Fort Hood is a massive military post where sons/husbands/fathers pack their weapons, gear and hearts to leave for deployments of a year or more What is left behind are the sisters/wives/mothers with broken-hearts, feelings of helplessness and no choice but to move on. What is left behind are families that must learn to function without a integral piece of their puzzle.

Each of the Fallon's stories describes a different spouse or family coping with such a prolonged absence. While each story is different, somehow they are all the same. The wife and mother that has battled breast cancer only to face her biggest fight at home; the teenage bride with deep regrets; the young mother unsure of herself; the Serbian wife who speaks little English, but seeks huge freedoms and more. Each deals with the stress and loneliness of her loved one's deployment in her own way. Some seek isolation by choosing to live off base or completely cut the ties and move back home with the stability of family. Others embrace the camaraderie and support of other Army wives and seem to form replacement families for the time being.

This might be a work of fiction, but Fallon's work is remarkably real and written in such a voice that one feels as though he or she is walking that dusty roads of Ft. Hood, shopping in the aisles of the PX or sitting in on the weekly Family Readiness Group (FRG) meetings. Fallon's personal experience as a military wife allows her to write in such a way that each reader will be easily enthralled by her character's stories. Whether you've experienced the life of a family member with a deployed son/husband/father or you simply enjoy contemporary literature that tugs at your heart strings, You Know When the Men Are Gone is an excellent choice for a quick read of well written short stories.