Half a Century Later: Memoir of War’s Woes and Wooing 

By Steven Libowitz   |   October 31, 2023

The veteran experience is also a jumping off point for The Hardest Year: A Love Story in Letters During the Vietnam War, a just-published memoir by author-poet Carole Wagener and her husband, William Wagener, that has been called a personal snapshot of the turbulent ‘60s as framed through the hearts of two souls divided by a war that would ultimately divide a nation. In 1969, newlywed William, on active duty in South Vietnam, began exchanging more than 300 handwritten letters with Carole while she was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a hotbed of anti-war protests. The collected intimate letters-turned-book serve to preserve both a vital piece of history and their own unique love story. The Wageners discuss the work and sign copies at Tecolote Book Shop on October 28.  

 

You might also be interested in...

Advertisement