When the Men Were Gone by Marjorie Herrera Lewis

Happy Thursday, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Marjorie Herrera Lewis's When the Men Were Gone.

It's 1944 and Brownwood, Texas, a town all about football, is without a high school coach. With so much bad news, including the fact that most of the town's men over 18 are off fighting the war, football provides a bit of good cheer everyone can use. 

Tylene Wilson has been a fan of the game as long as she can remember and knows just as much about it as any man in town. And so she volunteers to coach. But what should be a godsend gets a fair bit of opposition throughout Brownwood. In spite of it all, Tylene sticks to her guns and eventually finds that the team rallies around her. Overcoming massive odds, it turns out most of the town does as well. 

When the Men Were Gone isn't all about football. In fact, you don't even have to be a football fan to enjoy the book (I consider myself a fan of concessions and junk food but not football, for example). But it is a lot about football, admittedly.

And yet, what I found most fascinating about the book is that it's based on a true story. You can read about the real Tylene in the book itself - the author, a former sports writer who dealt with a lot of the same attitudes Tylene does in spite of the fact that over 40 years had passed, includes a piece on the inspiration behind the book and how she first heard about Tylene. And like Tylene, the author went on to coach as well!

When the Men Were Gone is a slim read, easy to dive into and finish in one sitting. It's perfect for anyone looking for an inspirational feel good story!

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Marjorie Herrera Lewis and her work you can visit her website here. You can also follow her on Twitter.

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble