You Know When the Men are Gone by Siobhan Fallon
Review by McGuffyAnn M. (nightprose) 
This debut novel gives an honest glimpse into the possible lives and situations of military families. Author Siobhan Fallon knows, as she is a military wife. Her book, You Know When the Men Are Gone is based on her experiences living in Fort Hood, Texas, while her husband, an Army Major served two tours of duty in Iraq.
This book is a collection of stories involving the lives of those left behind, here at home, while their loved ones are gone off to war. We see what their spouses, families, do in their absence, including how, and with whom, they spend their time. We experience the seeming holding pattern they feel they are in.
Loneliness is the obvious common thread in these stories. We see how the women come together to keep each other busy, to pick up the slack left in time’s void. They help each other in keeping memories of spouses active with meetings, making group care packages, supporting the spouses gone to war, and each other left at home.
While this is a novel, it is based on the reality of the lives of our own military families. We see how those gone to war are affected and need our support, our care. Siobhan Fallon makes us think of those left here, among us. They are in need of our support and care.
I really liked this book. It was really interesting to get an idea of what it’s like being married to the military. The author’s husband is career military so she know’s what it’s like.