Love at War

by Lynelle Clark | Mar 2, 2021

The birth of Love at War has a long story which began back in 2012 as a short story. This short story has grown and to date has 106k words.

At that stage the story had a different name as well and was far from what it has become.

This story has grown with me and went through every stage I went through since that time. The principal character has grown from a furious woman moved by her physical desires to a woman of substance.

When we meet Sonia Main for the first time, she is a woman battered and abused. The streets a very dangerous place for any woman. When the opportunity comes to make something of herself, she takes it with both hands. And so she lands years later in South Sudan. This is where the story begins in all seriousness and we meet Curt McGee.

Colonel Curt McGee is stationed in Iraq and has his own demons to fight. Being far from home, he feels he is losing his family back at home. Once he receives very upsetting news from home, his world, as he knows it, changes.

Characters in the book

1. Interview with Sonia Main: Red Cross Nurse, based in South Sudan,
2. Curt McGee: Colonel in the USA military, stationed in Iraq,
3. Tau Gbadamosi: second-in-command of DFA, South Sudan,
4. Roger Gisemba: Leader of the DFA – Democratic Freedom Alliance. Better known as Haji – Father,
5. Jillian McGee: daughter of Curt McGee, student.

Supporting characters as they appear in the book.

1. Director of nursing Sally van der Walt: South Africa.
2. Director of nursing Haleema Nyanath: head of hospital in Bentiu, South Sudan,
3. Major Brady Scott: United Nations representative,
4. Sergeant Doug Clark,
5. Vivian McGee: wife of Curt McGee,
6. Chaplain Phillip Burger,
7. Neil Davies: entrepreneur and lover,
8. Harriet Davies: Neil Davies’ wife,
9. TJ Cummings charged with murder. An AWOL from camp.
10. Baaka Gisemba: Roger Gisemba’s wife.
11. Mark McGee: Curt’s son with his own secrets.
12. Markus and Janette Kent, Vivian McGee’s parents.
13. Lt Timothy Blackwell.

Stationed in Iraq:

1. Staff sergeant Doug Clark: aid to Colonel Curt McGee,
2. Phillip Burger, South African Chaplain Corps. Curt’s best friend,
3. Staff Sergeant Brock Castledale, US soldier,
4. Sam Gerber: Black ops expert,
5. Alexi Krasnorada: Black ops expert,
6. Major Franco Turmel: Acting commander in Curt’s absences,
8. Corporal Charlie Ellis.

Medics at base:

1. Nurse Anna Stalin, Poland,
2. Dr Brett Rogers: psychologist.
3. Dr Armand Jourdain,
4. Captain Bogart,
5. Alrich Estie from the Netherlands, Peter Blake from the United States, and Anna Stalin from Poland. Three Africans and one African American: Wayne Morris, Michelle West, Tumi Abara and Leonard Ndlovu, a young man from Swaziland. Two Indians, Amoli Khatri and Vasudha Balakrishnan from Delhi, one from Taiwan: Akemi Huang, one from Jamaica, Brantly Shaw and a Chinese woman, He Liu.
6. Lee Ann Buys: New nurse at camp and old friend of Sonia Main.

Four key areas:

1. Pretoria, South Africa,
2. Valetta, Malta,
3. Fangak County, South Sudan,
4. Iraq base camp,
5. San Diego, America.