В Квинси издана книга о любви пары, пережившей разлуку во время Второй мировой войны

A Quincy love story Published 10:23 am Thursday, August 13, 2026 QUINCY — Visitors to Enchanted Books on the 500 block on Maine Street may come across an attractive display featuring “The War, the Wait, & The Suitcase,” a self-published book, recounting the love story of a local couple, Richard and Kathleen Peters, during the tumult of World War II. The couple had children, and one of them, James Edward Peters, conceived of the idea of using 508 letters found after Kathleen’s 2008 death in an attic suitcase, recounting the early days of the couple’s relationship, when they were separated by the duties of war. The project stumbled when the son himself fell victim to pancreatic cancer in 2023, but another son, Thomas “Toby” J. Peters, carried it over the finish line. What was produced is a precious document—not only a monument to filial love—but also to a persevering young couple, and to the struggles of the Greatest Generation whose lives were put on hold while the nation faced the evils of Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and the militarism of the Japanese Imperial military. Richard and Kathleen were not on the front lines. Both of them faced little in the way of personal threats from the enemy nations, but the letters allow us to glimpse their gnawing insecurities, worries about their distance from one another, and lonely months and years, reading each letter from the other multiple times, searching for any hint or emotion hidden between the words. Most of the book is imagined from the character of Kathleen Peters, who grew up as an orphan at St. Aloysius Orphanage, located at 1934 Vine Street in Quincy. She spent the first twelve years of her life abused by a cruel nun and, though her life became easier thereafter, was still challenged by starting life from a tenuous social position. Richard entered the story in the early 1940s when the pair met on the Quincy playgrounds. Kathleen played basketball and Richard played baseball. They met, talked, and romantic feelings developed. But before it had gone too far, the nation was at war, and in October 1942, shortly after his 17th birthday, Richard enlisted in the US Navy. For the next three years, the relationship flowered mainly by the written word and the exchange of gifts. Even from that distance, there were ups and downs, as they decided to marry, but were delayed by Richard’s military duties, his mother’s reluctance to approve of the match, and the occasional misunderstanding about what the other’s true feeling might be, hidden behind the written words. In the end, it was a happy ending: the war ended with victory, the couple married, raised eight fine children with support and love, and became a prominent local family in Quincy. Some readers may question the book “The War, the Wait, & The Suitcase” in terms of its literary merits. The month-by-month account of World War II is intended to establish the setting in which the letters were written, but there is very little relationship between the battlefield progress of the war and what transpired between the young couple. Taking the perspective of Kathleen Peters was a solid narrative choice. Her voice lies at the emotional center of the work and remains its most effective element. Had this perspective been sustained across the entire book as an unbroken, unified narrative—save for the author’s introduction—it would have created a far more cohesive arc, allowing the broader historical reality to emerge naturally through what she felt, feared, and wrote. Be that as it may, The War, the Wait, & The Suitcase is a worthy read—one that highlights an era in the history of our nation, Quincy, and a family that deserves to be remembered. It serves as a poignant reminder of love and sacrifice, as well as the fragile reeds upon which our lives and futures are built.