Susan Meissner (Ariel Lawhon) Books in Order

Pairing Susan Meissner with Ariel Lawhon brings together two writers who both care deeply about the interior lives of women caught in historic upheaval. Meissner often writes about families weathering loss and change over decades, while Lawhon gravitates toward specific unsolved cases or overlooked figures and imagines the stories behind the headlines.

Their joint novel When We Had Wings grows out of that shared sensibility. Set in the Philippines just before and during World War II, it follows three nurses, Eleanor Lindstrom, Penny Franklin, and Lita Capel, who forge a fast friendship in prewar Manila, convinced they have found a paradise assignment far from the front lines.

As Japanese forces advance, paradise falls away. The women move from elegant dances and seaside picnics to crowded hospital wards, improvised surgeries, and the chaos of retreat, until they are swept up in surrender and become some of the first female prisoners of the war. Based on the real "Angels of Bataan," the story traces how they cling to routines, humor, and faith to survive.

Readers who know Meissner's solo novels will recognize the focus on quiet, telling details: a cherished letter, a small act of kindness between guards and prisoners, the way memory keeps pulling each woman back to the life she had before. Lawhon's influence shows in the tension that runs through the book, the sense that every choice in the camp could tip the balance between life and death.

Chapters rotate among the three protagonists, giving the narrative a braided structure that lets you see the same event through different eyes. One chapter might follow Lita as she weighs loyalty to her family against her duty to the ward, while the next shows Eleanor or Penny wrestling with the ethics of obeying orders when those orders conflict with their oath to do no harm.

This page gathers the work Meissner shares with Lawhon and offers helpful context for how it connects to their solo books. If you are drawn to stories of nurses, prisoner of war camps, and hard won hope, When We Had Wings is a strong crossover novel that showcases what happens when two accomplished historical storytellers tackle the same piece of history together.