4th of July Salute to Military Women as Heroines

“I’m a Stuart Woods fan. So when I started your book I figured you borrowed your heroine from his Holly Barker series. You know they’re both ex-military.”

Awhile back, I was teaching a course in a lifelong learning program when one of my students made this comment. I was flabbergasted. Though it had been a few years since I’d read any novels in Woods’ Holly Barker series, the remark troubled me. Had I unconsciously incorporated aspects of Holly Barker’s persona in my heroine, Marley Clark?

I asked a few questions. To my great relief, I quickly discovered the student predicated her “borrowing” comment solely on the fact that both literary heroines were retired military and were now involved in some fashion with law enforcement.

While I shrugged off this student’s comparison, it continued to bug me. In fact, I revisited Holly Barker to see if I’d forgotten other background or experience parallels. Nope. Holly was an MP who retired when the officer she accused of sexual harassment and rape was found not guilty. Now in her late thirties, Holly worked as a Florida police chief. In contrast, my character is a military intelligence officer and one-time Polish linguist, who retired from the Army shortly after her husband died. At age 52, Marley works part-time as a security guard on an island community in the South Carolina Lowcountry.

So why would anyone suggest there might be something derivative here? Would that student have thought Lee Child had “borrowed” Jack Reacher from John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee series? Both of their characters are ex-military. In fact, it’s pretty tough to name a male detective in the mystery/thriller genre who hasn’t spent some time in a military uniform. Male ex-military ranks include Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch, and Ross Macdonald’s Lew Archer to name a few.  

Finally, I concluded that reading about women characters with military backgrounds was such an unusual occurrence for my student that this single commonality overshadowed the far more striking differences between the heroines. And that raised another interesting question: why are ex-military ladies such a rarity in popular fiction?

According to current statistics, the U.S. military counts more than 1.8 million women veterans. Today, 214,000 women account for more than 14 percent of all U.S. soldiers on activity duty.

While I didn’t serve in the military, Arlene, my best friend since kindergarten, did. Like my series heroine, Arlene is a retired military intelligence officer and a one-time Polish linguist. It’s no accident that Marley’s postings and career mirror Arlene’s. I’ve had the good fortune to meet many of Arlene’s Army friends. These ladies are smart, independent, witty, and, often, hold advanced college degrees. They are also physically fit, know how to use weapons, and understand tactics. In other words, they are IDEAL heroines for mysteries, thrillers and suspense novels.

Why don’t more female Army vets populate our novels? While I don’t have the statistics to back up my theory, I’m fairly certain that heroines in mystery/thriller/suspense genre heroines are far more likely to be cops (sans military background), lawyers, or medical examiners than veterans. Yet, women are minorities in these professions as well. Women account for 24 percent of the nation’s lawyers, 25 percent of our forensic pathologists, and an estimated 12 percent of all law enforcement jobs.

So what say you?

• What books have you read that feature ex-military or active-duty service women? Did you enjoy them?
• Is the time ripe for more women veterans to appear in our novels?
• Are literary heroines underrepresented (or overrepresented) in other professions?
• What career path would you most like to see a female sleuth follow in some future book?