Forty Women, (Paperback)

Forty Women puts together a group of American women who are on their way to a Women's Conference in Germany.

The plane is hijacked. Forty women from the second class section are taken off the plane and left behind.

They're locked in an abandoned military base by a rebel group of soldiers who are trying to come into power in a small country near Croatia.

The women bunch together in the dark realizing they are not the hostages, and therefore, are expendable.

Knowing this, they cooperate with Ellie, one of the two older women in the group, who convinces them that only by being as organized as soldiers will they survive.

They escape from the poorly-guarded base to try and reach an American Embassy.

It's the young African-American women who become leaders. Most of them had made the flight together and know of each other's strengths and courage. Whereas the young white women have the same attributes, are strangers, and not as aware of each other's abilities.

But it's the older women who find a way to keep everyone hidden while they travel through the strange countries.

They elude the army which is pursuing them by buying a farm tractor, which they learn to drive, and a large wooden trailer in which they manage to live.