In The War That Saved My Life, Ada is born with severe clubfoot. Ada’s Mam hid her in their one-room apartment for her entire life because Mam didn’t want people knowing her daughter was a cripple. She was abusive to Ada, both mentally and physically. She would slap her and tell her she is nothing, something to be ashamed of. Because of this Ada did not believe in herself or other at the start of the book. In Kimberly Brubaker Bradley’s The War That Saved My Life, Ada responds to these challenges by learning to trust herself and others.
At the beginning of the book, Ada believes her Mam’s abuse and thinks she is a nobody. One reason she thinks this is because other people have also made judgments about Ada that match what her Mam says to her.
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One reason Ada starts to think this way is that she makes friends. Her first friend was Stephan White. He helped Ada get to the train station by piggy-backing. He also invited her over for tea. Another one of Ada’s friends was Margret or Maggie. Maggie had fallen off a horse, so Ada had helped her get back to her house. There she met Grimes. Grimes taught Ada how to ride while Ada helped him do chores. Ms. Smith had gotten Ada crutches, so she could walk easier. Another reason is that Ada is learning a lot from being out of her “prison” the one-room flat. Ms. Smith teaches Ada how to sew, cook, and even how to read and write. “Eggs have a clear part, called the white” (Brubaker Bradley 195) and “The leaves changed color” (Brubaker Bradley 195) Ms. Smith helps guide Ada through all the things she doesn't know. Lastly, Ada is invited to tea by Stephan White and Colonel McPherson. She declined the offer multiple times because she thought Colonel McPherson would say something about her foot and be disgusted. Ada finally went to one of their tea parties and was surprised. They didn’t care that she had a clubfoot she even had a good time at the tea party. Ada realized these people didn’t care about her clubfoot and treated her as though she was