As a little girl, Laurel witnessed her mother kill a man in cold blood. The event was quickly covered up, and from that day the child kept her mother'...moreAs a little girl, Laurel witnessed her mother kill a man in cold blood. The event was quickly covered up, and from that day the child kept her mother's secret. But Laurel, knew from that moment her mother Dorothy had a mysterious past. Switch to the present, where Dorothy lay dying in a hospital. She begins to mention names from her youth, from World War II London, a past that is unknown to her daughters. Laurel is reminded of that long ago day when she witnessed the murder and this time, she is determined to find out the truth.
Oh, how I enjoyed this book! It was quite the page turner, with a lot of mystery and a little history thrown in. Totally terrific! Many thanks to Atria Books for the advanced review copy. 3 1/2 stars.(less)
I thought I’d squeeze in some Christian fiction to get my mind (and heart) focused on the right place as we kick off the Advent season. Set on the U.S...moreI thought I’d squeeze in some Christian fiction to get my mind (and heart) focused on the right place as we kick off the Advent season. Set on the U.S. homefront during World War II, While We’re Far Apart is a touching story of family separation. A father is serving overseas and kept apart from his two children. A son is trapped in Hungary studying at the Yeshiva, while his father desperately searches for information about him and fears for his safety. And both of these families grieve the loss of wives and mothers taken from them by means of a tragic automobile accident.
As the book progresses Austin addresses the issues of anger at God, forgiveness and trust that even in despair, God can bring goodness. Austin’s novels are easy to read, but always with a great story and an even greater message. A perfect book for the holidays.(less)
“They have decided that each of them will take home one thing from Leeway for the winter, for comfort. They are going through the house somberly, sa...more “They have decided that each of them will take home one thing from Leeway for the winter, for comfort. They are going through the house somberly, saying their goodbyes in their different ways, each looking for one object that will keep the dead alive and close a little longer.”
It is interesting that I read this book right after reading The End of the Point. Both books center around oceanfront cottages and the families that inhabit them, but the books couldn’t be more different. Leeway Cottage is a more traditional family saga. The house by the sea setting is less integral to the story here, but it provides the foundation or backdrop for the story.
Gutcheon is a wonderful storyteller, from the family history of the owners of the Elms and Leeway Cottage, to the children with their dreams and how their families affect them. There’s really two stories here, that intertwine as families are joined. Sydney Brandt rebels against her mother and moves to New York City, determined to be independent and follow a career in music. There she meets Laurus Moss, famed pianist and Danish ex-pat. They fall in love and marry, but World War II casts a dark shadow over their marriage as Moss’s Jewish family is threatened when the Germans occupy Denmark. Story one is the struggle between Sydney and her mother and her desire to become her own woman. Story two is the struggle of Moss’s family (and Denmark) to achieve independence from Nazi tyranny. In the midst of both are the ties that bind Sydney and Laurus to their families and their homes.
I loved the history and Gutcheon’s excellent story-telling. This was a wonderful novel.(less)
The setting is WWII Greece – the island of Cephalonia to be exact – and the Italians are an occupying force. The story evolves as the young Captain An...moreThe setting is WWII Greece – the island of Cephalonia to be exact – and the Italians are an occupying force. The story evolves as the young Captain Antonio Corelli falls in love with the daughter of the local doctor. At first resistant, Pelagia eventually succumbs to Correli’s charms, and they make plans to marry when the war is over. The tale that follows is a narrative of the war and it’s effects on the people of Cephalonia and the young couple.
I enjoyed De Berniere’s novel Birds Without Wings, so I was really looking forward to reading Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Unfortunately, this book just didn’t move me the way that previous novel had. I really struggled through the first half. I couldn’t get attached to the characters, and the prose just kept me more distant from them. The story is good, the prose is wonderful, but somehow, for me, the author failed to connect them (and me, the audience), in a meaningful way. In fact, I didn’t really enjoy the story until the latter half of the book, and then De Bernieres really let me down. I hated the ending. It was beyond sad and utterly disappointing. I wish I could rate this novel higher, but it just wasn’t for me.(less)
“For all my life – like Father’s trusty tin cup – the Japanese had been here; their presence was as natural as the sound of faraway streams. Faraway...more “For all my life – like Father’s trusty tin cup – the Japanese had been here; their presence was as natural as the sound of faraway streams. Faraway streams because while the Japanese lived on our land, they did not live in our world.”
Based on the real-life experiences of their parents, Frances and Ginger Park are sisters who create a beautiful novel of faith and resilience during the Japanese occupation of Korea during World War II. The hero, Sei-Young, grows up in the south, while the heroine, Heisook, lives with her family in the north. The authors alternate each character’s story, chapter by chapter, as they struggle under Japanese oppression, celebrate the triumph of the allies and the end of World War II, and find themselves on opposite sides of an imaginary line that will divide their country.
Simply written, To Swim Across the World is a terrific look into the historical events that shaped the world as we know it today. There are also some excellent themes including forgiveness, humanity, loss, resilience and faith. I’m going to recommend this to our school librarian as an excellent choice for middle and high school students. 3 1/2 stars.(less)
In Pam Jenoff’s latest novel, we travel to Germany, Austria & Poland along with a couple of lawyers in search of the truth to a WWII mystery. The...moreIn Pam Jenoff’s latest novel, we travel to Germany, Austria & Poland along with a couple of lawyers in search of the truth to a WWII mystery. The main character and defendant in the case is Roger Dykmans, brother of a war hero. In this case, Dykmans is accused of Nazi war crimes, but things aren’t always what they seem.
I have to say I really enjoyed this book. I’m not usually a mystery lover, but the subject matter and Jenoff’s excellent plot had me riveted from the first few pages. It’s no surprise that the author is an attorney – her knowledge really comes through the book, but not in an overbearing manner. As a reader, I can appreciate her thoroughness. I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher and look forward to reading more of Jenoff’s books in the future! 3 1/2 stars!(less)
"Ushijima knew that the American commanders would be agonizing over their lack of progress, that surely no American general had the stomach for such...more "Ushijima knew that the American commanders would be agonizing over their lack of progress, that surely no American general had the stomach for such a high casualty rate. Unlike the Japanese, who fed their people only what the Imperial High Command chose to reveal, he knew that the American newspapers were sure to announce openly the kinds of losses their soldiers were suffering. It is astounding, he thought, that they believe such openness is a positive thing. War is not about truth. it is about morale and spirit and what officers can drive their men to do."
In the closing novel of Jeff Shaara's World War II series, we are at the final stages of the war against Japan. The string that connects these novels (apart from the war itself), is Private Clay Adams, brother to Jesse Adams whom we had become familiar with in Shaara's previous books.
It appears that the theme of this work is the moral dilemma presented by the use of the atomic bomb. Shaara sets up the argument by showing throughout the first two parts of the book how the Japanese culture differs from our own. The military can be brutal and cruel and so can the U.S. forces. However, the Japanese people cannot give up without dishonor, and that is so embedded in their history and their being, that the American commanders quickly realize that victory will only come with enormous loss of human life. As U.S. troops prepare for a massive invasion of Japan, President Truman approves the bombing of Hiroshima. The devastation wreaked on the city stunned the Japanese. They tried political means to avoid the terms of the Potsdam treaty by asking the Soviets to intercede. 9 days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. It was over and the Japanese knew they had no alternative but to accept defeat.
Shaara is a master at portraying his country at war. It is well researched, thoughtful and very entertaining. My only disappointment was that this book is not enough to close out Jeff Shaara's series on World War II. This was just a small snapshot of a short period of time. As the author himself said, the United States basically fought two wars - one in Europe and one in the Pacific. There's much more to tell of the latter and I sincerely hope Jeff Shaara does just that.(less)
"The boy was everything to her. Small and unruly, he had a nervy way about him like a wild creature caught in the open. All the dark hearts of the l...more "The boy was everything to her. Small and unruly, he had a nervy way about him like a wild creature caught in the open. All the dark hearts of the lost, the found, and the never forgotten lived in his child's body, in his quick eyes. She loved him with the same unforgiving force that pushes forests from the deep ground, but still she feared it was not enough to keep him."
In her debut novel, Amanda Hodgkinson presents us with a family reunited following six years of separation. The year is 1946 and the family is Polish, having lived through unimaginable circumstances that only a war can bring. After living through the unthinkable, how does a family return to a "normal" life? That is the theme of 22 Britannia Road.
This is a beautiful and haunting novel. I can't say enough good things about it! The story is absolutely engrossing and Hodgkinson's eloquent prose is the icing on the cake. This is a novel that deserves to be discussed - its themes of safety, love and redemption are threaded throughout. Definitely one of my favorites this year! (less)
The year is 1940, the place is a small British island in the English Channel. At the outset of the novel, the heroine Vivienne makes a fateful choice...moreThe year is 1940, the place is a small British island in the English Channel. At the outset of the novel, the heroine Vivienne makes a fateful choice to remain on the island of Guernsey with her two daughters. She knows the Germans are coming to occupy the island and she doesn’t know what to expect.
What follows is an excellent depiction of life during occupation and the struggles of daily life. As food grows scarce and neighbors grow more watchful, Vivienne develops a relationship with a German Captain living next door. How well do you really know someone? This is a theme that strings it way throughout this novel. The mother in Vivienne wants desperately to protect her family, but she must also provide for them. The woman in her wants to be taken care of. Vivienne must choose between love and loyalty.
Eventually the question of humanity becomes front and center. Would you risk your life for a stranger? The Soldier’s Wife is an engaging and thought-provoking novel. Margaret Leroy lacks the lovely prose of other authors, but she does tell a good story. It’s an ideal summer novel! Available in bookstores July 2011.(less)
"I have always wondered what it would have been like for an outsider to have witnessed firsthand the gathering dark of Hitler's rule. How did the cit...more"I have always wondered what it would have been like for an outsider to have witnessed firsthand the gathering dark of Hitler's rule. How did the city look, what did one hear, see, and smell, and how did diplomats and other visitors interpret the events occurring around them?"
With his latest work of non-fiction, author Erik Larson takes us inside Berlin in the year 1933, to experience Hitler's rise to power from the point of view of two American protagonists. The first is William Dodd, a mild-mannered professor, who was practically President Roosevelt's last choice to serve as Ambassador to Hilter's Germany. The second is Dodd's 24 year-old daughter, Martha, who seeks to escape a dead marriage and experience an exciting city at the height of it's golden age.
The family settles into a mansion along the Tiergartenstrasse, an elegant district bordering a park lush with "trees and statuary." The literal meaning of the street is "Garden of Beasts", an apt name as the Dodds are soon to discover. As events unfold, Dodd, comically frugal and eager to extend American values in his new position, realizes the futility of his efforts, as the horrors of the Nazi regime become a reality he must live with. At the same time, the reader is called to sympathize with an Ambassador who is undermined and ridiculed by his own State Department.
As the Dodds hobnob with the Nazi elite, we find daughter Martha at first enamored with the new German state, and with several handsome men, with whom she has affairs. Her rose colored glasses gradually disappear as she witnesses the brutality and fear that continue to grow during that first year abroad.
Larson's journey into 193o's Berlin is exciting, gripping and full of intrigue. He gives an excellent overview of the politics affecting the decisions on both sides of the Atlantic. Not your stuffy history book, Erik Larson has you cheering for Dodd one moment and weeping for him (and the world) the next.
Thanks, Goodreads, for selecting me to receive an advance reader's edition of this book! To my fellow readers - In The Garden Of Beasts will be available to the public on May 10, 2011.(less)
“What would you think of a postmistress who chose not to deliver the mail?”
The above is one of the opening lines of Sarah Blake’s bestseller, The Po...more “What would you think of a postmistress who chose not to deliver the mail?”
The above is one of the opening lines of Sarah Blake’s bestseller, The Postmistress. As the author admits, she got the idea for the book when she was watching a lady postal worker delivering mail one day. There is so much important information that gets delivered through the mail, and sometimes that information is life changing. The responsibility that rests on the the deliverer’s shoulders can sometimes be overwhelming given certain circumstances.
In this case, the author chose to take on this theme with a World War II setting. The information is of course, the ultimate life-changer – death. While the postmistress cannot change the fact that someone has died, she can prevent herself from being the bearer of bad news and the person who is associated with the horrific change in someone’s circumstances.
The novel was not terribly in depth, but I did enjoy the tale that went along with the theme, as well as the back story about a female war correspondent. That said, the part that actually interested me the most was “the story behind the story” – the author’s own thoughts and the journey that went into writing this novel. The Postmistress is a perfect vacation read, suspenseful, with a little history thrown in.(less)
"They huddled in the chill, encased in hard steel, waiting, energized by rumors. Behind them, to the east, the black horizon was visible, silhouetted...more"They huddled in the chill, encased in hard steel, waiting, energized by rumors. Behind them, to the east, the black horizon was visible, silhouetted by the first glow of sunrise. The wireless radio was chattering, the voices of nervous officers far behind the line, the men in tents, who pored over maps, unsure, powerless to do anything about an enemy who might be anywhere at all."
Jeff Shaara, master of historical war fiction, continues to earn accolades with The Rising Tide. I have read Shaara's Civil War series (his father wrote the pulitzer prize winning The Killer Angels, and son Jeff finished the trilogy). This latest series on the events of World War II is every bit as good. Since Shaara likes to take a broad sweep at the larger events that contributed to the outcome of the war, I'm very impressed that he is able to put it in a very readable, edge of your seat kind of way.
Obviously, World War II is a huge subject. Shaara smartly focuses on the allied invasion of North Africa in this first book of the trilogy. Each chapter tells part of the story from the point of view of the major commanders - Rommel, Montgomery, Clark, Eisenhower and Patton; and also from two minor soldiers - Private Jack Logan and Sergeant Jesse Adams. This balance gives the reader a good sense of the strategies and improvisations that occurred, without losing the intimacy that connects a good story with its reader.
While reading the The Rising Tide, I watched the movie Patton (the first half lines up perfectly with this novel) and I also watched the first two episodes of The War. Revisiting the excellent Ken Burns documentary also helped to solidify in my mind the events that were happening in this book. I'm looking forward to reading the next two books in this trilogy and also to Jeff Shaara's upcoming book, The Final Storm, the fourth and final volume in this World War II series.(less)
“With longevity came even greater superstition, especially for the ground crew. There was a desperate awareness of the odds, of fate. Thirty-one suc...more “With longevity came even greater superstition, especially for the ground crew. There was a desperate awareness of the odds, of fate. Thirty-one successful missions was an unnerving statistic by now, rarer by the week. It the reason for all the rituals, the most religious among them believing that God must somehow be paying particular attention.”
The third novel in Jeff Shaara’s trilogy of World War II in the European theater is, in my opinion, the best of the three. The book begins with a bombing mission over Germany, and as a reader, I was right there with the bombardier, freezing cold and nerves on edge. From those first pages, there is no letting go. This is partly due to Shaara’s expertise in writing, but also partly due to the story of this part of the war itself. Following the story of the B-17 bomber crew, the reader is carried into the Ardennes, to be surrounded by German artillery in the middle of winter. I have heard this story many times, and yet I still learned something new.
I thought there was more emotion in this novel than in the previous, but of course the fighting was more intense and the brutality of the enemy more fierce. When the American forces enter Germany and liberate their first concentration camp, the horror stuck with me – despite the fact that I, as a reader, already knew what to expect.
It is impossible for an author to tell everything there is to tell about the war in Europe. But Jeff Shaara manages to get across the most important events. Not just facts and figures, but the human side as well. That’s why Shaara is one of my favorite authors. I look forward to reading his next novel dealing with World War II in the Pacific - it's available in bookstores now!(less)
"Dundee nodded, slowly, tried to see Henley's face, gone now, as though he never existed. The word came to him again, the word they all understood: e...more"Dundee nodded, slowly, tried to see Henley's face, gone now, as though he never existed. The word came to him again, the word they all understood: expendable. He put his hand on his waist, felt for the pouch, the rocks. He pulled the pouch around in front of him, unfastened the strap, held it up. Mission accomplished. Those bloody engineers had better make some use of this. We lost a good man...for a bag of rocks."
The second novel in Jeff Shaara's trilogy of World War II begins with a covert operation to survey the beaches of Normandy. It ends five months after the massive invasion that from land, looked like a Steel Wave coming in to shore. Continuing in the tradition of historical and storytelling excellence, Shaara relates the events of the beginning of the end of World War II.
As in his previous novel, The Steel Wave uses points of view from the generals on down to a sergeant. This gives the reader a good feel as to the strategy and the down-in-the trenches view of these battles of Northern France. One can appreciate Shaara's historical accuracy, as well as his gift of storytelling. If you're looking for good historical fiction, it doesn't get any better.(less)
As I finished reading this book today, I wiped the tears from my eyes, clutched the book to my chest, and wondered aloud why I had kept the novel on m...moreAs I finished reading this book today, I wiped the tears from my eyes, clutched the book to my chest, and wondered aloud why I had kept the novel on my shelf so long. You see, this wasn’t just a good novel, this was an amazing, wonderful, moving literary achievement. This book is going on my very short list of five star works of fiction, as well as my all time favorites.
So, what’s it about? I could tell you that it’s streamed in a triple narrative, with one person being an elderly Jewish man who managed to survive in Poland during World War II. The second point of view is a 14 year old girl who is trying to find a love interest for her mother. Lastly, we have the diary of the girl’s brother, Bird. All of these narratives come together as they, and we the readers, try to understand The History of Love.
And I really don’t wish to tell you more, because I would only spoil it for you. Just trust me when I say that this book is incredibly special, because novels like this just don’t come around that often.(less)
This is a work of historical fiction that takes place in a small town in Germany beginning in the year 1915, when the main character, Trudi Montag, is...moreThis is a work of historical fiction that takes place in a small town in Germany beginning in the year 1915, when the main character, Trudi Montag, is born. Trudi’s mother suffers from mental illness and she dies when the girl is four. Her loving father raises her to be an independent young woman. Trudi is a master story-teller and she is also a zwerg, or dwarf. As Trudi struggles with her own self-image, she is faced with a country marching towards a truly ugly image. As Hitler comes to power, Trudi’s neighbors begin to change. Some embrace the Nazi ideal, others go along out of fear, and a few like Trudi and her father quietly do the right thing. They refuse to join the party and they secretly hide Jews.
I have to admit, I almost gave up on this book. The first third of the book (and it is over 500 pages!), was extremely tedious. Hegi spends so much time describing in minute detail everything about this town. The buildings, the people, the landscape. Prose is wonderful, but it must be deliberate. I found her writing here to be information overload. When the Nazis come to power, the story really takes off. From that point on, I was engrossed in the story.
One of the things I really appreciated about this book was the German perspective of the war. As the war progresses Hegi does a marvelous job of illustrating even small challenges that the residents are faced with. And of course, when the fighting is over and the Americans come to Burgdorf, they are faced with fear as well as many conflicting emotions. Townspeople become indigant – “we suffered, too” was a mantra Hegi expressed in her characters. People were forced to take a good, hard look at themselves and their actions during the war. The reality of the atrocities came to light and the realization that their actions or inactions were a catalyst, was something each person had to face.
Throughout the novel, Trudi has a talent for seeing people as they really are, and for telling stories that reflect what people want to hear. When the war is over, they must all face themselves as they really are, and despite their faults and weaknesses, accept themselves so that they can move forward.(less)
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