Category Archives: Historical (40s)

January 8, 2020 · 11:57 pm

Review: How Quickly She Disappears by Raymond Fleischmann

Title: How Quickly She Disappears by Raymond Fleischmann
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Historical, Mystery
Length: 320 pages
Book Rating: D

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through First to Read

Summary:

The Dry meets The Silence of the Lambs in this intoxicating tale of literary suspense, set in the relentless Alaskan landscape, about madness and obsession, loneliness and grief, and the ferocious bonds of family….

My proposition is very simple: I am going to ask you for three gifts, and for each gift you deliver, I will take you one step closer to Jacqueline.

It’s been twenty years since Elisabeth’s twin sister, Jacqueline, disappeared without a trace. Now thirty-year-old Elisabeth is living far from home in a small Alaskan town. She’s in a loveless marriage and has a precocious young daughter she loves more than anything but who reminds her too much of her long-missing sister.

But then Alfred, a dangerous stranger with a plan of his own, arrives in town and commits an inexplicable act of violence. And he offers a startling revelation: He knows exactly what happened to Elisabeth’s sister, but he’ll reveal this truth only if she fulfills his three requests.

Increasingly isolated from her neighbors and imprisoned by the bitter cold and her own obsession, Elisabeth can almost hear her sister’s voice saying, Come and find me. And so she will, even if it means putting herself—and her family—in danger.

Review:

How Quickly She Disappears by Raymond Fleischmann is a historical mystery set in Alaska.

In 1941, thirty-one year old Elisabeth Pfautz, her husband John and their eleven year old daughter Margaret live in Tanacross. John works for the Office of Indian Affairs and his latest posting is teaching the Athabaskan children in the village. Elisabeth is also a teacher and she is homeschooling  Margaret. Elisabeth has never quite recovered from the loss of her twin sister Jacqueline who disappeared twenty years earlier at the age of eleven.

Past and present soon collide with the arrival of Alfred Seidel, a rather strange man who claims to have information about Jacqueline.  Following his arrest for murder, Alfred is jailed in Fairbanks. Elisabeth continues to be drawn into his orbit with his promises to tell her about Jacqueline but only if she follows his directives.  Will Elisabeth learn the truth about Jacqueline’s fate?

Elisabeth is in an unhappy marriage and she remains deeply troubled by Jacqueline’s disappearance. Despite her qualms about allowing Alfred to stay with her and Margaret while John is away, she feels like she has no but to offer him a bed.  She is drawn to him but she is equally repelled by his intensity and odd behavior. Elisabeth is determined to discover the truth about Jacqueline and she makes increasingly desperate and  questionable choices that could result in tragedy.

Interspersed with events in the present are dream-filled chapters about Elisabeth’s childhood. These sequences reveal the somewhat strained relationship between Elisabeth and Jacqueline. Elisabeth is a dutiful daughter but her sister is defiant and desperate to run away.  Jacqueline’s unsolved disappearance is a defining moment  in Elisabeth’s life that she can never move past.

How Quickly She Disappears is a rather atmospheric mystery with a setting that springs vividly to life.  The novel’s premise is unique but the pacing is slow and the entire plot is somewhat unrealistic. With one exception, the characters are unlikable with whiplash inducing personality changes. Elisabeth’s conviction Jacqueline is still alive leaves her  willing to take extreme risks. Raymond Fleischmann brings the novel to an unsettling, cliffhanger conclusion.

Comments Off on Review: How Quickly She Disappears by Raymond Fleischmann

Filed under Berkley, Historical, Historical (40s), How Quickly She Disappears, Mystery, Rated D, Raymond Fleischmann, Review

October 21, 2019 · 11:58 pm

Review: The Bright Unknown by Elizabeth Byler Younts

Title: The Bright Unknown by Elizabeth Byler Younts
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Genre: Historical (’30s, ’40s & ’90s), Fiction
Length: 368 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

This poignant and heartbreaking novel explores the power of resilience, the gift of friendship, and the divine beauty to be found in the big, bright world—if only we’re willing to look.

Pennsylvania, 1940s. The only life Brighton Friedrich has ever known is the one she has endured within the dreary walls of Riverside Home—the rural asylum where she was born. A nurse, Joann, has educated and raised Brighton, whose mother is a patient at the hospital. But Joann has also kept vital information from Brighton—secrets that if ever revealed would illuminate Brighton’s troubling past and the circumstances that confine her to Riverside. Brighton’s best friend is a boy she calls Angel, and as they grow up together and face the bleak future that awaits them, they determine to make a daring escape.

Nothing can prepare Brighton and Angel for life beyond Riverside’s walls. They have no legal identities, very little money, and only a few leads toward a safe place to land. As they struggle to survive in a world they’ve never seen before, they must rely on each other and the kindness of strangers—some of whom may prove more dangerous than the asylum they’ve fled.

Narrated in Elizabeth Byler Younts’s gorgeous style, The Bright Unknown is a sparkling search for answers, family, and a place to call home.

Review:

The Bright Unknown by Elizabeth Byler Younts is a gritty yet ultimately, hopeful, novel that mainly takes place in the Riverside Home for the Insane.

Although she has no mental illness, Brighton Friedrich lives in a mental institution with her mother, Helen.  Pregnant when admitted to Riverside, Helen gives birth to Brighton within the asylum walls, but it is nurse, Joann Derry, who raises the young girl.  As she grows older, Brighton takes care for her mom while Joann provides an education for her and her best friend, Angel. Brighton also witnesses the horrific “treatment” of the patients who suffer from serious mental illnesses such as psychosis and schizophrenia. She is very much aware that during this time period, not everyone who is a patient belongs there. Many of the patients are merely an inconvenience to their families while others are mentally retarded, depressed or merely orphaned.  After befriending new patient, Grace Douglass, who is Brighton’s age, they, along with Angel, begin planning for their eventual escape.

In 1990, Brighton, who now goes by Nell, is contacted by Kelly Keene who has possession of the items she was forced to leave behind during her hurried departure from Riverside decades earlier. Kelly will return Nell’s belongings in return for telling her story about what occurred within the walls of the asylum. The now dilapidated buildings  are slated for demolition as long as the town agrees to fund the project.  Nell will only agree with her proposition as long as Kelly arranges for her to revisit the grounds and buildings where she lived during her childhood.  Will confronting the ghosts of her past give Brighton peace? Or will her experiences continue to haunt her?

Seamlessly weaving back and forth in time,  The Bright Unknown is a beautifully written novel that is heartbreaking but also hopeful.  The horrors of asylums and the treatment of the patients are sensitively portrayed but sometimes difficult to read. Through Elizabeth Byler Younts’ descriptive prose, the setting and characters spring vibrantly to life.  A poignant and thought-provoking novel that I found impossible to put down and highly recommend.

Comments Off on Review: The Bright Unknown by Elizabeth Byler Younts

Filed under Contemporary, Elizabeth Byler Younts, Fiction, Historical, Historical (30s), Historical (40s), Historical (90s), Rated B+, Review, The Bright Unknown, Thomas Nelson Publishing

June 26, 2019 · 11:57 pm

Review: The Long Flight Home by Alan Hlad

Title: The Long Flight Home by Alan Hlad
Publisher: A John Scognamiglio Book
Genre: Historical (40s), Fiction
Length: 384 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher

Summary:

Inspired by fascinating, true, yet little-known events during World War II, The Long Flight Home is a testament to the power of courage in our darkest hours—a moving, masterfully written story of love and sacrifice.

It is September 1940—a year into the war—and as German bombs fall on Britain, fears grow of an impending invasion. Enemy fighter planes blacken the sky around the Epping Forest home of Susan Shepherd and her grandfather, Bertie. After losing her parents to influenza as a child, Susan found comfort in raising homing pigeons with Bertie. All her birds are extraordinary to Susan—loyal, intelligent, beautiful—but none more so than Duchess. Hatched from an egg that Susan incubated in a bowl under her grandfather’s desk lamp, Duchess shares a special bond with Susan and an unusual curiosity about the human world.

Thousands of miles away in Buxton, Maine, a young crop-duster pilot named Ollie Evans has decided to travel to Britain to join the Royal Air Force. His quest brings him to Epping and to the National Pigeon Service, where Susan is involved in a new, covert assignment. Codenamed Source Columba, the mission aims to air-drop hundreds of homing pigeons in German-occupied France. Many will not survive. Those that do make the journey home to England can convey crucial information on German troop movements—and help reclaim the skies from the Luftwaffe.

The friendship between Ollie and Susan deepens as the mission date draws near. When Ollie’s plane is downed behind enemy lines, both know how remote the chances of reunion must be. Yet Duchess’s devotion and her singular sense of duty will become an unexpected lifeline, relaying messages between Susan and Ollie as war rages on—and proving, at last, that hope is never truly lost.

Review:

The Long Flight Home by Alan Hlad  is an informative yet poignant novel which takes place during World War II.

In 1940, Susan Shepherd and her grandfather Bertie answer their country’s call to duty when asked to provide homing pigeons for Britain’s latest covert operation. Operation Columba is a clever plan in which hundreds of pigeons will be dropped over France. The hope is French citizens will send the pigeons back to their owners with valuable information detailing Nazi troops within their country.  Susan and Bertie welcome their opportunity to serve their country but Susan cannot help but fear for the safety of their flock. The only pigeon she refuses to send is her hand-raised pigeon, Duchess. With the Nazi bombings of London intensifying, Susan and Bertie anxiously await the return of their pigeons which they hope will provide critical details of the Nazis activities.

In Buxton, ME, Oliver “Ollie” Evans is frustrated by the United States’ refusal to become involved in the war in Europe.  He lives on a farm with his parents and he is an experienced pilot due to his family’s crop dusting business. Following a tragic loss, Ollie is determined to travel to Britain and join the Royal Air Force which consists of other Americans who are helping the RAF.  Despite the difficulties he encounters on his journey, Ollie’s dream is within grasp when  an altercation with RAF Flight Lieutenant Clyde Boar changes his destiny.

Following a serendipitous metting, Ollie is sent to work with Susan and Bertie on their farm.  Forming a fast friendship, their lives take yet another unexpected turn through a series of unanticipated events.  Susan is left to worry about Duchess and Ollie’s safety while at the same time facing an increasingly worrisome crisis with Bertie. Duchess plays a heartwarming role in their lives but will outside forces continue to keep them apart?

The Long Flight Home is an engaging novel that is well-written and educational. The plot is quite unique and highlights a little known yet extremely important mission in which homing pigeons play a vital role in the early years of World War II. Susan, Ollie and Bertie are well-developed and appealing characters that are easy to like and root for. This clever debut by Alan Hlad is well-researched and provides a fascinating peek into an intriguing part of World War II history.

An emotional, riveting novel that I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend.

Comments Off on Review: The Long Flight Home by Alan Hlad

Filed under A John Scognamiglio Book, Alan Hlad, Historical, Historical (40s), Rated B, Review, The Long Flight Home

March 18, 2019 · 11:56 pm

Review: The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner

Title: The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Historical (’40s), Fiction
Length: 397 pages
Book Rating: A+ & A Recommended Read

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

From the acclaimed author of Secrets of a Charmed Life and As Bright as Heaven comes a novel about a German American teenager whose life changes forever when her immigrant family is sent to an internment camp during World War II.

Elise Sontag is a typical Iowa fourteen-year-old in 1943–aware of the war but distanced from its reach. Then her father, a legal U.S. resident for nearly two decades, is suddenly arrested on suspicion of being a Nazi sympathizer. The family is sent to an internment camp in Texas, where, behind the armed guards and barbed wire, Elise feels stripped of everything beloved and familiar, including her own identity.

The only thing that makes the camp bearable is meeting fellow internee Mariko Inoue, a Japanese-American teen from Los Angeles, whose friendship empowers Elise to believe the life she knew before the war will again be hers. Together in the desert wilderness, Elise and Mariko hold tight the dream of being young American women with a future beyond the fences.

But when the Sontag family is exchanged for American prisoners behind enemy lines in Germany, Elise will face head-on the person the war desires to make of her. In that devastating crucible she must discover if she has the will to rise above prejudice and hatred and re-claim her own destiny, or disappear into the image others have cast upon her.

The Last Year of the War tells a little-known story of World War II with great resonance for our own times and challenges the very notion of who we are when who we’ve always been is called into question.

Review:

The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner is a poignant, informative novel that highlights a little mentioned, shameful  piece of American history.

In 1943, fourteen year old Elise Sontag, her younger brother Max and her German immigrant parents’ peaceful life in Iowa is torn asunder. Elise’s father is arrested by the FBI then sent to an internment camp which leaves the rest of the family struggling to make ends meet. With her mother not handling the situation well, her father makes the decision to ask for the family to be reunited and sent to live together at the Crystal City internment camp in Texas. There, Elise and her family live side by side with Japanese American and Italian American families.  

Shocked to find themselves living behind fences with armed guards, Elise forms a close friendship with Mariko Inoue, a Japanese American teenager whose family is from Los Angeles. Elise and Mariko are inseparable during the eighteen months before the Sontag family is repatriated to Germany and the Inoues wait to learn if they will repatriate to Japan. Clinging to the plan she and Mariko make to reunite after they turn eighteen, Elise and her parents are stunned by the life which awaits them in Germany. Will Elise and Mariko return to America? Or does fate have other plans for the two young women?

Despite their German heritage, Elise and Max have been raised to be Americans. They do not speak German nor have they ever stepped foot in Germany.  Like everyone else in their community, they are touched by the effects of World War II but they are not viewed as they enemy. Elise and her small family are shocked by her father’s arrest and how quickly their friends and neighbors turn on them afterward. Elise soon realizes her mother does not have the strength to endure their situation without her husband, so she understands her father’s decision to move all of them to Crystal City. However, she is shocked by their repatriation to Germany where the Allies are quickly defeating the Reich.

Life in war torn Germany is dangerous and Elise clings to her friendship with Mariko and continues to dream of their reunion. As months pass without word from her friend, Elise gradually adjusts to her new circumstances. She never sees herself as anything but American as she begins to realize Max and her parents are becoming more entrenched in Germany. When her hopes are dashed that she will ever see Mariko again, Elise’s friendship with American soldier Ralph Dove leads to an unexpected decision that will forever change her life.

The Last Year of the War is an unflinching portrait of the hardships endured by German, Japanese and Italian immigrants who were viewed as the enemy after America enters World War II.  These families endured harsh conditions in internment camps and many were forced to return to their mother countries in exchange for Americans caught behind enemy lines. Elise’s and Mariko’s friendship transcends their differences and sustains them as they are forced to leave the United States. With impeccable research, a compelling storyline and appealing characters, Susan Meissner brings this little known part of America’s past vibrantly to life. I was absolutely captivated throughout this deeply affecting, heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting novel.  A must read that details a very dark time in American history.

2 Comments

Filed under Berkley, Fiction, Historical, Historical (40s), Review, Susan Meissner, The Last Year of the War

March 17, 2019 · 11:56 pm

Review: The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer

Title: The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
Publisher: Graydon House
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Fiction
Length: 432 pages
Book Rating: A

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

In 1942, Europe remains in the relentless grip of war. Just beyond the tents of the Russian refugee camp she calls home, a young woman speaks her wedding vows. It’s a decision that will alter her destiny…and it’s a lie that will remain buried until the next century.

Since she was nine years old, Alina Dziak knew she would marry her best friend, Tomasz. Now fifteen and engaged, Alina is unconcerned by reports of Nazi soldiers at the Polish border, believing her neighbors that they pose no real threat, and dreams instead of the day Tomasz returns from college in Warsaw so they can be married. But little by little, injustice by brutal injustice, the Nazi occupation takes hold, and Alina’s tiny rural village, its families, are divided by fear and hate. Then, as the fabric of their lives is slowly picked apart, Tomasz disappears. Where Alina used to measure time between visits from her beloved, now she measures the spaces between hope and despair, waiting for word from Tomasz and avoiding the attentions of the soldiers who patrol her parents’ farm. But for now, even deafening silence is preferable to grief.

Slipping between Nazi-occupied Poland and the frenetic pace of modern life, Kelly Rimmer creates an emotional and finely wrought narrative that weaves together two women’s stories into a tapestry of perseverance, loyalty, love and honor. The Things We Cannot Say is an unshakable reminder of the devastation when truth is silenced…and how it can take a lifetime to find our voice before we learn to trust it.

Review:

Weaving back and forth in time, The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer is a heartrending novel about the Nazi occupation in Poland.

In the present, Alice Michaels is heartbroken her beloved grandmother, Hanna, has suffered a stroke. Alice is already stretched to the limit caring for her and her husband Wade’s special needs seven year old son Eddie, and their highly intelligent ten year old daughter Pascale “Callie”. When Hanna indicates she wants her to find her husband, Tomasz, Alice and her mother, Julita, are confused because he has passed away. Due to Hanna’s tearful insistence and her anger at Wade, Alice makes an impulsive decision to go to Poland to try to figure out what her grandmother wants her to find.  Despite her concern that Wade is not at all prepared for caring for Eddie, she sets off on an uncertain journey in hopes of finding the answer that will bring her ninety-five year old grandmother peace.

When she and Wade married, Alice never intended to be a stay at home mother. But after doctors confirmed that Eddie is on the autism spectrum, she dedicated herself to giving their son the best possible life. He is non-verbal and thrives on routine. Wade works long hours so most of the household and childcare duties fall to Alice who is growing resentful of his lack of involvement. Their marriage is a minefield of bitterness and anger as they avoid discussing their issues.

During the Nazi occupation of Poland, Alina Dziak and her family labor in harsh conditions on their family farm. They are forced to hand over the food they grow in exchange for rations that barely keep them alive. Alina is also very worried about her fiancé, Tomasz, who is away at college in Warsaw when Germany invades Poland. Not knowing whether he is dead or alive, Alina lives in hope he will return to her.  Adding to her and her family’s worries, the Nazis have built a labor camp where Poland’s Jews are forced to live and work under untenable circumstance.  They are also worried about who they ca trust since alliances among their friends and neighbors are harshly divided.

Despite her worries about Wade caring for their children, Alice tries to focus on her mission to figure out what her grandmother wants her to find. Aided by a Polish tour guide and a list of names and places from Hanna, they first journey to  the small town where Hanna lived during the war.  Alice is confused by the conflicting information she finds and she is frustrated by a local woman’s refusal to help her. With Hanna’s condition worsening, will Alice find what she needs to comfort her grandmother?

The Things We Cannot Say is a very poignant and highly emotional novel that offers a heartbreaking glimpse of life in Poland during the Nazi occupation.  Equally enlightening is the story arc with Alice’s domestic life and her inability to voice her frustrations. Both Aline and Alice discover their inner strength as they are forced to handle difficult situations.  Kelly Rimmer’s outstanding research brings the horrors of Nazi occupied Poland vividly to life. Despite the difficult subject matter, I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend this absolutely riveting novel.

Comments Off on Review: The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer

Filed under Contemporary, Fiction, Graydon House, Historical, Historical (40s), Kelly Rimmer, Rated A, Review, The Things We Cannot Say

October 3, 2018 · 11:58 pm

Review: The Girl from Berlin by Ronald H. Balson

Title: The Girl from Berlin by Ronald H. Balson
Liam Taggart and Catherine Lockhart Series Book Five
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Contemporary, Historical (WW II), Fiction
Length: 384 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

In the newest novel from internationally-bestselling author Ronald. H. Balson, Liam and Catherine come to the aid of an old friend and are drawn into a property dispute in Tuscany that unearths long-buried secrets

An old friend calls Catherine Lockhart and Liam Taggart to his famous Italian restaurant to enlist their help. His aunt is being evicted from her home in the Tuscan hills by a powerful corporation claiming they own the deeds, even though she can produce her own set of deeds to her land. Catherine and Liam’s only clue is a bound handwritten manuscript, entirely in German, and hidden in its pages is a story long-forgotten…

Ada Baumgarten was born in Berlin in 1918, at the end of the war. The daughter of an accomplished first-chair violinist in the prestigious Berlin Philharmonic, and herself a violin prodigy, Ada’s life was full of the rich culture of Berlin’s interwar society. She formed a deep attachment to her childhood friend Kurt, but they were torn apart by the growing unrest as her Jewish family came under suspicion. As the tides of history turned, it was her extraordinary talent that would carry her through an unraveling society turned to war, and make her a target even as it saved her, allowing her to move to Bologna—though Italy was not the haven her family had hoped, and further heartache awaited.

What became of Ada? How is she connected to the conflicting land deeds of a small Italian villa? As they dig through the layers of lies, corruption, and human evil, Catherine and Liam uncover an unfinished story of heart, redemption, and hope—the ending of which is yet to be written.

Don’t miss Liam and Catherine’s lastest adventures in The Girl from Berlin!

Review:

The Girl from Berlin by Ronald H. Balson is an engaging novel that weaves seamlessly back and forth in time. The events playing out in the present are directly linked to a young woman’s experiences during World War II and both story arcs are fascinating. Although this latest release is the fifth installment in the Liam Taggart and Catherine Lockhart series, it can be read as a standalone.

Gabriella “Gabi” Vincenzo has lived more than seventy years on her family’s vineyard in the Italian countryside. When a lawyer representing VinCo, the corporation which owns the land around her, hands her an eviction notice, Gabi’s nephew, Tony, who lives in the United States, asks his good friend, private investigator Liam Taggert for help.  Liam, along with his attorney wife, Catherine Lockhart, agree to look into the case, but they are uncertain whether they can stop the eviction. Catherine immediately begins reading the engrossing  manuscript Gabi sent to them. However, she is unsure what clues she will find in this heartwrenching memoir written by Ada Baumgarten, a Jewish violinist who lived in Nazi Germany before and during World War II.

Ada’s story details her life in Berlin both before and after Hitler’s rise to power. Her father is a concertmaster and violinist with the Berlin Philharmonic and he is delighted with his daughter’s impressive talent.  Ada is a gifted violinist whose friendship with fellow violinist Kurt Koenig comes to a poignant end when his father forces him to join Hitler Youth. However, their lives remain intertwined despite the fact Ada is Jewish and Kurt is conscripted into military service.  For much of the time before and during World War II, the Baumgarten family is protected by an acquaintance with powerful connections. When Hitler begins sending Jews to concentration camps, Ada and her mother go to Italy, but their future remains tenuous due to Mussolini’s alliance with Hitler.

Catherine and Liam must figure out how Ada’s history ties into Gabi’s predicament with VinCo. Their efforts to find answers are stymied by the powerful corporation, lost records and a dishonest lawyer. Aiding them in their quest is Italian lawyer Giulia Romano. Their discoveries take them back to Germany where a German lawyer assists them in uncovering the horrifying truth about Gabi’s parcel of land and the company trying to wrest it from her.

The Girl from Berlin is an utterly captivating novel that is rife with  historical details. Ada is a vibrantly developed character and her experiences in Nazi Germany are heartrending. Some of her family’s decisions are inexplicable as Hitler’s policies regarding Jews grow more threatening over time. Liam and Catherine’s investigation in the present is quite compelling and the information they uncover is rather chilling. This newest addition to Ronald H. Balson’s  Liam Taggart and Catherine Lockhart series is another well-researched novel that is as informative as it is interesting. I truly enjoyed this outstanding novel and I highly recommend it to readers of the genre.

Comments Off on Review: The Girl from Berlin by Ronald H. Balson

Filed under Contemporary, Fiction, Historical, Historical (20s), Historical (30s), Historical (40s), Liam and Catherine Series, Rated B, Review, St Martin's Press, The Girl from Berlin