Tag: World War II

In Royal Service to the Queen by Tessa Arlen

The revealing story of Queen Elizabeth II’s beloved governess, Marion Crawford, who spent more than sixteen years of her life in loyal service to the royal family and was later shunned by those she has loved and served.

is the author of the Woman of World War II Mysteries and the novel In Royal Service to the Queen. Born in Singapore, the daughter of a British diplomat, she has lived in Egypt, Germany, the Persian Gulf, China, and India. She now lives with her husband in historic Santa Fe, where she gardens in summer and writes in winter.

https://www.tessaarlen.com/

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

In Royal Service to the Queen is an insider’s view of the British royal family through the eyes and heart of Marion Crawford, selfless governess to Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret for 16 years. The twenty-two-year-old “Crawfie,” as she was lovingly named, began her service as governess in the summer of 1931. Tessa Arlen’s extensive research of British history and the Monarchy seen through Crawfie’s lens takes the reader on the rocky road of recovery through the Great Depression, the abdication of King Edward VIII, World War II, and economic recovery. During Marion Crawford’s service she traveled between Balmoral in Scotland, Windsor, and Buckingham Palace. She endured five years at Windsor with the princesses during the war then navigated “Lilibets” coming of age and her wedding to Phillip. The peek into the daily life is extremely compelling and so intriguing with all the publicity-positive or negative- on the royal family in the last decades. Those who have been called to serve, as teachers are, will struggle along with Marion as she continues to sacrifice her own chance at love, marriage, and a family. Tessa Arlen creates the perfect tension between Marion’s aging mother, her love interest, George Buthlay, and her royal commitment to the princesses. At the end of her service to the royal family Crawfie is faced with a life altering financial decision that will leave readers in a quandary. As Tessa Arlen inquires of readers in her revealing, detailed author’s note, “Was Crawfie guilty of disloyalty or disobedience?” Read In Royal Service to the Queen to make your own wise and regal decision.

  • Lilibet & Margaret
  • Balmoral -Summer Residence in Scotland
  • Windsor-safe haven for the princesses during the war
  • Buckingham Palace-London

The Librarian of Saint-Malo by Mario Escobar

“Libraries are being ransacked. France is torn apart by war. A French librarian is determined to resist. Told through smuggled letters to an author, an ordinary librarian describes the brutal Nazi occupation of her small coastal village and the extraordinary measures she takes to fight back.” Goodreads

Mario Escobar Golderos has a degree in History, with an advanced studies diploma in Modern History. He has written numerous books and articles about the Inquisition, the Protestant Reformation, and religious sects. Of many previous titles: Auschwitz Lullaby and Children of the Stars

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

“The Librarian of Saint-Malo tells the story of Jocelyn and Antoine Ferrec, a life full of love and literature.” Author, Mario Escobar, sweeps readers from Jocelyn and Antoine’s glorious wedding at the Cathedral of Saint-Vincent to the German invasion of Poland – both on September1, 1939. The enthralling accounts of survival and passive resistance are told through Jocelyn’s letters to author, Marcel Zola, who she is hoping will someday tell the story of how the citizens of Saint-Malo fought to defend and protect their beloved city and treasured books in the library. The German colonel in charge, Andreas von Aulock, ordered the “purge of the city’s bookstores and libraries to get rid of subversive writings as outlined in the famous Liste Otto.” As the librarian, Jocelyn also encounters Lt. Baumann and Hermann Von Choltiz, specialist in Medieval French literature.  Hermann has been sent to protect France’s cultural heritage by classifying the books in the Saint-Malo library.  Readers, be wary of the relationships that Jocelyn develops with these Germans. Mario Escobar weaves alarming comments and stunning descriptions of actual, true events with enough subtle hope to create suspense as to the German officers’ intentions.  Jocelyn’s quest also leads her to Yvonne Oddon and the Musée de l’Homme in Paris. Fans of Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrow’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society will delight in the Bouquinistes, booksellers along the Seine, and the book club Jocelyn creates with the 7 requisite members, including a Count! Anthony Doer’s All the Light We Cannot See is another perfect pairing as this setting is before the bombing of Saint-Malo.

From the invasion of Saint-Malo by Germans in 1939 to the Allied forces’ arrival in 1944, Mario Escobar creates captivating descriptions of not only the beauty but also the magnitude of destruction to the “Little Jewel” on the coast of French Brittany. He deftly takes readers from doom and despair at the burned heaps of rubble and complete ruins to hope at the heart stopping, satisfying climax.

“The city had been collecting books for centuries. We were the soul and memory of Saint-Malo. I had to protect the library’s holdings…”  Readers everywhere are ever grateful for librarians such as Jocelyn and for Mario Escobar’s The Librarian of Saint-Malo.

  • Saint-Malo
  • Saint-Malo
  • Saint-Malo
  • Colonel Andreas von Aulock
  • Mont St. Michel

Saint-Malo Cathedral Inside the Walled City-Site of Jocelyn’s Wedding

The Saint-Malo Cathedral or more precisely St Vincent of Saragosse Cathedral  (Cathédrale Saint-Vincent-de-Saragosse de Saint-Malo ) was at one time a Benedictine Abbey. Built in Romanesque style at the turn of the 12th century, the church’s choir then underwent changes in the 13th century making it gothic style. Transformations from Romanesque to Gothic to High Gothic and even Renaissance styles can be found here. In 1944 during a battle for the city, the cathedral was bombed and the choir section collapsed. It took over 20 years to make the repairs.

The Musee de l’Homme in Paris. Jocelyn visited Yvonne Oddon, one of France’s leading librarians, connected to the Resistance.

The Musée de l’Homme librarian and a pioneer of the French Resistance, Yvonne Oddon and her colleagues Boris Vildé and Anatole Lewitsky launched the French Resistance group that would come to be known as the Musée de l’Homme resistance network, and helped choose the name of the underground newspaper Resistance. https://www.museedelhomme.fr/en/yvonne-oddon-1902-1982-3923

The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel

“The New York Times bestselling author of the “heart-stopping tale of survival and heroism” (People) The Book of Lost Names returns with an evocative coming-of-age World War II story about a young woman who uses her knowledge of the wilderness to help Jewish refugees escape the Nazis—until a secret from her past threatens everything.” Publishing July6, 2021

Photograph by Phil Art Studio, Reims, France Kristin Harmel

Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling author of a dozen novels including The Book of Lost Names, The Winemaker’s Wife, The Room on Rue Amélie, and The Sweetness of Forgetting. She is also the cofounder and cohost of the popular web series, Friends and Fiction. She lives in Orlando, Florida.

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

The Forest of Vanishing Stars shines a blinding light on a baby with a birthmark on her wrist in the shape of a dove and an old woman whose mother told her that knowing impossible things was a gift of God passed down through the blood of only the most fortunate Jewish women. Twenty years later 1942, Poland is being bombed and books are being burned in Berlin, so the old woman, Jerusza, leads baby “Yona”, now 22, deep into the forest of Nalibocka. Words of warning are to never venture outside the forest. A compelling struggle for survival takes the reader farther and farther into the forest, to underground zemliankas, through murky swamps and even onto an island with Resistance groups living day to day on survival skills learned in the cruelest situations. Through Yona’s frightening and eye-opening encounters, feelings of confusion, realization, and hope lead to a turning point in her struggle for survival. “After a lifetime of being told what to do, how to feel; of a stolen childhood, of a life of loneliness she hadn’t asked for,” Yona finally has a choice. Readers will empathize with Yona as she learns expressions of human love: the comfort of another’s touch and experiencing the joy of others. As Yona “comes of age” in this dangerous, strange world she must decide if one has to let go of the old life to have a new one? Words of wisdom to Yona and the reader: “In the times of greatest darkness, the light always shines through, because there are people who stand up to do brave, decent things…it doesn’t matter what you were born to be. It matters what you choose to become.” Choose to read The Forest of Vanishing Stars and like Yona, be changed.

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-bielski-partisans

Yours Cheerfully by AJ Pearce

THE EMMY LAKE CHRONICLES -BOOK 1 AND 2

A.J. Pearce grew up in Hampshire, England. She studied at the University of Sussex and Northwestern University. A chance discovery of a 1939 women’s magazine became the inspiration for her international bestseller, Dear Mrs. Bird, the first novel in The Emmeline Lake Chronicles series. She lives in the south of England.

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Emmy Lake’s position at the London magazine, Woman’s Friend, has grown from typist for advice columnist Henrietta Bird-a force to be reckoned with in 1940 to Careers Editor for the new and always late, Mr. Collins in 1941. After attending a Ministry of Information meeting, (“specifically for British women’s press and the unfortunate “trouble in the lavatory”) Emmy is emboldened by a new mission to inspire readers of all ages to answer the direct call from the government to work in munitions factories. Emmy has always wanted to be a war correspondent and now her dream may come true!

Author AJ Pearce has penned Yours Cheerfully, with the same wit and compelling characterizations readers came to love in Dear Mrs. Bird. Readers will find humorous, at times hilarious dialogue on one page, contrasting with endearing heartfelt emotional scenes on the next. The British expressions in the brainstorming sessions, the uncontrollable giggles of junior staffer, Hester combined with the compassion and understanding shown by Mr. Collins, will contribute insights into the personalities of the Woman’s Friend staff along with Emmy’s relationships with “best chum” Bunty and love interest, Charles.

Emmy’s job of answering readers’ letters is catapulted by events at Pearl Harbor and she is inspired to find out how women in the factories are faring after the chance meeting of Anne, a young mother and munition factory worker. Anne and her fellow women workers give Emmy the courage to stand up and do her part to call journalistic attention to nurseries for children with the same hours of shift workers, equal pay, and even for part-time positions to be considered.   

Between Woman’s Friend, parades for women’s rights, and Emmy’s personal life those who read Yours Cheerfully will learn, “there are women who stick up for each other, and women who don’t.”   

Actual Magazine Covers from 1940’s

Wartime with the Cornish Girls by Betty Walker

https://bettywalkerauthor.wordpress.com/blog-2/

Betty Walker lives in Cornwall with her large family, where she enjoys gardening and coastal walks. She loves discovering curious historical facts, and devotes much time to investigating her family tree.

She also writes under other names! She writes thrillers as Jane Holland, romance as Beth Good, and YA fantasy as Victoria Lamb.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

A remote spot on the Cornish coast of England is relied upon as a vital weapon in World War ll. Porthcurno is the setting for this eye-opening tale of three young women and their contributions to the war effort-how they come to “do their bit.”

Violet Hopkins lives in the seedy East End of London. In charge of her nieces and on the side of caution, Violet takes Lily and Alice to her Aunt Margaret’s farm in Cornwall to escape the nightly London bombings. The idea of trading farm & house chores for safety, room and board keeps readers’ hopes for Violet’s safety alive. Betty Walker’s endearing account of Violet’s family struggles and the determination and grit of Violet, Lily and Alice sets readers off on this intriguing journey to Cornwall.  

Walker’s Cornish Girl #2 is Eva Ryder, London socialite and lonely daughter of a widowed military officer. Eva falls in love with RAF officer, Lt. Max Carmichael, but an evening date ends with a fatal bombing. The scare leaves Colonel Ryder no choice but to bring Eva to safety in Cornwall where he is part of a communications task force. The mystery of whether Max survives the bombing keeps readers hesitantly optimistic and turning pages.

Cornish Girl #3 is local, Hazel, who works at Eastern House on the base in Porthcurno. Betty Walker layers Hazel’s life of abuse and struggle with great empathy to evoke feelings of anxiousness as Hazel is desperate to protect her son, Charlie. The unlikely trio uncovers secrets, finds friendship and discovers self-confidence. As this wartime adventure unfolds on the Cornwall coast “information” is key. This is Book #1 in the series, which is great news for fans of Betty Walker and the Cornish Girls!

  • Thrift on the cliffs near Polperro in Cornwall, England, UK
The beaches and cliffs around Porthcurno in Cornwall, England

Courage, My Love by Kristin Beck

Publishing April 13, 2021

Kristin Beck first learned about World War II from her grandmother, who served as a Canadian army nurse, fell in love with an American soldier in Belgium, and married him shortly after VE Day. Kristin thus grew up hearing stories about the war, and has been captivated by the often unsung roles of women in history ever since. A former teacher, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Washington and a Master’s in Teaching from Western Washington University. Kristin lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and children.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Lucia and Francesca join the unsung women of history as their story of deep personal conviction and courage born out of fear and love, comes to the forefront in Kristin Beck’s stunning debut novel, Courage, My Love.

Readers will be swept along the banks of the Tiber River, across the piazzas and darting into the alleyways of Rome, as the spine-tingling story of Nazi invasion, Partisan missions, and espionage unfolds beginning in July,1943. Lucia Colombo, the single mother of Matteo, is the only daughter in a family of strong Fascists supporters, who has already lost one son in the war. Her family ties to the government are a constant worry and eventually Lucia must face and overcome the political dangers involved with protecting her son. Francesca Gallo, a polio survivor, and very unlikely “messenger,” is the eventual counterpart in Partisan activities with her fiancé, Giacomo, and Lucia.

Just as Lucia and Francesca sense the Germans around every corner, readers will feel equally anxious for the survival of the Partisans and Jewish families being hidden in convents and hospitals with “Syndrome K”.  Each page is turned in suspense to find out if the Allies are indeed, arriving to force the Germans out of Rome. Kristin Beck’s characters are developed with equal amounts of childhood background, family strife, and political alignments. The secondary characters, Partisans, Nazi sympathizers and German officers are written with such depth and personal detail, that readers will find much to admire or even appropriately despise.

Lucia and Francesca find themselves many times “in bocca al lupo”, a wolf at the heels. But despite their fears and uncertainty, they keep on going. Readers will also feel “in bocca al lupo” but keep reading! Courage is rewarded!

  • Tiber River
  • Ponte Sant’Angelo
  • View of Castle of the Holy Angel, Castel Sant’angelo and Bridge of the Holy Angel, Ponte Sant Angelo Rome, Italy.
  • Fatebenefratelli Hospital where Syndrome K patients were “housed”
  • Mussolini and his Blackshirts in Rome
Scenes from Courage, My Love

The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray

An epic saga from New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray based on the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy.

STEPHANIE DRAY is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal & USA Today bestselling author of historical women’s fiction. Her award-winning work has been translated into eight languages and tops lists for the most anticipated reads of the year. She lives with her husband, cats, and history books.

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Château de Chavaniac http://www.chateau-lafayette.com/The-manor-of-both-worlds.html

Three bold women from three epic times in history lived behind the walls of Château de Chavaniac deep in the heart of France.

Stephanie Dray opens the shutters of the Marquis de Lafayette’s birthplace early in 1774, to reveal the devoted Adrienne, Lafayette’s wife and her “side by side” support of Lafayette in the American War for Independence and the resulting French Revolution. From ballrooms to the guillotine and prison cells, readers will be impressed by Adrienne’s political and economic savvy along with her enduring steadfast love for her husband and children. Stephanie Dray’s prior research and depiction of the blue-blooded Sophie de Grouchy in Ribbons of Scarlet shines through with a splendid light on the French Revolution.

The legacy of Chateau de Chavaniac lives on in 1914, as the New York socialite, Beatrice Chanler, searches for attention and love from her husband while struggling to lend her own kind of support to the coming war. William Astor Chanler-millionaire, soldier, adventurer, falls in love with Beatrice, who starting from nothing had made a life for herself on the stage. Now she’s playing her greatest role; that of an Astor. Within her social circles Beatrice wisely appeals to the emotions of love, hate and patriotism to create The Lafayette Fund. Thus begins her fund-raising efforts and path to becoming much more than a New York socialite. Stephanie Dray is an excellent travel guide as Beatrice crosses oceans and political lines in her life-long endeavors; finally making a connection with Lafayette’s birthplace.

Marthe Simone is the third thread in the women of Château de Chavaniac. She has her own mysterious background to unravel as she grows up & matures into a teacher and artist behind the stone walls of the chateau. Marthe struggles with her identity as a single woman, her ambition to see beyond the walls and how to play her part from behind the walls of Chavaniac in 1940 as World War II is enveloping France.

In The Women of Chateau Lafayette Stephanie Dray weaves three major wars with three women and their contributions along with their personal beliefs and aspirations, devotion to families and the generations that came before. The Women of Chateau Lafayette is a truly inspiring saga. Through Adrienne, the American War for Independence and its prominent patriots are woven right into the French Revolution and the aftermath. This is a prime example of historical fiction at its finest, as the lives of Beatrice and Marthe unfold through the ballrooms and battle fields of World War I and World War II. A heart wrenching story of three women whose courage and devotion is displayed in vibrant detail through accomplishments and bravery.

https://www.stephaniedray.com/lafayette-we-are-here/

On July 4, 1917, General Pershing and his staff visited Lafayette’s tomb at Picpus Cemetery in Paris.

Under the Light of the Italian Moon by Jennifer Anton

Jennifer Anton is an American/Italian dual citizen born in Joliet, Illinois and now lives between London and Lake Como, Italy. A proud advocate for women’s rights and equality, she hopes to rescue women’s stories from history, starting with her Italian family.

A promise keeps them apart until WW2 threatens to destroy their love forever

A beautiful trailer for the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vjee6D7b8Y

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Under the Light of the Italian Moon is inspired by the true story of the strong women in Jennifer Anton’s Italian family. Listening first to the videos of Jennifer telling the background story of how this novel came to be, the amazing women that inspired it, and the valuable research and coincidences in Italy; will add a tremendous level of understanding as the saga unfolds. https://www.instagram.com/boldwomanwriting/channel/?hl=en

Adelasia Argenta is the heartbeat of her family in Fonzaso, Italy, where Mount Avena and Dolomiti “split Italy from Austria.” Adelasia, known as The Captain, feared for her sternness, is the only trained midwife and has delivered all of the children known to her ten-year-old daughter, Nina. It’s 1914 and Nina’s perspective on young men leaving for America is capped not only by her snowy view of the Alps, but by the wonderment of what lies beyond her small village. As older schoolmate, Pietro Pante, descends into the darkness of the mines in Pennsylvania, Nina is traveling the dark backroads at all hours of the day and night to assist her mother in birthing the babies of Fonzaso. Nina and her mother are dutifully and busily welcoming babies into the world, rejoicing or comforting and consoling families and each other, as Fascism is on the rise and world war is looming.

Nina’s mettle is tested from the early years of 1922 when Mussolini becomes the ruler of Italy, through 1939’s “Gold for the Fatherland” in Fonzaso, until WWll ends in liberation and celebration on the square. Under the Light of the Italian Moon is a story of love, endurance and unknown strength-all needed for survival. Jennifer Anton was inspired to honor the strength within all women by the true story of her great-grandmother and grandmother. Nina’s loyalty and patience are beyond admirable; it’s almost unbelievable-except it’s true. Five glittering stars for Jennifer Anton’s Under the Light of the Italian Moon. *****Gr

“The strength of the world is in the women. The power of the world is within its women. Yet it is the women we erase. Some women are unwilling to be forgotten or to forget.  Particularly if they are Italian.” Jennifer Anton

Views of Fonzaso, Italy

The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan

Available February 23, 2021

Jennifer grew up in the British countryside with a penchant for climbing trees and a wonderful grandmother who told her hilarious stories about the Second World War.

As an adult, she became a nonfiction book editor, first editing politics and economics at The Economist Books, and then moving on to the BBC, DK, and other publishers, editing books on health, cooking, wine, and history.

All this time, though, she harbored a longing to share her grandmother’s stories about the war, and so she embarked on an MA in fiction at Johns Hopkins University. The novel that she wrote while there–The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir–became a National Bestseller.

Jennifer’s second novel, The Spies of Shilling Lane, is based on the story of a twinkly-eyed old lady she interviewed about the war. The lady had worked for the British spy agency, MI5, defying her mother who instructed her to find a wealthy husband.

Please visit Jennifer’s website for more information and free giveaways.
www.JenniferRyanAuthor.com

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

“The BBC radio program The Kitchen Front was a daily show established in 1940 to share wartime recipes and cooking tips with housewives and cooks.” Jennifer Ryan’s The Kitchen Front serves up a delicious helping of comfort food between the covers of her latest novel. A peek into the kitchens of villagers in Fenley Village, England, as the cooks and housewives manage to feed their families on weekly rations is a welcome relief from the “battle front”.  

When the “chaps in charge” at the BBC decide The Kitchen Front radio show needs a woman’s voice or a co-presenter, a local contest is devised to find a voice to connect with the listeners and raise ratings. Jennifer Ryan lovingly brings readers into the lives of the four unlikely contestants: #1-Mrs. Audrey Landon-recent widower, mother to her three sons, and fabulous cook according to her late artist husband; #2 Lady Gwendoline Strickland-married to a “pompous toad,” lives at Fenley Village Hall with her own kitchen staff; deals with her husband and childhood baggage. #3-Mrs. Quince, aging famous cook & baker throughout the county and her shy, stuttering assistant Miss Nell Brown-staff in Fenley Hall kitchen! #4-Zelda Dupont- trained at the Cordon-Bleu, recently relocated to Fenley Village after a stint at London’s prestigious Dartington Hotel, now involuntarily, the head chef at the Fenley Pie Factory canteen. An impressive line-up.

Between the “bully beef,” Spam, and hints on sugar replacements readers become sous chefs in each contestant’s kitchen as the monthly contest rounds begin. Ryan’s division of the novel into Starters, Main Course, & Desserts keeps the “contest audience” apprised of exciting or bewildering behind the scenes events as life in Fenley Village unfolds. The contestants’ presentations with Ambrose Hart’s tasting comments, judging and scoring adds a delectable spice to the novel. Taking advantage of opportunities and making the best of the pitfalls in everyday life with rationing in 1942 are crucial ingredients in “today’s special” wartime treat. Cooking Tip:  a “dash” of sibling rivalry, abuse & childhood neglect is laced into The Kitchen Front.  

Chef’s Note: From an extensive “reading menu”: This order comes with sides of vegetable gardening, bee keeping & berry picking; topped off with an after-dinner guide to grieving, forgiving and new beginnings!

 The Kitchen Front scores a 10/10 in the “Must Read” Category.

WWII Food Rationing Begins

After the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States instituted rationing. Sugar was the first food item to be rationed (starting in May 1942), but coffee, processed and canned foods, meat, cheese, and butter, oils, and fats were also rationed at various times between 1942 and 1945.

To buy rationed food items, families needed to present their grocer with the correct stamps from their government-issued rationing books—in addition to paying the cost of the product. But having enough rationing stamps didn’t guarantee they would be able to purchase an item, since local and national shortages limited availability of certain foods. More information here: https://blog.newspapers.com/recipes-and-rationing/

Food rationing was such a part of American life during World War II that it’s easy to find wartime recipes and tips in newspapers from that period.

This roll recipe from 1942, for example, calls attention to their reduced amount of sugar.

Sun, May 31, 1942 – Page 14 · The Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) · Newspapers.com

Across the Winding River by Aimie K. Runyan

Available August 1, 2020

“Aimie K. Runyan writes to celebrate history’s unsung heroines. She is the author of historical novels: Promised to the Crown, Duty to the Crown, Daughters of the Night Sky, and Girls on the Line. She is active as an educator and speaker in the writing community and beyond. She lives in Colorado with her wonderful husband and two (usually) adorable children.”

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

“A woman unlocks the mystery of her father’s wartime past in a moving novel about secrets, sacrifice, and the power of love…”

Across the Winding River follows the “hearts and minds” of Max, a young American soldier during WWll; Beth, his daughter’s search for clues to a long, lost secret sibling, and Johanna, the brilliant German test pilot in the Luftwaffe for the Nazi’s. All three walk a delicate line between memories and truth.

Readers will identify with Beth, a modern-day woman grieving the loss of her mother and also beginning to recognize and accept herself-recently divorced and adjusting to a new social standing. Beth’s father, Max, is living out his last days in a private care facility while Beth is doing all she can to organize his affairs while sorting out his memorabilia and learning about his war- time experiences. The author chooses to focus on Max and his medic experiences in a lesser known battle that raged for three months in Hurtgen Forest, known as the Death Factory, rather than the D-Day beaches of Normandy. The descriptions and details of the area and the lengthy battle with no clear victor, is a different perspective of the war. The third bend in the “winding river” is Johanna and the role she plays in living out her own mathmatical dreams as she finds it more and more difficult to hide her Jewish ancestry, while actually working for the Nazi’s in order to survive and avoid the concentration camps.

The lives of Beth, Max, and Johanna intersect in some twists and turns in the river; all to reveal powerful lessons in the sacrifices that have been made, and to uncover surprising secrets of love and loss.

Readers who choose Across the Winding River by Aimie K. Runyan will come to “champion amd adore” Max’s story.

The Battle of Hürtgen Forest was a series of fierce battles fought from 19 September to 16 December 1944, between American and German forces on the Western Front during World War II, in the Hürtgen Forest, a 140 km² area about 5 km east of the Belgian–German border.

New Orleans, Louisiana: The National WWII Museum tells the story of the American experience in the war that changed the world—why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today—so that all generations will understand the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/