'Imagine that no one in the entire planet cared about you’ ★★★★★ It is easy to label WW2 as horrible, Hitler as evil, and the Nazis as depraved but it's still just that: a label; a classifying phrase. What is easily forgotten are the people behind the labels; their stories, their hardships, and their heartaches. … Continue reading The Stable Boy of Auschwitz
WWII
Arrested Song
'I'm going to live by my own rules’ ★★★★★ 'Arrested Song' is a great book; a saga even. What starts out as a Greek experience of German occupation during WW2, quickly evolves into an epic story. Calliope is a young woman when her husband is sent to war, never to return. His demise proves a … Continue reading Arrested Song
An Enemy Like Me
Patriotism mingled with heartache ★★★★ 'An Enemy Like Me' highlights the humanity of war; the people and families behind the guns, destruction, and violence, 'Had they [those who started the war] considered the spoiled gardens, the tearing apart of families, the devastating loneliness?' Jakob Mueller is a first-generation American. Although he lost his father when … Continue reading An Enemy Like Me
The Confidante
'The morale of the nation depends upon its women' ★★★★★ Early 20th Century America was a place of change and opportunity. Within the first 50 years, US citizens were a party of industrialisation, the depression, two world wars, and the cold war. What is not so well known is the part Anna Rosenberg, a Jewish-Hungarian … Continue reading The Confidante
Goodnight from Paris
'Bonne Nuit', you've been listening to Drue Leyton ★★★★★ ‘Goodnight from Paris' is based on real-life American actress Drue Leyton who, after marrying a Frenchman, chose to say in France for the duration of WWII and become a part of the Resistance. Drue's husband, Jacques, joined the British Coldstream Guards as a translator early in … Continue reading Goodnight from Paris
A Complicated Matter
'happiness was just another word for peace of mind’ ★★★★★ ' 'A Complicated Matter' is a journey. Like all good journeys, it ambles, stumbles on the unforeseen, and is at times wayward. This story is based on the real-life evacuation of Gibraltar at the onset of WWII. Predominately women and children were wrenched not only … Continue reading A Complicated Matter
One Woman’s War
'The truth? The truth doesn't matter' ★★★★ ' ‘One Woman’s War’ is a well-researched storytelling of Victoire (Paddy) Bennett’s role in WWII British Intelligence and, more specifically, Operation Mincemeat. Having been a secretary for Ian Fleming during this period, many believe that Paddy provided inspiration for Ian Fleming’s Bond character Miss Moneypenny. We meet the … Continue reading One Woman’s War
A Child For The Reich
'War comes to us all' ★★★★★ 'A Child for the Reich' is a story of the WWII Lebensborn programme, a mother's love, courage, and acts of resistance. Although less publicized, it is thought that the Reich, through their Lebensborn scheme, snatched upwards of 200,000 children from occupied countries, to be adopted and raised as perfect … Continue reading A Child For The Reich
We Fly Beneath the Stars
The Germans know them as the 'Night Witches' ★★★★★ What an inspirational book. 'We Fly Beneath the Stars' takes you up in the sky, in the freezing cold cockpit. Your stomach clenches as the pilot somersaults to evade enemy fire, and you quickly turn the page for more. Tasha and her sister Nadia join the … Continue reading We Fly Beneath the Stars
When We Had Wings
'in a strange hybrid world in which they are both captive and caregiver' ★★★★★ ‘When We Had Wings’ follows three nurses stationed in the Philippines at the outset of WWII. After a short, idyllic time they became caught up in the Battle of the Philippines and subsequently POWs. Based on the real life ‘Angels of … Continue reading When We Had Wings