Showing posts with label WWII. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WWII. Show all posts

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Mini Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Description from Publisher:

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

My Review:

My Colleagues and I over at Historical Tapestry had a mini challenge going for 2011.  Read the book that is recommended for you.  Ana picked The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for me to read.  It was a book that I had thought about reading.  I actually won a copy from someone but it was so long ago, I forgot from whom I won it from.  

I wish I hadn't waited so long to read this wonderful book.  It is told entirely in epistolary format, which was the perfect format for this book.  I felt like a spy, reading copies of letters sent from one character to the next.  The story was so easy to follow yet the writing so eloquent.   The historical aspects of WWII were also well written and seemed well researched.  I never knew anything about the Island of Guernsey and the role it played in WWII before reading this book.

There is a bit of everything in this book including literary references, tragedy, and coming to terms, as well as some happiness and friendship.  I was able to predict the ending very early on in the book but that didn't stop me from really enjoying this book.

4.5/5

Also Reviewed by:
Ana at Historical Tapestry
Marg and Kelly at Historical Tapestry
Rose City Reader 
Bookfan
Brunette Librarian 

Did I miss your review?  Please leave the link to it in the comments.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:01 AM 11 comments  

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Monday, May 30, 2011

The Beauty Chorus by Kate Lord Brown

It is New Years Eve, 1940 and Evie Chase is determined to make a difference in the war effort.  On January 5th, 1941 she enlists  in the ATA to ferry  across WWII Britain.   Her father is a wealthy RAF commander and is not happy with her decision and takes away her allowance, but Evie sticks to her principals and moves into a mice infested cottage with two other new members of the ATA, Stella and Megan.

Stella is the mother of a baby boy but has left him with her parents in law.  She is trying to sort out her feelings regarding her "dead" husband.  Megan is a teenagers from a Welsh village, who has left for the first time.

Together the three woman train together and live together and become fast friends and allies.  Once they start ferrying planes, Evie meets a pilot from the U.S.A. and falls in love.  They are engaged to be married when tragedy strikes and her fiancé is killed in combat.  Stella and Megan also find love.  

Beau is the trainer of the three woman and one of their commanders.  He and Evie mix together like cats and dogs most of the time.  He is also engages to a rich girl that he grew up with but the relationship is quite rocky.  He was burned badly in combat and she called off the engagement.  She abandoned him when he needed her most and then when he was better, came back  and begged forgiveness.  Can he forgive and does he want to?

Despite the fact that just about everything that happened in this book was totally predictable, I did enjoy it.  I knew nothing about the ATA and learned about its history.  The characters were well thought out and three dimensional.  You could call this book a character study.  That is it's true strength.  I would have liked a bit more plot and surprise.  I knew what was going to happen with each character well before it happened with only a couple of exceptions.  

This is Kate Lord Browns first book and a good attempt.  I am looking forward to seeing how she grows with her writing.  If you like character studies and want to learn more about the ATA in WWII, this is a book for you.

3/5

Thanks to Devon Pool of McArthur and Company and to Net Galley for this book.  Please watch for a guest post from Kate Lord Brown tomorrow.

Did you review this book?  Please post the link in the comments.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 4:21 PM 6 comments  

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Thursday, December 9, 2010

Annexed by Sharon Dogar

Most everybody knows about Anne Frank and her family but, mostly from Anne's point of view. Have you ever wondered what Peter van Pels point of view was? No, he did not keep a diary like Anne, so we will never know for sure however , thanks to Sharon Dogar we can imagine what he thought.


The dreadful day in 1942 when the Franks and van Pels were to meet up in the annex to hide from the Nazis, Peter van Pels decided to run away with his girlfriend, Liesl. He went to meet her but instead, to his horror he witnessed Lisel and her family being taken away from their home by the nazis. Now, with nowhere else to turn, he knew he had to go to the annex as planned.

He spends quite a bit of time there, in bed and thinking of Liesl. Pretty much everyone gets on his nerves, especially Anne with her overly cheery and talkative disposition. He thinks to himself,

"I wonder how this can be called living? How can we be in a space this small?
We’re trapped in this building like rats in a sinking ship,
waiting to be caught. The pain flashes through my head
again, lightning striking a steeple."

Finally Peter's father tells Peter that he must chip in with the work that needs to be done. His father said to him,

“Fight!” he says, and he sits back and shakes his head at
me. “You think you can fight this? Get up and make yourself
useful, that’s how we fight.”

He still dreams of Liesl and wonders if she is still alive. However, he starts to enjoy the company of Anne and her older sister, Margot. More and more the three of them spend time together making jokes and telling each other their fears.

After about a year together, Anne and Peter start to have romantic feelings for each other. The adults notice it and Otto Frank, Anne's father has a chat with Peter telling him that he thinks that Anne and Peter should just remain good friends so that Margot doesn't feel left out. However, love can't be controlled very well and Anne and Peter's relationship deepens.

Despite her strong feelings for Peter, Anne has another love, writing. She spends hours every day writing in her diary. Her father tells everyone how important it is to tell everyone they can their story when they get out. If for some reason they don't make it, Otto keeps Anne's diary for her in a hiding place so people can read it and learn about their circumstances.

Soon before the war ends the Nazis discover the annex and the people in it. They are all shipped off to death camps. The only survivor was Otto Frank. His friend and employee Miep keep Anne's diary and Otto edits it and has it published. It has been read by millions of people all over the world.

I'm ashamed to say, I have never read 'The Diary of Anne Frank.' I don't even know how that's possible, I am of Jewish heritage, why didn't my Sunday school assign it for the holocaust lessons? I don't practice Judaism but I know I must read Anne Frank's Diary. Actually, everyone should read it. IMO.

Sharon Dogar made the life in the Annex real. She gave Peter van Pels a voice, though fiction, it was a wonderful voice. I like to think that she got the essence of his voice right. Her poetic prose was strong and vibrant and never overly sentimental. She tells the fictionalized story of Peter, Anne, and the Annex in perfect pitch. This book is marketed as for young adults but I think it's an excellent book for adults as well.

5/5

Thanks to Net Galley and Houghton Mifflin Books for the ebook galley version of this book.

Did you review this book?  Please leave a link in the comments so I can post it here. 

 

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:54 PM 5 comments  

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Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Restitution by Kathy Kacer

Restitution is the true story of one families' struggle to escape Czechoslovakia right after Hitler's invasion. Marie Reeser, the matriarch of the family enlists the aid of her husband, Victor's non-Jewish business associate, Alois Jirak to help her hideaway the families' valuables to claim back later. He is also given power of attorney. A big part of the belongings were four paintings which, she adored. She then arranges for her two children, Karl and Hana and herself to meet up with her husband, Victor in France. From there, they escaped to Toronto, Ontario Canada.


Soon after the war ends, Marie and Victor return to Czechoslovakia, in part to reclaim the family's belongings, including paintings that Marie loves so much. The Communist party has taken over the family home and there is no way to re-claim it. However, Alois Jirak is still there but does not want to give up the paintings and with the Communist party taking over the country, Marie and Victor are forced to flee again, without the beloved paintings.

50 years later, well after Victor and Marie's death, their son Karl receives a letter from Alois Jirak's grandson. He says that he inherited four painting but found out that they are rightfully owned by the Reeser family and would like to return them if possible.

What follows is the story of how Karl finally gets the paintings back. It is a story of friendship, betrayal, an "honest" smuggler, and restitution. Told seamlessly in part memoir and part fiction by ghost writer, Kathy Kacer Ms. Kacer writes a suspenseful story that reads like a novel.

I highly recommend it!

4.5/5

Thanks to Annie Paikeday, Marketing/Editorial Intern for Second Story Press for this book.

Have you reviewed this book? Please leave a link in the comments for me to post here.


Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:30 AM 10 comments  

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Friday, April 30, 2010

The Summer Before the Storm by Gabriele Wills

Muskoka is the summer playground for the very wealthy families that want to escape the stifling heat of summer in Toronto, Ontario Canada. The year is 1914 and one such family living there in the summer is the Wyndwoods. This large family lives an easy and fun filled summer with servants to meet their every need. The matriarch of the family is Augusta Wyndwood who took over the running of the family and business when her husband died. Al she has to do is threaten disinheritance and the family members jump to attention and do as she bids.


There are too numerous characters to mention here however I will mention the main characters of this story. Victoria is the headstrong granddaughter of Augusta. She would like to have more of the freedoms that men have but Augusta would like to marry her off to a wealthy cousin, Justin who is in love with Victoria. Victoria however is in love with her other wealthy cousin, Chas.

Then there is Jack, Augusta's grandson. He shows up, when the story opens, as a waiter at the resort restaurant that the family goes to every Monday for dinner. The next day he shows up at the Wyndwood estate and is introduced by Augusta. Jacks father was disinherited by Augusta for marrying beneath himself. His family was very poor and he died fairly young, leaving his family to survive on their own. Jack hopes to ingratiate himself into the family.

The family live there usual glutinous summer on the lake, boating, swimming, playing tennis, and the other things in their idyllic lifestyle. However, things start to turn dark when WWI is threatened and many of Victoria's cousins go off to war, to eventually become part of "the lost generation."

This story travels from Muskoka, Ontario Canada to Britain, and the skies of war torn France. It includes the horrific bombing and sinking of the famous Lusitania ship of the shores of Britain. There is a little of something for everyone including, wealthy living, romance, mystery, adventure, and war.

It is evident the Gabriele Wills did her research of the period. She has beautiful writing and very interesting characters that leap out from the pages. There are a couple more minor story lines that I didn't really care for. For instance Helena, who marries Victoria's father James later in the story. She is a stereotypical conniving stepmother. This took away from the story for me. That said, I really did enjoy this book over. This book is the first of a trilogy and I hope to read the other two books.

4/5

Thanks to Gabriele Wills for sending me a copy of this book. To find out more about this book and the writing of it, head on over to my collaborative blog, Historical Tapestry, where we featured her, here. Also coming soon to Historical Tapestry is a collaborative review of this book with Kailana and myself.

Also reviewed at:
The Book Chick

If you have also reviewed this book, please leave the link in the comments so I can post it here.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:36 PM 5 comments  

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Thursday, January 14, 2010

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake



It took me awhile to decide what book I was going to submiss for the Historical Fiction Alphabet challenge.  Then it dawned on me that I was reading a book taking place (a lot of the time) in Cape Cod.


In 1940, while war is going on throughout most of Europe, President Roosevelt has promised that the United States would not enter the war.
In a small town on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, Iris James serves as postmistress.  She knows the town and their business very well.  She falls in love with the town's mechanic, Harry Vale.  Harry spends a lot of time in the watch tower over the Atlantic Ocean, watching for German U-boats.  He has a hard time convincing the towns people that the U-boats will show up in their sleepy little town.
Emma Trask is married to the town's working doctor.  They are both young and just starting out.  However, an event happens while he is delivering his first baby in the town that makes him want to escape.  He goes to England, where war is raging to volunteer his services as a doctor, leaving poor Emma as home in a town she hardly knows.  Iris tries to look out for her.
Meanwhile, Frankie Bard is in England as a reporter.  She works with none other than Edward R. Murrow.  However, major event shake her to the core and just ends up near the end of the book in the same small town as Iris and Emma.  Their 3 fates sealed and intertwined through a letter.
This was a delightful book.  Sarah Blake weaves all of the sub-stories together seamlessly.  Frankie is my favourite character.  We get to meet the people she comes across and hear her war stories.  On her last assignment she rides the trains in Germany and France, recording interviews with the Jews desperate to get to safety. 
Though there were a few things in the book that were predictable then didn't detract me from enjoying the story.  The end seemed a bit rushed to me but not overly sentimental.  It seems that Sarah Blake really did her research and I recommend this to Historical fiction lover, especially those who enjoy WWII fiction.
4.5/5
Thanks to Amy Einhorn Books and B. Kienapple of Penguin Group (Canada) for this book.
Also reviewed by: 
You’re History !
If I missed your review of this book , please leave the link in the comments.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 6:26 PM 18 comments  

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