WWII

HTP Blog Tour for BEYOND SUMMERLAND by Jenny Lecoat

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I’m taking part today in the blog tour for Beyond Summerland, an engaging and somewhat intense read of post-WWII. Jean’s father has been arrested for owning (and using) a radio during German occupation in the Channel Islands, and she is trying to keep her and her mother’s life together while they search for where he might be. This is complicated by secrets that more than one person are trying to keep. This is a memorable read and beautifully written. Lecoat’s writing is wonderfully evocative of time and place. I had read her first novel The Girl from the Channel Islands in 2021.

Description

“From the explosive opening to the profound ending, Beyond Summerland is a wonder of storytelling. With a rich setting and secrets shimmering at the core of the narrative, Jenny Lecoat offers up everything we seek in historical fiction.”–Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Book of Flora Lea

In her spellbinding new novel, New York Times bestselling author Jenny Lecoat explores the secrets and lies in a small community recovering from war, and the two young women at the center of a volatile mystery.

The German occupation is over. The Channel Islands, the only captured territory within the British Isles, are finally liberated. But the people of Jersey are left as scarred as the landscape. No longer a “summerland” holiday paradise, the island now boils with tension as locals seek revenge on anyone suspected of collaborating with the enemy during the war.

Nineteen-year-old Jean Parris, still adjusting to this fractious peace, is shocked to learn that Hazel, a teacher who lives over her dad’s shop, may be responsible for her father’s wartime arrest. Hazel denies all accusations but has reasons to conceal what really happened.

As rumors of Hazel’s guilt swell to a fury, Jean discovers new clues that suggest there were other, more sinister factors at play. When Hazel learns of Jean’s own ruinous secret, the women form an unexpected bond that sets them apart from the rest of Jean’s family and the frenzied demands for retribution. But in the end, Jean’s need to know the truth about her father may consume everything she once believed about her home, her family and herself.

About the Author

Jenny Lecoat was born in the Channel Islands where, only sixteen years earlier, Nazis had deported members of her family to concentration camps for resistance activities. Following an early career in stand-up comedy and writing features for magazines and newspapers, she became a screenwriter. Her feature film Another Mother’s Son, about her family’s experiences during the Occupation, was released in the UK in 2017. The Girl from the Channel Islands was her first novel.

Thank you for my copy and for having me as part of the tour!

The Last Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal

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I love the Maggie Hope series by Susan Elia MacNeal, so I was thrilled to get the latest installment. These mysteries are so interesting as I learn a lot about espionage during WWII. I love the character of Maggie and how she is a strong, independent woman and so smart! Susan MacNeal has great pacing in her works and is definitely a writer who does her research.

Here’s the scoop — and is this really the LAST book in this series??? I guess we will wait and see….

Description

All will be revealed in this no-holds-barred finale of the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated Maggie Hope series as the intrepid spy teams up with fashion designer—and possible double agent—Coco Chanel to bring down the physicist behind Nazi Germany’s nuclear program.

“Intrepid Maggie Hope’s high-stakes mission is fraught with danger and moral questions. . . . A heartfelt story.”—Cara Black, New York Times bestselling author of Three Hours in Paris

Maggie Hope has come a long way since she was Mr. Churchill’s secretary. In the face of tremendous danger, she’s learned espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance. But things are different now that she has so much to lose, including the possibility of a family with John Sterling, the man who’s long held her heart.

British Intelligence has ordered Maggie to assassinate Werner Heisenberg, the physicist who may deliver a world-ending fission bomb for Germany. She’s shaken. An assassination is unlike anything she has ever done. How can the Allies even be sure Nazi Germany has a bomb? Determined to gather more information, Maggie travels to Madrid, where Heisenberg is visiting for a lecture.

At the same time, couturier Coco Chanel, a spy in her own right with ambiguous loyalties, has requested a mysterious meeting with the British ambassador in Madrid—and has requested Maggie join them. As the two play a dangerous game of cat and mouse, Maggie tries to get a better understanding of Heisenberg, but is faced with betrayal and a threat more terrifying than losing her own life.

Maggie desperately wants to find her happily-ever-after, but as the war reaches a fever pitch, the stakes keep rising. Now, more than ever, the choices she makes will reverberate around the globe, touching everyone she loves—with fateful implications for the future of the free world.

So so so good!!! Thank you for my review copy!

Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner

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I enjoy Susan Meissner’s writing, so I was thrilled to get this book via Net Galley. I absolutely LOVED this story (will be in my top ten of 2023 I’m sure). It’s been a long time since a book has moved me to tears but the ending of this novel did. I loved the character of Rosie and I connected with her as she was growing up in Sonoma. (If you know me, you know I grew up in nearby Napa). Her story is so tragic and yet I don’t think it’s all that rare or improbable.

Here’s the overview:

Description

A Best Historical Fiction of Spring Pick by Amazon, PopSugar, AARP, and BookBub!

A heartrending story about a young mother’s fight to keep her daughter, and the terrible injustice that tears them apart, by the USA Today bestselling author of The Nature of Fragile Things and The Last Year of the War.

California, 1938—When she loses her parents in an accident, sixteen-year-old Rosanne is taken in by the owners of the vineyard where she has lived her whole life as the vinedresser’s daughter. She moves into Celine and Truman Calvert’s spacious house with a secret, however—Rosie sees colors when she hears sound. She promised her mother she’d never reveal her little-understood ability to anyone, but the weight of her isolation and grief prove too much for her. Driven by her loneliness she not only breaks the vow to her mother, but in a desperate moment lets down her guard and ends up pregnant. Banished by the Calverts, Rosanne believes she is bound for a home for unwed mothers. But she soon finds out she is not going to a home of any kind, but to a place that seeks to forcibly take her baby – and the chance for any future babies – from her.

Austria, 1947—After witnessing firsthand Adolf Hitler’s brutal pursuit of hereditary purity—especially with regard to “different children”—Helen Calvert, Truman’s sister, is ready to return to America for good. But when she arrives at her brother’s peaceful vineyard after decades working abroad, she is shocked to learn what really happened nine years earlier to the vinedresser’s daughter, a girl whom Helen had long ago befriended. In her determination to find Rosanne, Helen discovers a shocking American eugenics program—and learns that that while the war had been won in Europe, there are still terrifying battles to be fought at home.

Rosie ends up being brought to what is now called the Sonoma Developmental Center, but what was then a State Hospital for those with mental illness. And the whole storyline about eugenics and forced sterilization is true and so disconcerting. I was oddly reminded of a movie I watched once on a flight to Europe about the Magdalene Laundries and from which I don’t think I have yet recovered. The absolute lack of respect for Rosie’s intellect, her wishes, her baby, and her body was quite unsettling. Additionally, Rosie has synesthesia, where she “hears in color”. This trait causes others to be suspicious of her.

Rosie’s story is so terrible and yet I know that it was the story of more than one unwed teen mother years ago. Meanwhile, the novel has the parallel story of Helen who lives and works as a nanny in Europe during the rise of Hitler and WWII. Of course, eugenics was a part of the Nazi regime and we are reminded of the horrific atrocities many innocent people suffered at their hands. One of my favorite interactions in the book (which I can’t cite directly as it’s on my kindle and too hard to locate) was when Helen is arguing with a Nazi officer and when he says “You wonder how I am able to play God?” and she responds, “No. God would not harm these children. He would love them.” This story is haunting but it shows the importance of not being a bystander and just letting things happen. Rosie’s life could have been much less tragic if someone had stepped in to do the right thing; and Helen dedicated her life to helping others who needed help, thus making a difference.

So two thumbs up from me on this one!

And here’s a picture of the real place that the protagonist was sent to:

And speaking of places like this, here’s a picture of the Napa State Hospital a town away where I grew up. It doesn’t look like this anymore but I was reading that many of the patients there were there because they were homeless or struggled with alcoholism. Imagine being driven up to this place.

And here’s a short video from You Tube explaining synesthesia:

Harper-Collins Blog Tour for THE PARIS AGENT by Kelly Rimmer

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Kelly Rimmer may just be my favorite author. I love her writing and her stories. This historical fiction novel was another top read for me– focusing on three female SOE operatives in France during WWII. It was suspenseful and exciting, and toggled between WWII and current day (well, it was more like the 1970’s but close enough!).

Thank you for my copy and for making me part of the tour! If you love WWII stories with strong female protagonists, don’t miss The Paris Agent by Kelly Rimmer!

The Paris Agent : A World War II Mystery 

Kelly Rimmer

On Sale Date: July 11, 2023

9781525826689

Trade Paperback

$18.99 USD

368 pages

ABOUT THE BOOK:

For fans of fast-paced historical thrillers like Our Woman in Moscow and The Rose Code, Rimmer’s brilliant new novel follows three female SOE operatives as their lives intersect in occupied France, and the double agent who controls their fate.

Twenty-five years after the end of the war, an aging Marcel Augustin is reflecting on his life during those perilous, exhilarating years as a British SOE operative in occupied France—in particular the agent who saved his life during a mission gone wrong, whose real name he never knew, nor whether she survived the war. Piqued by her father’s memories, Marcel’s daughter Charlotte begins a search for answers that resurrects the unrest and uncertainty from that period of his life. What follows is the story of Eloise, Josie and Virginia, three otherwise ordinary, average women whose lives intersect in 1943 when they’re called up by the SOE for deployment in France. Taking enormous risks to support the allied troops with very little information or resources, the three women have no idea they’re at the mercy of a double agent within their ranks who’s causing chaos within the French circuits, whose efforts will affect the outcome of their lives.

As Charlotte’s search for answers continues, new suspicions are raised about the identity of the double agent, with unsettling clues pointing to her father, and more mysteries are unearthed from the last days of the war about the eventual fates of Eloise, Josie and Virginia.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kelly Rimmer is the worldwide, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of The German Wife, The Warsaw Orphan, and The Things We Cannot Say. She lives in rural Australia with her husband, two children and fantastically naughty dogs, Sully and Basil. Her novels have been translated into more than twenty languages. Please visit her at www.Kelly.Rimmer.com 

SOCIAL LINKS:

Author website: https://www.kellyrimmer.com/

Facebook: @Kellymrimmer

Twitter: @KelRimmerWrites

Instagram: @kelrimmerwrites

BUY LINKS: NOT affiliated with BBNB

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-paris-agent-kelly-rimmer/18794141?ean=9781525826689

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-paris-agent-kelly-rimmer/1143459526?ean=9781525826689

Books A Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Paris-Agent/Kelly-Rimmer/9781525826689

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Paris-Agent-Kelly-Rimmer/dp/1525826689

The Hollywood Spy – A Maggie Hope Mystery by Susan Elia MacNeal

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If you know me, you know I love the WWII era historical mystery series of Maggie Hope. Maggie is a super sharp code breaker and spy, working for the Allies during WWII. This installment took Maggie to Los Angeles to reunite and help an old flame solve a murder. Along the way, she faces prejudice and racism directed towards her friends and colleagues, all in the shadow of the golden days of Hollywood.

I love anything to do with the glory days of Hollywood, and I love reading about what life was like in those days. I had not known about the “Nazi groups” in the LA area during the war, nor the prevalence of the Klan (though I did know that the Klan was in Napa – my hometown – in the first part of the 20th century). I knew that Susan must have meticulously researched this, and of course she did. Interesting — and disturbing!

I love this series, and you will, too. Each book can be a stand alone but I like reading them in order. That said, each story is unique and you will never feel like it’s a “formula”.

Thank you for my review copy via Net Galley!

Description

Maggie Hope is off to California to solve a crime that hits too close to home—and confront the very evil she thought she had left behind in Europe—as theacclaimed World War II mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Susan Elia MacNeal continues.

“A swift, vibrant novel that peels back the asbestos curtain on the complex history of Los Angeles, home to heroes and villains.”—Steph Cha, author of Your House Will Pay

Los Angeles, 1943. As the Allies beat back the Nazis in the Mediterranean and the United States military slowly closes in on Tokyo, Walt Disney cranks out wartime propaganda and the Cocoanut Grove is alive with jazz and swing every night. But behind this sunny façade lies a darker reality. Somewhere in the lush foothills of Hollywood, a woman floats lifeless in the pool of one of California’s trendiest hotels.

When American-born secret agent and British spy Maggie Hope learns that this woman was engaged to her former fiancée, John Sterling, and that he suspects her death was no accident, intuition tells her he’s right. Leaving London under siege is a lot to ask. But John was once the love of Maggie’s life . . . and she won’t say no.

Maggie struggles with seeing her lost love again, but what’s more shocking is that her own country is as divided and convulsed with hatred as Europe. The Zoot Suit Riots loom large in Los Angeles, and the Ku Klux Klan casts a long shadow everywhere. But there is little time to dwell on memories once she starts digging into the case. As she traces a web of deception from the infamous Garden of Allah to the iconic Carthay Circle Theater, she discovers things aren’t always the way things appear in the movies—and the political situation in America is more complicated, and dangerous, than the newsreels would have them all believe.

Agora Books Blog Tour for DEAD TO ME by Lesley Pearse

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I’m happy today to take part in the Agora Books (UK) blog tour for Dead to Me by Lesley Pearse. I really enjoyed this historical fiction about two friends and their trials and tribulations during WWII in England. I loved the characters of Verity and Ruby and of course I love a happy ending (no spoilers – will there be one??). I didn’t like the character of the father. I felt he was a bit caricaturish. Overall, though, I loved this story of friendship!

Thank you for my copy to review and for making me part of the tour!

Overview:

Hampstead Heath, Spring 1935. Two girls meet by chance and become fast friends. They share their romances and heartbreaks, their struggles and dreams. But most of all, they share a sinister secret.

Upon their meeting, Verity and Ruby could not be more different: Verity is the epitome of money and class; Ruby lives a life of squalor and survival. Despite the disparity, an instant affinity forms a resilient bond between the two girls.

Yet, as the outbreak of WWII rumbles throughout Britain, Verity and Ruby’s relationship starts to develop fault lines. Ruby finds herself blissful and in love, while Verity is haunted by a shadow from her past. Separated by more than just distance, the two friends struggle to maintain their relationship until Verity does the one thing she can never take back.

With Britain blitzed by the raging war, will Verity and Ruby find a way back to each other before it’s too late?

In this sweeping wartime saga of friendship and love, Pearse explores the depths of lifelong bonds, compassion, betrayal, and forgiveness.

About the Author

Lesley Pearse’s novels have sold over ten million copies worldwide and include, most recently, The Woman in the Wood, Dead to Me, Without a Trace, Survivor, Forgive Me and The Promise. Lesley lives in Devon and has three daughters and four grandchildren.

Harlequin Winter Reads Blog Tour for: The Girl from the Channel Islands by Jenny Lecoat

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I’m happy today to be taking part in the blog tour for a new historical novel of WWII: The Girl from the Channel Islands by Jenny Lecoat. I’d classify this story as historical romance. It takes place during WWII in the Channel Islands, which, owned by Great Britain, were occupied by Germany during WWII. I actually had no idea that Germany had taken over any part of Britain, so I found this really interesting. Also it was new to me how men were conscripted to join the military for Germany. Life was not easy for those left behind. This story was at times heart- wrenching. I will say that, like always, I enjoyed the historical part more than the romance part, but overall this was a great and interesting historical read of WWII.

Don’t miss the author bio as she’s had an interesting life and has a direct connection to the Channel Islands!

Thank you for making me part of the tour! Harlequin tours never disappoint!!

Book Summary:

An extraordinary story of human triumph against impossible odds

The year is 1940, and the world is torn apart by war. In June of that year, Hitler’s army captures the Channel Islands–the only part of Great Britain to be occupied by German forces. Abandoned by Mr. Churchill, forgotten by the Allies, and cut off from all help, the Islands’ situation is increasingly desperate.

Hedy Bercu is a young Jewish girl who fled Vienna for the island of Jersey two years earlier during the Anschluss, only to find herself trapped by the Nazis once more–this time with no escape. Her only hope is to make herself invaluable to the Germans by working as a translator, hiding in plain sight wIth the help of her friends and community–and a sympathetic German officer. But as the war intensifies, rations dwindle, neighbors turn on neighbors, and Hedy’s life is in greater danger every day. It will take a definitive, daring act to save her from certain deportation to the concentration camps.

A sweeping tale of bravery and love under impossible circumstances, Hedy’s remarkable story reminds us that it’s often up to ordinary people to be quiet heroes in the face of injustice.

THE GIRL FROM THE CHANNEL ISLANDS 

Author: Jenny Lecoat

ISBN: 9781525806414

Publication Date: February 2, 2021

Publisher: Graydon House Books

Buy Links: Not affiliated with BBNB

Harlequin 

Amazon

Barnes & Noble 

Books-A-Million

Powell’s

Social Links:

Author Website

Twitter: @JennyLecoat

Instagram: NA

Facebook: @JennyLecoat

Goodreads

Author Bio: 

Jenny Lecoat was born in Jersey, Channel Islands, where her parents were raised under German Occupation and were involved in resistance activity. Lecoat moved to England at 18, where, after earning a drama degree, she spent a decade on the alternative comedy circuit as a feminist stand-up. She also wrote for newspapers and women’s magazines (Cosmopolitan, Observer), worked as a TV and radio presenter, before focusing on screenwriting from sitcom to sketch shows. A love of history and factual stories and a return to her island roots brought about her feature film Another Mother’s Son (2017). She is married to television writer Gary Lawson and now lives in East Sussex. The Girl from the Channel Islands is her first novel.

Bookouture Blog Tour for: An American in Paris by Siobhan Curham

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I loved taking part in this blog tour for a new WWII historical novel: An American in Paris by Siobhan Curham. Florence is a scrappy and big-hearted dancer who’s come to Paris to dance and ends up in love with a young man who’s escaping the Nazi’s. This story is told in shifting viewpoints between Florence in the 1940’s and her granddaughter that she never knew she had, Sage – a young “influencer” who has had enough of the limelight of social media.

Here’s the overview:

Book Description:
Paris, 1940: Walking through Montmartre that morning was like the eerie calm right before a storm. The roads were deserted. We carried on, arm in arm, and then finally, we saw them. Columns and columns of soldiers, spreading through the streets like a toxic grey vapour. ‘You must write about this,’ he whispered to me. ‘You must write about the day freedom left Paris.’

As Nazi troops occupy the City of Lights, American journalist Florence is determined to do everything she can to save her adopted home and the man she loves.

Florence had arrived in Paris in 1937 and on a beautiful summer’s day, met and fell in love with Otto, a Jewish artist from Austria, who had fled persecution in his homeland. But as swastikas are draped along the city’s wide boulevards, everything Otto was running from seems to have caught up with him.

Both Florence and Otto begin lending their talents to the Resistance, working to sabotage the Germans right under their noses. Florence’s society columns that, before the war were filled with tales of glamorous Parisian parties, now document life under occupation and hide coded messages for those fighting outside France for freedom. While Otto risks arrest in order to pin up the anti-Nazi posters he designs by candlelight in their tiny apartment.

But with every passing day, things become more dangerous for Otto to remain in Paris. If Florence risks everything by accepting a secret mission, can she ensure his survival so that they can be reunited once the war is over?

A sweeping wartime story that will capture your heart and never let it go. Fans of The Alice Network, The Lost Girls of Paris and My Name is Eva will be absolutely gripped from the very first page.

Author bio:


Siobhan Curham is an award-winning author, ghost writer, editor and writing coach. She has also written for many newspapers, magazines and websites, including The Guardian, Breathe magazine, Cosmopolitan, Writers’ Forum, DatingAdvice.com, and Spirit & Destiny. Siobhan has been a guest on various radio and TV shows, including Woman’s Hour, BBC News, GMTV and BBC Breakfast. And she has spoken at businesses, schools, universities and literary festivals around the world, including the BBC, Hay Festival, Cheltenham Festival, Bath Festival, Ilkley Festival, London Book Fair and Sharjah Reading Festival. 


https://siobhancurham.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Siobhan-Curham-Author-398343120181969
https://twitter.com/SiobhanCurham

Buy Links: (not affiliated with BBNB):
Amazon: https://bit.ly/3mlNzgj

Apple: http://apple.co/2ETJ0tT

Kobo: http://bit.ly/3nm25q2

Google: http://bit.ly/2Ss6CZI

Thank you for my review copy and making me part of the tour!

I really enjoyed this one and if you like this genre, you will, too!

The Lost Village by Daniela Sacerdoti

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Description

1945: Two sisters give birth to two little girls on the same night, huddled under blankets, deep in the black woods that surround their village. They hold their babies close as footsteps approach. If they make even the slightest sound, the German soldiers will find them…

2006: Luce Nardini clutches a plane ticket to Italy in her trembling hands. Since her only child left home, and with her estranged husband more distant than ever, she’s been overwhelmed with loneliness. She never knew her father, or the reason why her mother cut all contact with her family in the little village of Bosconero. Lost and unravelling fast, uncovering her roots feels like Luce’s last and only hope.

As Luce searches the maze of cobbled streets, a house with a faded blue door draped in perfect white roses stops her in her tracks. Inside is the grandmother she never knew, who – with a longing look at an ornate wooden box on her nightstand – begins to tell the heart-wrenching story of a little village ravaged by war, and why Luce’s mother fled home and swore never to return.

Surrounded by new friends and faded frescoes of saints, Luce is just starting to feel like she belongs when the unthinkable happens: an earth-shattering disaster that shakes the little village of Bosconero to its core. Could it be that the secrets of Luce’s past have been buried forever?

Frightened, hopeless and feeling more alone than ever before, will the surprise arrival of the husband she thought she’d lost help sew Luce’s family back together, or tear it apart for good? One thing is certain: she must find the little wooden box amongst the rubble of the village and return it to her grandmother. But nothing will have prepared Luce for the devastating betrayal she finds inside…

An unputdownable historical romance about the secrets we keep to protect the ones we love by the author of million-copy Amazon No 1. bestseller, Watch Over Me. Perfect for anyone who loves Fiona Valpy, Lily Graham or The Letter by Kathryn Hughes.

As you know, I LOVE books from this time period and this one was quite suspenseful and exciting. At the same time, it was a bit heart-breaking. I really connected with the character Luce and her search for her past while she was going through an identity crisis of her own. Would I have made the ending different? Probably. But overall, it was a satisfying read.

Highly recommended if you like WWII period historical fiction and romance that toggles from the past to the present.

I also did a little research and you really can buy a house in some parts of Italy for 1 Euro!!

Thank you, Net Galley, for my copy!

The Winter Guest by Pam Jenoff

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As you can imagine, I have a LOT of books on my kindle. I actually burnt out my first Kindle by reading more than 400 pages a day (Amazon gave me a discount to replace it).

Right now I have over 125 pages of books in my “library”. With 6 on each page, that’s about 750+ books. Needless to say, I often have to go through them and see what I’ve missed in my TBR pile!

I was searching one day and came across this novel. I really enjoy Pam Jenoff’s historical fiction, and I had actually purchased this book for myself in 2019 as a birthday present. I guess I then forgot about it!

This is a touching and heartfelt story of WWII (you know I’m a big fan!), centering on a family of children that have been torn apart by the war. The two eldest sisters (twins) are trying to keep them all together. One of them, Helena, finds an injured pilot hiding nearby and takes care of him, and (of course) they fall in love.

Here’s the overview from Amazon:

Life is a constant struggle for the eighteen-year-old Nowak twins as they raise their three younger siblings in rural Poland under the shadow of the Nazi occupation. The constant threat of arrest has made everyone in their village a spy, and turned neighbor against neighbor. Though rugged, independent Helena and pretty, gentle Ruth couldn’t be more different, they are staunch allies in protecting their family from the threats the war brings closer to their doorstep with each passing day. 

Then Helena discovers an American paratrooper stranded outside their small mountain village, wounded, but alive. Risking the safety of herself and her family, she hides Sam—a Jew—but Helena’s concern for the American grows into something much deeper. Defying the perils that render a future together all but impossible, Sam and Helena make plans for the family to flee. But Helena is forced to contend with the jealousy her choices have sparked in Ruth, culminating in a singular act of betrayal that endangers them all—and setting in motion a chain of events that will reverberate across continents and decades. 

This was a very memorable story, and I see that it is the first in a series. If I had one honest complaint, it was that I felt the pacing was rather slow for the first 85% of the book – and that was the perfect fit for the dull winter season that the children were trying to get through. Then suddenly things sped up and happened and the rest of the story was told in a flashback. I guess the novel could have been 600 pages if it was all written out, but I would have loved to read through the happenings.

Maybe that’s in the series? I really don’t know. But I do know that if you like WWII genre and stories of resiliency, this is a good one!