Monday, July 11, 2022

The Indomitable Florence Finch by Robert J. Mrazek

 
First Line: At twenty-nine, Florence Ebersole Smith knew the depths of terror as well as she knew her own family-- at least those who were still alive.
 
When Florence Finch died at the age of 101, her neighbors in Ithaca, New York, were in for a huge surprise. Their neighbor was a Presidential Medal of Freedom winner, her courage and sacrifice unsurpassed in the fight against the Japanese during World War II. She was so used to keeping secrets in service to the Allies that she waited over fifty years to tell her own children of her experiences.

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Robert Mrazek's compelling book opens the door on Florence Finch's life. From her childhood in the Philippines where she grew up on a plantation run by her eccentric American World War I veteran father to her dealings with bigotry as a mestiza in a boarding school in Manila, Florence learned resilience and resourcefulness. Her intelligence and compassion were innate.

After a brief marriage to an American serviceman, Florence was widowed. As the Japanese took control of the Philippines and life became increasingly dangerous for all Filipinos, Florence took an important job with the company supplying the Japanese fighting forces with fuel-- all the while trying to rein in a spoiled teenage niece who couldn't understand why she shouldn't go out any time she felt like it to be with her friends. (I still want to shake some sense into that girl!)
 
Florence was an incredible person. While most people would be content with staying out of trouble and finding enough food to put on the table, Florence wanted to help. She devised ways to divert fuel from the Japanese to sell on the black market, which not only aided the Filipino Resistance, but was also used to help as many prisoners of war as she possibly could, supplying them with desperately needed food and medicine. (The Japanese didn't acknowledge the Geneva Convention concerning the humane treatment of prisoners of war.) And all the time, Japan's grip on her country was tightening. All the time, they were closing in on what Florence was doing.

Mrazek had access to primary source materials (including taped interviews) that bring the time period and Florence's activities right out of the shadows and into the blazing sun where they belong. I was familiar with American military experiences in that part of the world for two reasons. During his service in the U.S. Navy during World War II, my grandfather spent a lot of time sailing in and out of the Philippines. Some of the mementos he brought home include items from the occupying Japanese forces. In addition, a man from the little farm town where I grew up actually survived the Bataan Death March. But my attention had focused almost entirely on the experiences of the military. What Mrazek brought to horrifying life for me was what the people of the Philippines-- of Manila-- went through, especially when the Japanese began to leave. I was sickened... and it made me hold Florence Finch in even higher regard. This woman epitomizes the strength and resiliency and beauty of the human spirit, and she deserves to be much better known than she is.

The Indomitable Florence Finch may not be the easiest book to read, but it's a book that should be read, and I'm glad I did. We all need to know that wonderful human beings like her exist.


The Indomitable Florence Finch: The Untold Story of a War Widow Turned Resistance Fighter and Savior of American POWs
eISBN: 9780316422246
Hachette Books © 2020
eBook, 420 pages
 
Non-Fiction, Standalone
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from Amazon.

21 comments:

  1. She sounds like an amazing person. I don't really want to read about the mistreatment of Filipino people by the Japanese, as I read about that against Koreans in Pachinko and against Chinese people in A Night in Shanghai, plus online sources. My uncle Ryan was stationed in the Philippines during WWII, but I never heard any war stories. He did survive.

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    1. My grandfather spoke of only two things. One, his ship was caught in a typhoon and everyone was so sick that they wanted to die. Two, during one battle, kamikazes sunk the ships on either side of his. He had horrific nightmares when he got home, and he refused to watch war movies.

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  2. She sounds fascinating, Cathy! And such courage! Sometimes those real-life stories are more interesting, and peopled with more heroic characters than anything a fiction author could write. I'm glad her story is out there for people to read. This is the sort of history we need to preserve, in my opinion.

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  3. I agree that this is the type of history that is often little known and it also should be known and preserved and understood, if possible. My father was in the Army in WWII and was in the Philippines for part of his time. He never talked about it. He did have some mementos of that period, but as he never talked about them, we didn't understand much. He did contract malaria in that area of the world. Think it was pretty bad. Also, he never ever ate bananas. Suspect they must have eaten some that were bad or not ripe or something. Thanks for telling us about this book and this amazing woman.

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    1. I wonder if you're the same as me in believing that those who have all these war stories really didn't do much in the war while those who never speak of it did the lion's share.

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  4. Florence sounds like an amazing person! And what a life she led. I'm getting this book for mom; she would totally love this one. :)

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  5. We have Filipino members in our family and I know a little about the subject matter of this book (although I had not heard of Florence) from them. They are a resilient and determined people. It sounds as though Florence was an excellent example of those qualities.

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  6. What a fascinating read, especially when you bring your personal experience into it. I have no knowledge of this particular aspect of WWII. I agree that Florence Finch deserves to be better known. Sounds like this book is a great way to do that.

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  7. This sounds terrific - thanks for pointing it out!

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  8. That sounds as such an amazing and inspirational woman! Added the book to my list and will start reading ASAP. Thank you for the review. (I am new here, found out about your blog a couple of weeks ago and I am totally in love with it. I added to my homepage to make sure I don't miss any new posts)

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    1. I'm glad you found me, Gislaine. I hope you enjoy reading about Florence!

      Do you have a blog?

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    2. No, I don`t. I thought about starting one around ten years ago but it never turned into anything more than an idea haha

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    3. Thanks for letting me know. I started out with three but came to my senses shortly thereafter and stuck with just one. :-)

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    4. You will really like this blog, very good book reviews which will send you scurrying to get piles of books, and lots of interesting conversations. But hide your credit card, as you will find many books you want to read.

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