The Flight Nurses' War by Leah Garrett

 

First Line: It was March 13, 1945, and Ensign Jeanne Doll from Omro, Wisconsin, knew that something bad was going to happen.

My grandfather served in the Navy in the South Pacific during World War II. He was an anti-aircraft gunner who also landed men and supplies on the beachheads during the Battle of Okinawa. For this reason, I've always been interested in this area of World War II history.

I'm also interested in women's history, and I've been thrilled to see so many unwritten stories brought to life as they are in Leah Garrett's fascinating history, The Flight Nurses' War. 

Garrett follows the first group of Navy nurses ever assigned to an active combat zone. Readers learn about where the women came from, their personalities, and their experiences during the war. Some of them had never told their stories to anyone.

Their training was strenuous. Examples? Treading water for ten minutes with their hands tied behind their backs. Swimming a full mile. Hauling dead-weight bodies back and forth across the pool. Swimming 440 yards in ten minutes wearing their Navy overalls and boots. They weren't given weapons training, and they weren't given any training for what we now call PTSD, but they found themselves doing whatever was needed, and they felt honored if the wounded soldiers called them "Mom." 

The Flight Nurses' War uncovers an important part of history by telling the stories of these remarkable women. I am so glad Garrett made it possible for me to meet them.

The Flight Nurses' War: The American Women Who Saved Thousands of Lives at Iwo Jima and Okinawa 

by Leah Garrett

eISBN: 9781541605176

Seal Press © 2026

eBook, 294 pages

Non-Fiction

Rating: A

Source: NetGalley

The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

 

First Lines: Tuesday 9 March, 2010-- Guernsey 4 PM. "I think she's coming round, Anna. I'm sure I saw her blink."

When an elderly woman suffers a stroke and then begins speaking perfect French-- a language her family has never heard her speak-- her granddaughter is encouraged to unravel decades of silence, and her grandmother's wartime experiences come to light.

Eighteen-year-old Lenny Gallienne becomes a spy for Churchill by posing as a clerk in a Paris bookshop when her beloved brother is declared missing in action at Dunkirk. She encodes information into her knitting as she makes sweaters for escaped prisoners returning to England. When the Gestapo begins closing in, Lenny finds herself faced with an impossible choice in the Metro tunnels beneath Paris.

~

I learned about women using their knitting to encode messages to the Allies during World War II several years ago, so when I heard of The Resistance Knitting Club, I knew I had to read it. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

My enjoyment was hampered by two things. One, the predictable plot, and two, the main character. Lenny is a young woman who feels compelled to do more than knit socks and sweaters for soldiers when she learns her brother is missing in action at Dunkirk. She joins Churchill's secret army and uses her knitting to master Morse code during training. However, Lenny is supremely unsuited to life as a spy, either physically or mentally. For example, she faints at the drop of a hat-- something a person constantly facing danger should avoid doing. No, she really should have stayed home with her needles and yarn.

For any knitting fans out there who might want to read this book for that particular skill, it's mainly used as a hook to draw enthusiasts in. Once Lenny gets to France, the story has little to do with knitting or even knitting code. That was a bit of a disappointment, I must admit.

The Resistance Knitting Club is listed as the first in a series called Threads of Resistance. I'm afraid I won't be reading any further.

The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

eISBN: 9781837002542

Storm Publishing © 2026

eBook, 359 pages

Historical Fiction, #1 Threads of Resistance

Rating: C-

Source: Net Galley

The Secret War of Julia Child by Diane R. Chambers

 

First Line: Julia turned her face into the hot Santa Ana wind, which had swept in as if it owned the place, whipping the linen curtains, aerating the small room like a cook whisking cream.

 

 

Single, 6 foot 2, and thirty years old, Julia McWilliams began working for America's first espionage agency years before cooking or Paris ever entered her mind. Keenly ambitious, she moved from file clerk to head of General "Wild Bill" Donovan's secret File Registry as part of the Office of Strategic Services.

 

Her job took her to South Asia's remote front lines in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), India, and China where she found purpose, adventure, and love with mapmaker Paul Child.

 

 

 

 

~

 

I have to admit that I paid very little attention to Julia Child while I was growing up. She was just a woman with a funny voice who had a cooking program on television-- and I hated cooking. (I still do.) If not for the fact that I'm a fan of Meryl Streep's movies, I never would've watched Julie & Julia, and I never would've become fascinated by the woman with the funny voice-- and that fascination led me to Diana R. Chambers' The Secret War of Julia Child.

Julia Child had an unconventional mother who wanted more for her daughter. This made Julia keenly ambitious and determined to make her mark in the world. She knew she had to make a difference. I enjoyed the often poetic descriptions of the Asian landscape and how Julia sampled every bit of native cuisine that she could-- a harbinger of things to come-- but the book came up short in other areas.

One thing readers should keep in mind as they read this book is that it's not based on fact. As the author says, "I offer my story as one that exists only in the realm of possibility, a personal interpretation inspired by admiration and respect," and it is this that was the book's downfall. Julia as a spy, as a code breaker, and adept at plugging leaks? Yes, I can see that, but Chambers went on to add too much to Julia's fictional resume, almost making her an addition to the Marvel Universe of superheroes. This woman did make an impact on the world, so I don't think it was really necessary to "gild the lily."

The landscape, the food, the long, involved road to finding love with Paul Child... I enjoyed all these things, but Julia was no superhero.

The Secret War of Julia Child by Diane R. Chambers

eISBN: 9781464219054

Sourcebooks Landmark © 2024

eBook, 400 pages

 

Historical Fiction, Standalone

Rating: C+

Source: Net Galley

The Last Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal

 

First Line from Prologue: July 1943. General Walter Friedrich Schellenberg, cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth, raced his black Mercedes coupe through the dense pine forest and then up the cobblestone drive to the gates of the looming castle.

 

Maggie Hope has come a long way since she was Mr. Churchill's secretary. She's learned espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance, among other things. But now British Intelligence has ordered her to assassinate Werner Heisenberg, the physicist who may give Germany the atom bomb. Maggie is shaken to her core. How can the Allies even be sure that Germany does have the bomb? She travels to Madrid where Heisenberg is giving a lecture to gather more information.

Once in Madrid, Maggie finds her presence being requested at the British ambassador's by none other than French fashion designer, Coco Chanel. Maggie-- finally having the opportunity of a happily-ever-after of her own with John Sterling-- wants no part of being an assassin, but she knows what will happen if Germany has an atom bomb. Never have her professional and personal choices been more crucial. And... just what does Coco Chanel want with her?

~

It's always sad to see a favorite series end, but-- to be honest-- Susan Elia MacNeal's excellent Maggie Hope series had no choice. People in Maggie's line of work had notoriously short shelf lives. With everything she was being asked to do, her number was going to be up sooner rather than later. And what better way for her career to end than in this pedal-to-the-metal thrill ride, The Last Hope?

I have enjoyed every second of Maggie's service in World War II. She's grown from a bright yet naive young woman to a brave, resourceful agent for British Intelligence. In The Last Hope, Maggie finds herself in a moral dilemma facing betrayal and personal danger, and every step she took felt right to this reader. 

As usual with one of MacNeal's books, I felt right at home in the setting and time period, aided a great deal by the little details that the author added to the story. I'd often wondered how Londoners navigated bombed-out streets during the blackouts, and MacNeal mentions the "curbs painted phosphorescent white to glow in the dark." In addition, you simply have to have a bon-mot by the incomparable Winston Churchill. Once again, the man made me laugh when he said that the British "ambassador was descended from a long line of maiden aunts." I also enjoyed seeing Madrid in wartime. Maggie found it quite a change to be in a neutral country, and so did I.

 

In The Last Hope, a character asks Maggie, "Will I ever read about you?" to which Maggie replies, "Not if I do my job well." One of the things I am most grateful to Susan Elia MacNeal for is bringing to light just what so many incredibly brave women did in service to their country during World War II. Thank you, Susan. You took splendid care of Maggie, and I look forward to your new stories. 

The Last Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal

eISBN: 9780593156995

Bantam Books © 2024

eBook, 304 pages

 

Historical Mystery, #11 Maggie Hope mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

The War of Words by Molly Guptill Manning

 

First Line: When Dean Chatlain led his unit into battle in Southern Tunisia in early 1943, he did not expect the day's events would turn him into a literary hero.

 

Hitler's Germany was #1 in the number of newspapers published and sold. His propaganda budget was $134 million per year. When the United States entered World War II, US Army Chief of Staff George Marshall and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt knew that something had to be done to combat the Nazis' campaign of misinformation. The best defense was to lessen censorship and to let American troops bring the truth into focus by writing and disseminating it themselves. 

 

By war's end, over 4,600 unique GI publications had been printed around the world. In newsprint, troops made sense of their hardships, losses, and reasons for fighting, and these newspapers became the heart and soul of their units. They were kept by the soldiers and mailed back home to their loved ones, with strict instructions to save them all. 

 

From Normandy to the shores of Japan, American soldiers exercised a level of free speech the military had never known before... or since. As in her When Books Went to War (one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read), Molly Guptill Manning does a masterful job of showing what went into the creation of these GI newspapers. How typewriters, paper, mimeograph machines and stencils-- everything that the soldiers would need to create their newspapers-- were gathered and shipped. She shows the opposition George Marshall faced in putting this program together as well as how stateside newspapers enthusiastically joined forces with him. There were some mighty tender egos to be reckoned with, and I enjoyed how soldiers found ways to circumvent them to say what they wanted to say.

 

Probably the most important lesson learned by the War Department at this time was the fact that keeping soldiers and civilians in the dark actually lowered morale. At the beginning of America's entry into World War II, morale was very low. Soldiers couldn't understand why they were being sent to Europe when it was the Japanese who'd attacked Pearl Harbor. Why weren't they being sent to the Pacific? When the War Department eased up on censorship and began to let people know what was going on, morale skyrocketed. Soldiers knew what they were fighting for, and civilians were now eager to do their part in the war effort. 

 

There are so many powerful personalities to learn about in The War of Words. So many amazing stories of what had to be done to keep getting those newspapers into the hands of the troops. So many lessons those in power had to learn. (For instance, the need to provide news aimed at troops who were Black, Japanese-American, Native American, and women.)

 

On a personal note, as I read The War of Words, I was constantly reminded of my mother and a good friend who put their heads together to create a hometown newspaper for my cousin who was serving in Vietnam. Filled column by column with juicy gossip from my little farm town, it kept my cousin informed of what was going on at home-- and it became so popular that it was put on the bulletin board for everyone else to enjoy-- and they did even though they didn't know the people being gossiped about.

 

Never underestimate the power of words. 

The War of Words: How America's GI Journalists Battled Censorship and Propaganda to Help Win World War II

by Molly Guptill Manning

ASIN: B0BZJW7S7H

Blackstone Publishing © 2023

eBook, 323 pages

 

Non-Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

The Missing Father by M.J. Lee

 

First Line: March, 1943, Chungkai Camp, Thailand. It was a day just like any other.

 

It's a week before Jayne Sinclair will board a plane for Australia, but when her next-door neighbor, 80-year-old Alice Taylor, asks her if she will help find answers to Alice's questions about her parents, Jayne agrees. Yes, Alice will be taking care of her cat while she's gone, but Jayne honestly enjoys her work as a genealogical investigator. 

Alice was adopted in 1942 when she was three years old. She was never told about her birth family, and her adoptive parents even changed her Christian name. Now Alice wants to know (1) Who were her birth parents? (2) How did her mother die? (3) What happened to her missing father? Since these events occurred during the chaos of World War II, Jayne has her work cut out for her-- especially with that Australian trip looming ever closer.

~

I have found M.J. Lee's Jayne Sinclair series to be the perfect blend of history and mystery, with the added bonus being the fact that Jayne's life is very seldom ever in danger. (Sometimes I just don't want any blood and guts in the mystery I'm reading, thank you very much.)

Jayne is very close to her stepfather who moved to a nursing home when he was diagnosed with dementia. Once there, he met, fell in love with, and married another resident, and Jayne spends as much time with the pair as possible-- even planning this trip for all three of them to enjoy.

The Missing Father proves that it's never too late to learn about your ancestors, and Jayne takes readers through all the various methods to learn about your family history. Alice Taylor's case is a bit trickier since she was adopted and her name was changed but Jayne has many tricks up her sleeve and learns the truth. Finding out what happened to Alice's parents is more difficult, and I really began to wonder if Jayne was going to get the job done before the plane took off for Australia. 

The Missing Father takes readers into the chaos of World War II and the fall of Singapore to the Japanese, and although Lee doesn't gloss over the facts or the horrors of war, he never goes over the top. (I do like it when authors let readers' imaginations fill in the blanks.) In one book after another, Lee has found fascinating little-known chapters of history to bring to life, and that's one of the many reasons why I enjoy this series so much. 

If you like reading mysteries closer to the cozy end of the spectrum that also have a strong dash of history, consider reading M.J. Lee's Jayne Sinclair mysteries. Although it's better to read them in order, it's not absolutely necessary. Start anywhere, and don't be surprised if you find yourself looking for the earlier books in the series.

The Missing Father by M.J. Lee

ASIN: B09VXJYMY9

Independently Published © 2022

eBook, 314 pages

 

Genealogical Mystery, #9 Jayne Sinclair mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

 

First Lines: August 27, 1942. Washington, DC. He stood with a pocketful of diamonds and a heart full of death, watching a Russian sniper shake hands with the First Lady of the United States.

 

When Hitler's troops invade Ukraine and Russia in 1937, history student Lyudmila (Mila) Pavlichenko quits her library job, leaves her beloved little boy in the care of her parents, and enlists in the army as a sniper-- becoming a lethal hunter of Nazis known as Lady Death. When news of her three hundredth kill makes her a national heroine, Mila is taken from the bloody battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America on a goodwill tour. 

 

Still recovering from serious wounds and grieving the loss of loved ones, Mila feels isolated and totally out of place in the rarefied air of Washington, DC until an unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and an even more unexpected connection with a fellow sniper make her think she may have a chance at happiness. 

 

But there are enemies-- both old and new-- in the shadows, and Mila finds herself in the midst of the most important battle of her life. 

~

The Diamond Eye is just the sort of historical fiction that I love to read. It's based on a true story about an incredible woman, and not only did I get a feel for the era, how women survived in the military, and what the life of a sniper is like, I fell completely under the spell of Lyudmila (Mila) Pavlichenko. 

The story is told mainly by Mila, but we also hear from Eleanor Roosevelt as well as a paid assassin. How author Kate Quinn managed to write a story from these three very different points of view and keep each one of the characters so compelling is a sign of her talent, and it will definitely keep me coming back for more. (Yes, this is the first book of hers that I've read.) I also appreciated her Author's Notes as well as the bibliography at the end. The notes showed me how the author blended fact and fiction, and the bibliography will help me find the books I need for further reading.

And Lyudmila Pavlichenko is definitely a person worth reading more about. Strong, determined, smart, yet flawed, she is just the type of person to prove that you should never turn your back on historians or librarians.

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

eISBN: 9780062943521

William Morrow © 2022

eBook, 448 pages

 

Historical Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

The War Nurses by Anthea Hodgson

 

First Lines: 17 October 1945. Maisie Shipley put down her copy of The Daily News and gazed out her kitchen window, momentarily taken an ocean away, to the jungles of Sumatra, and to a beach on a small tropical island.

 

In 1941, country girls Minnie Hodgson and Margot McNee board a ship in Perth, Australia, and sail to Singapore, keen to experience a life of adventure and excitement as nurses doing their bit during wartime.

When the Japanese attack and Singapore falls, they board the Vyner Brooke to escape. The ship is bombed and sinks. In the mayhem, Minnie, Margot, and the friends they've made are separated. One group finds themselves in prisoner-of-war camps for the duration, while the other washes ashore on Bangka Island to meet a fate that should never be forgotten.

~

The War Nurses, inspired by the author's own family history, is a sensitively-written story of friendship, courage, and endurance. It is based on the true events of the Bangka Island Massacre, and not only does it have the power to inform and inspire, but it can also break your heart. I've read non-fiction accounts of the things nurses were forced to endure in Southeast Asia during World War II, and Hodgson's novel ranks right up there with them. 

The author's notes and acknowledgments at the end of the book let readers know important facts and how she pieced together the story. The mind boggles at what these women were forced to endure and at how they managed to use their wits and courage to survive in unbelievable circumstances. (One of the things that made the nurses' situation even worse was that they were not considered to be prisoners of war. They were merely "internees" and not given any of the paltry "extras" prisoners of war were allowed. This really put their creativity to the test.)

As sad and horrifying as The War Nurses could be, I also found it heartwarming to read how important and life-affirming friendship was to these women, and what they would do to endure, to live to tell others of what really happened.

 

The War Nurses by Anthea Hodgson

eISBN: 9780143779117

Michael Joseph © 2023

eBook, 401 pages

 

Historical Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear

 

First Lines: Kent, England. 1947. Every morning as Rose Mackie leaned over the bars of the wooden cot and picked up her three-year-old daughter, she gave thanks for the cottage.

 

Life in her grace-and-favor cottage in the rural English countryside is just what Elinor White has longed for. Although her fellow villagers know that her cottage was provided by the Crown for services rendered during the recent war, they have no idea that her service actually began during World War I... or how dangerous it was.

 

Elinor is happy keeping herself to herself until young farmworker Jim Mackie, his wife Rose, and their tiny daughter Susie are threatened. Jim, too, has worked hard to escape his past. He wants no part of his family's life of organized crime, but his brothers track him down and insist that he comes back for a big job they're planning-- or else.

 

Things are looking rather dire until the Mackies learn that they have Elinor White on their side. You see, Elinor White has worked almost her entire life to ensure that predators never catch their prey. Not on her watch.

 

~

 

Having been a fan of Jacqueline Winspear's long-running Maisie Dobbs series, I looked forward to seeing how her new heroine, Elinor White, would measure up. I'm happy to say that, in The White Lady, Elinor measures up quite nicely although I didn't grow to care for her as I did Maisie.

Readers see Elinor both in 1947 and as a teenager in Belgium during World War I. Her backstory illuminates Elinor's character and makes us wonder just how many other women were forced to do the same things Elinor did in order to survive. One of the most poignant scenes in The White Lady occurs when the young Elinor is attending class once her family has escaped to England. The teacher tells the girls that almost all the young men they could have been expected to marry have been slaughtered in the trenches of World War I, and that means that these girls will have to do well in school and learn how to take care of themselves; there will be no husbands to provide for them, no children to take care of them in their old age.

Elinor carries a lot of guilt for the things she had to do during both wars, and she believes that saving the Mackies from being dragged back into the criminal ways of their family is her chance for redemption. How she goes about saving them uncovers corruption in surprising places.

The White Lady is a strong story with much to say about survival, guilt, and redemption, and Elinor White is a character I wanted to embrace wholeheartedly. However, I always felt as though she never opened the door of her cottage to me, and it was that lack of emotional resonance that spoiled my reading a bit. Your mileage could definitely vary.

 

The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear

eISBN: 9780062868008

HarperCollins © 2023

eBook, 336 pages

 

Historical Mystery, Standalone

Rating: B 

Source: Net Galley

A House in the Mountains by Caroline Moorehead

 

First Line from Preface: On the evening of 12 March 1945, soon after dinner, there was a knock on the door at a modest house in one of Turin's northern suburbs, Il Terzo Quartiere, home to many of the workers in the city's vast industrial sector.

 

It wasn't until I listened to the audiobook of Mark Sullivan's Beneath a Scarlet Sky that I gave much thought to the Italian Resistance during World War II. Yes, I knew it existed, but that's about it. Then I came across A House in the Mountains, the true story of Ada, Frida, Silvia, and Bianca-- four women who risked everything to defeat Fascism in Italy-- and I knew I had to read it.

 

This is a rich, dense book filled with historical detail. I learned that Italy basically had to fight for its own survival with little outside help. The entire country and its inhabitants were held in deep suspicion by the UK and the US because of Mussolini's twenty-year reign. Besides, they believed the country was about to turn Communist anyway, and neither wanted to help Communists. Then Mussolini was overthrown, and now the Italian people had a new enemy: Germany. A sentence that made my blood run cold: "Italy, which had been a useless ally, was now occupied by men [Nazis] who had learned in Eastern Europe how to treat useless people." 

Italy was now being brutally stripped of everything the Third Reich needed to fuel the war effort, and anyone who tried to stand in the way was murdered. The first to stand up and fight back were the women of Italy, who had been totally disenfranchised during Mussolini's reign. They stood up in their thousands and joined the Resistance, risking everything for their freedom.

A House in the Mountains is fascinating and inspiring, showing how the Resistance in Italy began and how it gathered strength, and I appreciate having a much better understanding of Italy and its people now.

 

A House in the Mountains: The Women Who Liberated Italy from Fascism 

by Caroline Moorehead

eISBN: 9780062686381

Harper © 2020

eBook, 416 pages

 

Non-Fiction, #4 in The Resistance Quartet

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Mother Daughter Traitor Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal

 

First Line from Prologue: "Imagine-- it's a year from now, 1941, or maybe even '42-- and Germany and the Axis have won the war," Hermann Schwinn was saying in a thick accent.

 

After a severe lapse in judgment cost her a prestigious job in New York City, Veronica Grace and her mother, Violet, find themselves in Los Angeles looking for work. Although she still wants to pursue a career in journalism, bills must be paid, so Veronica accepts a typing job from a local high school teacher.

 

It doesn't take her long to discover that this high school teacher is an ardent supporter of the Nazis and one of their chief propagandists in southern California. Veronica wants nothing more to do with the man or his agenda, but that's when she's approached with a proposition. The man was very favorably impressed with both her work, her Aryan appearance, and her German background-- she would make the perfect spy.

 

As Veronica begins her life as a spy, her mother joins her, the older woman moving easily among the wealthy wives of California's Nazi elite. When Pearl Harbor brings the United States into the war, both women find out that the plans these dangerous men are making have a lot more to do with death and destruction than they do with disseminating propaganda leaflets.

 

~

 

Based on a true story, Susan Elia MacNeal's Mother Daughter Traitor Spy is a white-knuckle ride into a life of espionage by two women you'd never think would be spies. Veronica Grace is bright, talented, and longs for a career in journalism like her hero, Martha Gellhorn. She's so bright and so talented that I still find it hard to believe the stupid error in judgment that cost her a prestigious job in New York City.

 

Another thing that was a bit difficult to accept (but I don't know why) is what a hotbed of Nazism the Los Angeles area was in World War II. So much so that the West Coast was in much more danger than the East Coast. Learning that, back then, Anaheim was called "Klanaheim" made my blood run cold. (When reading this book, do yourself a favor: read the author's notes, sources, and inspirations.)

One of the best parts of Mother Daughter Traitor Spy was how MacNeal showed the concurrent tedium and terror of being a spy. Veronica and Violet's determination and strength of character shone through all the long months they put themselves in danger. It is a life that not many people are suited for, and a life in which one of the most important lessons to be learned is that "nice isn't the same as good."

This is a strong fictional account of two remarkable women that has disturbing ties to the present day. I'm glad I met Veronica and Violet.

Mother Daughter Traitor Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal

eISBN: 9780593156964

Bantam Books © 2022

eBook, 336 pages

 

Standalone Historical Thriller

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

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.

~

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

by Robert J. Mrazek

eISBN: 9780316422246

Hachette Books © 2020

eBook, 420 pages

 

Non-Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

The Physicists' Daughter by Mary Anna Evans

 

First Line: September 1944. Justine Byrne liked taking out the trash.

After making numerous repairs on equipment that keeps failing for no good reason, Justine Byrne knows there has to be a saboteur in the factory where workers are constructing planes, ships, and top-secret parts in the Carbon Division.

Having been raised by her physicist parents to think logically, Justine also can't help thinking about the oddly shaped carbon gadgets being manufactured and shipped out as quickly as possible. It only makes sense that those items are important to the war effort and something the saboteur is willing to kill for.

Is there anyone that Justine can trust in her determination to find the spy in the factory? She could be killed if she relies on the wrong person.

 

~

The Physicists' Daughter is quite a break from author Mary Anna Evans' Faye Longchamp series about an archaeologist in Florida, and she handles the World War II setting with aplomb. Justine and her newly found best friend Georgette Broussard give readers a taste of what Rosie the Riveter had to contend with in war-time factory work, but it's not all work and no play. Justine, whose life has always centered on education and the mind, learns how to jitterbug and how to deal with the men buzzing around her like bees-- with the help of Georgette, that is.

 

Other characters, like Mavis, whose job doesn't begin to cover the loss of her husband's wages now that he's fighting in the war; Georgette, my favorite character who comes from a poverty-stricken background out in the bayous of Louisiana; and Justine's Aunt Gloria (is she or is she not paranoid?) keep the story moving as the reader tries to guess the identity of the spy in their midst.

 

An extremely dangerous scene at the end is compelling, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my deductions weren't entirely correct. All in all, The Physicists' Daughter is a fast-paced tale filled with plenty of interesting characters and World War II flavor. 

 

The Physicists' Daughter by Mary Anna Evans

eISBN: 9781464215568

Poisoned Pen Press © 2022

eBook, 352 pages

 

Historical Mystery, Standalone

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

Sisters of Night and Fog by Erika Robuck

 

First Line: How could I think returning to this place would be a good idea?

 

Despite her family in Florida begging her to return to the United States, Virginia d’Albert-Lake decides to stay with her French husband because-- if they keep their heads down-- they should be safe. In London, Nineteen-year-old Violette Szabo has seen too much tragedy in her short life, and she's determined to do her bit to defeat the Germans. She enlists in the SOE.

 

Both women are part of the Resistance against the Nazis, but their work comes to a grinding halt when they are brought together in the Ravensbrück concentration camp. The decisions they make now are going to not only change their own lives but the lives of many others as well.

 

~

 

Based on true stories of the lives of an American socialite and a British secret agent, Sisters of Night and Fog shows the triumph of the human spirit through years of sacrifice, deprivation, and horror. The author, knowing that most of us would not know these stories, scattered a chapter here and there throughout the book about a nameless woman returning to Ravensbrück concentration camp for a ceremony in 1995. I think readers were supposed to be kept on tenterhooks, wondering which one of these two women survived. It didn't take me long to make up my mind since the Robuck did such an excellent job of describing each woman's personality.

 

Sometimes it can be the smallest detail that brings a book to life for me, and that's what happened to me while reading Sisters of the Night and Fog. A small detail, something I'd never given a second's thought brought home how brilliant the Nazis were at degrading and humiliating human beings who did not meet their ideals. The small detail involves blood, and that's all I'm going to say. 

The first half of the book drags as the author sets the scene, and the pace doesn't begin to pick up until both women actively start participating in fighting the Nazis. After reading what these people had to do to survive and to emerge victorious, I only hope we never have to face such a situation again. We've been so spoiled since World War II that I wonder if we still have such strength and determination within us. 

Sisters of Night and Fog by Erika Robuck

eISBN: 9780593102176

Berkley © 2022

eBook, 480 pages

 

Historical Fiction, Standalone

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

Halsey's Typhoon by Bob Drury & Tom Clavin

 

First Line from Preface: Chief Quartermaster Archie DeRyckere was more astonished than frightened.

 

Even the most popular and victorious admiral in the U.S. Navy can make mistakes. Charged with defending General MacArthur's flank during the invasion of the Philippine island of Mindoro with his 30,000-man Third Pacific Fleet, Admiral William "Bull" Halsey attempted a complicated refueling maneuver and sailed 170 ships straight into the teeth of a massive typhoon.

 

Men and ships found themselves battling 90-foot waves and 150 mph winds. Three ships were sunk, and almost 900 sailors and officers were swept into the Philippine Sea. For three days, survivors battled the weather, dehydration, exhaustion, and sharks. Ultimately, it was up to Lieutenant Commander Henry Lee Plage to defy orders and sail the badly damaged USS Tabberer back into the storm to rescue the drifting sailors.

 

~

 

I would imagine the first question is why this crime fiction lover chose to read a book about a tragedy at sea during World War II. The answer is simple: my grandfather. My grandfather served in the US Navy aboard an LST in the South Pacific during World War II. He drove landing craft up on the beachheads and also served as an anti-aircraft gunner. He was very tight-lipped about his service, only mentioning three things. One of them was being caught in a typhoon and how everyone aboard was well beyond being merely seasick. When I read the synopsis of Halsey's Typhoon, I wondered if this could be the typhoon my grandfather mentioned. 

When I finished reading the book, I did a little research and compared some dates. This wasn't the typhoon my grandfather mentioned, and for that, I am eternally thankful. What I couldn't foresee was how emotionally involved I would be as I read Halsey's Typhoon. Of course, I learned things. What makes a typhoon in the Pacific deadlier than a hurricane in the Atlantic. How ships were refueled at sea. I learned about ship design and how retro-fitting some of the old destroyers in the Pacific Third Fleet sealed their doom during the typhoon. (Stay away from top-heavy ships.) I also gained respect for a future president who survived this tragedy.

 

Authors Bob Drury and Tom Clavin gave us readers Halsey's background, they set the scene, they let the typhoon bludgeon us then cast us adrift in rough seas with no water and no protection from the sharks before letting us be rescued. Reading this book was sometimes exhausting. I was completely emotionally invested in Halsey's Typhoon. I grew to know the men, to care about what happened to them. I was a nervous, seasick wreck during the horrendous typhoon. I cried as the ships sank and men-- most of them barely out of their teens-- desperately tried to save themselves. And my heart swelled when the commander of the badly damaged USS Tabberer defied orders in order to continue to search for and rescue survivors. As far as I'm concerned, there would never be enough medals to give Lieutenant Commander Henry Lee Plage. 

When all is said and done, what was at the heart of this hushed-up disaster? I think it can be summed up in one sentence from the book: "Meteorology was not high on the U.S. Navy's list of wartime priorities." That is not wise when you're responsible for thousands of men aboard hundreds of ships traveling vast expanses of water that are at the mercy of the weather.

 

Halsey's Typhoon is a brilliantly written piece of wartime naval history that reads like the best fiction. I couldn't put it down. 

Halsey's Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue 

by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin

eISBN: 9781555846299

Atlantic Monthly Press © 2007

eBook, 414 pages

 

Non-Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day

 

First Line: 3 September 1939. The mistress of the house was at work on the mayonnaise when the kitchen wireless began to speak of war.

 

A terrible mistake at a London hospital has left Bridey Kelly's dream of becoming a nurse in tatters. Her only chance of redemption is to take a position in the countryside caring for children evacuated to safety from London. 

 

Greenway House is beautiful; filled with curios that must not be touched, rooms that are off-limits, and a generous library. Bridey can't overcome the feeling that it's also filled with secrets. In particular, her fellow nurse, Gigi, is unlike any nurse Bridey has ever seen, and she spends more time shirking her duties than helping Bridey take care of ten children under the age of five. 

 

When a body washes ashore near the house, Bridey not only realizes that she's seen the victim before but the man's death was not an accident. He was murdered. The death has an effect on the suspicious villagers as well as the inhabitants of Greenway House. Bridey even begins reading Mrs. Christie's books in the library to find clues as to how to find out what happened.

 

~

 

Death at Greenway is an evocation of time and place, a character study, more than a mystery. The story does have multiple points of view, but it is mainly told by Bridey Kelly, the young woman with a tragic past who only wants to save lives. Greenway House may belong to Agatha Christie, and her presence is indeed felt in her holiday home, but she is very seldom seen in residence. This story has nothing to do with her and everything to do with the house's other inhabitants. 

 

Greenway House is shrouded in mystery. So many of the people Bridey comes in contact with seem to be hiding something. Gigi, with her lacy knickers and long polished fingernails, is like no nurse Bridey has ever seen, and it's maddening how she gets away with doing very little work and sneaking out of the house at night. The more readers come in contact with the characters, the more the suspense and unease build. It's quickly learned that being away from the bombs falling nightly in London does not mean these people are safe. As the days, weeks, and months pass, think location, location, location, and some of the puzzle pieces may start falling into place. 

 

There are some wonderful scenes in Death at Greenway, some of them heartbreaking. Mrs. Arbuthnot telling off a suspicious villager. The Wrens with their signal flags. Cecilia Poole and little Sam. And the acknowledgments and notes at the back are not to be missed. Does  Bridey ever find out just what was going on around Greenway House? Yes, but the journey she takes to overcome her past is often more interesting than the mystery. Lori Rader-Day's characters will be inhabiting the dark, furtive corners of my mind for some time to come.

Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day

eISBN: 9780062938053

William Morrow © 2021

eBook, 448 pages

 

Historical Mystery, Standalone

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan

 

First Line: In early February 2006, I was forty-seven and at the lowest point of my life.

 

Pino Lella is a typical seventeen-year-old boy, obsessed with girls, music, girls, movies, girls, food, girls... He wants nothing to do with the Nazis or the Fascists there in his beloved Milan. The night he meets and falls in love with Anna, the bombing of Milan begins. For safety, Pino's parents send him to a monastery high in the Italian Alps where he begins helping the priests take Jewish refugees through treacherous mountain passes to Switzerland.

 

But then the Nazis begin conscripting Italian men and sending them to fight on the Russian front, an almost certain death sentence. Pino's parents force him back to Milan to enlist with the Germans, hoping it will keep him away from Russia. It works, and an accident proves even more providential to the young boy. Pino becomes the personal driver of Adolph Hitler's right hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich's most mysterious and powerful commanders.

 

Thus begins the next chapter in Pino's life as he spies for the Allies, keeping what he's doing from everyone, even his little brother who's fighting with the Partisans. Pino becomes witness to the horrors the Nazis inflict upon his country. The only thing that bolsters his resolve is his love for Anna and the life they will share after the war is over.

 

~

 

Mark Sullivan does an amazing job of bringing readers right into the life of Pino Lella, a real man and the incredible things he accomplished during World War II. Pino's voice and behavior at the very beginning when his mind is filled with daydreams of falling in love with the perfect girl made me smile. What a typical teenager! And then, the things this young boy is able to do with scarcely batting an eye. 

For me, the best parts of Beneath a Scarlet Sky involved the action scenes: leading refugees through high, treacherous mountain passes to safety in Switzerland, attacks by thugs thinly disguised as partisans, driving a staff car while being strafed by an Allied plane, running through the streets of Milan in fear for his life after the war is over... Sullivan had me experiencing it all right alongside Pino.

Sullivan also had me meeting so many fascinating people like the Cardinal of Milan, General Leyers, and the priests in that monastery high in the Alps. I really appreciated the fact that the end of the book told us about Pino's life after the war and what happened to many of the other people in the book.

In listening to the audiobook, the narrator's attempts at various female voices did make me smile from time to time, but he never failed to keep me focused on the story. I love learning about unsung heroes, and I think it's wonderful that we can finally get to know Pino Lella, a very atypical teenager in a very atypical time.

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan

Narrated by Will Damron

ASIN: B06XSSFK6D

Brilliance Audio © 2017

Audiobook. 17 hours 43 minutes.

 

Historical Fiction, Standalone

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Audible.

Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara

First Line: Rose was always there, even while I was being born.

 

For twenty-year-old Aki Ito and her family, the happy, prosperous world they knew in Los Angeles is gone forever. Imprisoned in Manzanar since Pearl Harbor, Aki and her parents have finally been released, but they're being moved further east to Chicago to rejoin Aki's older sister, Rose. 

When they arrive, it's to the news that Rose committed suicide by jumping in front of a train at Chicago's Clark and Division station. Aki is convinced that her beloved sister did not commit suicide. The police can't be bothered to look into Rose's death any further, so Aki knows that finding the truth is up to her. What she doesn't realize is just how many secrets she will be uncovering to discover what really happened.

~

If you've never read about the lives of Japanese Americans during World War II, you should read Naomi Hirahara's Clark and Division. Readers follow twenty-year-old Aki Ito and her family from their happy pre-Pearl Harbor lives in Los Angeles to their imprisonment in Manzanar in California's Owens Valley to their resettlement in the Japanese American neighborhood of Clark and Division in Chicago.

Readers see everything through Aki's eyes. She worships her older sister, Rose, who is beautiful, intelligent, and accomplished-- everything that Aki wishes she was. In comparison, Aki feels like a slow, unattractive lump, and it's not until the Itos have been in Chicago for a while that it becomes clear that Aki has been selling herself short for most of her life.

Life in Chicago isn't easy. Even giving Rose a proper burial is difficult since cemeteries are not accepting Japanese interments, and Aki cannot believe how everyone seems comfortable with the verdict of suicide on Rose's death. As she juggles her job at the Newberry Library with dealing with her parents, she still finds time to search for answers because she thinks nothing of fighting for her sister even though she won't fight for herself. 

Hirahara does an excellent job of weaving a real feeling of menace into the story, and the mystery is a satisfying one to try to solve. But more than a mystery, it's the story of the Japanese American experience during World War II that's the star of Clark and Division. Watching Aki navigate her way through governmental roadblocks, prejudice, lies, and fear to finally begin to get a real sense of herself and what she's capable of is the best part of this book, and the author's list of suggested reading at the end is invaluable.

Mystery, character study, history... Clark and Division is a story that you won't want to put down until you've read the very last page.

 

Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara

eISBN: 9781641292504

Soho Press © 2021

eBook, 312 pages

 

Historical Mystery, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley