January 7, 2021

The Indomitable Florence Finch: The Untold Story of a War Widow turned Resistance Fighter and Savior of American POWs (2020)

By Robert Mrazek

Florence Ebersol is the daughter of a successful ex-pat American farmer and his Philippine wife; age 7 Florence is sent to Manila to a church-run boarding school, where she is an outstanding student who goes on to work for the US servicemen's club and marries an American seaman, Lt "Bing" Smith.  But Japan bombs Pearl Harbor and America, along with the Philippines, is drawn into the second world war.  Only 6 months after their wedding, Bing is killed while rescuing another sailor.  Florence determines to aid the war effort and is hired to work in military intelligence.  When the Japanese take over Manila and Florence's boss Carl Engelhardt is captured, Florence finds work with the Japanese agency controlling oil supplies and transport.  But while conscientiously doing her job by day, Florence conceives a way to steal and sell oil shipments using the funds to aid POWS who, for the most part, receive no or little food from their Japanese captors.  Following the Bataan death march and fall of Corregidor, conditions worsen and Florence is arrested.  She never confesses her role and survives the torture, weight loss, and horror of the Japanese occupation.  For American POWs, the conditions worsen and few survive.  Gen Douglas MacArthur has promised "I shall return" from Australia to his beloved Philippine islands, but his return with a conquering US army will take years and his victory will follow unimaginable destruction but the Japanese.

The author, a former NY congressman, also tells the parallel stories of Carl Engelhardt (with access to his diary entries) and Japanese businessman Ozawa, Florence's boss at the oil depot.

Florence is an inspiration.  She died at age 101 in Ithaca, NY - where few neighbors ever knew of her important role in saving lives during WW2.

September 11 2020

Forbidden Diary: A Record of Wartime Internment, 1941-1945 (1980) by Natalie Crouter (ed by Lynn Z Bloom)

Natalie, a well-educated Boston woman met and married her businessman husband Jerry in the Philippines while on vacation.  Jerry hailed from Colorado, and the Crouters raised their two children, June and Frederick, in Baguio, where their many friends included not only American and Brit expats but also Filipinos and Chinese.  Jerry recruited workers for the sugar fields of Hawaii, as well as operating a gas station and insurance agency in the Philippines.  Natalie volunteered with the Red Cross.  But their pleasant circumstances started to deteriorate, especially with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and American declaration of war.  Along with the other Americans, the Crouters were moved to a concentration camp, albeit in a beautiful location and with a fairly benign director, but still facing shortages of food and privacy as the war dragged on.  She describes "the beauty of the pieces, blue sky, clouds and moutons...we do not notice the barbed wire, fence, or guards, bayonets or guns" (Feb 6, 1942), the thoughtful acts "stronger arms doing the personal washing for older or weaker people; sharing of food packages with those who got none..." (Feb 26, 1942) - but also of escalations of war, a funeral of a premature baby in the camp and of "using so many of the Red Cross garments ourselves" that they had made for the relief of others.  Of course conditions will deteriorate further as food becomes scarcer.  I didn't finish the 500+ pages diary (hope to borrow it again!), and note that the editor had condensed it from over 5000 pages of notes originally compiled by Natalie on bits of envelopes or margins of book ages and hidden among supplies (keeping a diary was forbidden).  Natalie's family's experience is yet another look at war from the civilian perspective.

I learned of this diary from my old friend Roy Katz, who was a student in Frederick Crouter's social studies class in Fair Lawn, NJ (before the publication of Mr Crouter's mother's diary).  I was glad the book was still available in a RI library.

August 14 2020

 

The Paris Architect (2013)

By Charles Belfoure

This novel is reminiscent of Anne Frank's diary of her family's years in hiding in Amsterdam and of Corrie Ten Boom's memoir of her family's efforts to keep their Jewish neighbors safe.  In 1942 Lucien Bernard is a French architect who is just trying to keep under the Gestapo radar in occupied Paris.  Hardly a member of the resistance, he is more interested in maintaining a playboy lifestyle than saving Jews.  But work is scarce, and he is intrigued by an offer to design a hiding place for a wealthy Jew.  Knowing that any effort to help Jews could cost him his life, Lucien is persuaded only when the offer is accompanied by a much more lucrative offer to design a munitions plant outside Paris for the Germans, a move that could label him as a collaborator.

Lucien thrives in his double life, enjoying a growing friendship with Captain Herzog, the urbane German counterpart of his French employer, but getting more commissions to hide Jewish leaders.  At each location, Lucien surveys each room, finally deciding on the least obvious location for a hiding place.  At one point, he is asked to take in Pierre, a 12-year-old Jewish orphan.  Against his better judgment, Lucien acquiesces and his life is changed as he becomes a devoted father to Pierre.  Eventually, however, an architectural intern begins to suspect Lucien, and his position becomes ever more dangerous.

This book is not for the fainthearted, featuring some terrifying scenes.  But it was a page-turner, and I was not surprised to learn that the author is an architect by profession, and has published a number of other architect thrillers, as well as architectural histories.

August 3 2020

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Blitz (2020)
By Erik Larson

As always, Erik Larson highlights not only events but personalities and relationships in his fascinating documentary of the Battle of Britain, and mainly about the leader who was faced with daily agonizing decisions amid new horrors of war.  From the unlikely British evacuation at Dunkirk to America's finally coming aboard as a full ally, Prime Minister Winston Churchill is truly the right man at the right time in history.  Initially one of the few leaders (in the UK and on the continent) to face up to Hitler, Churchill leads his people as they face near nightly bombing raids and ever alarming events abroad.

Among the case of characters is the very effective Max Beaverbrook (in charge of production of aircraft and a fierce ally of Churchill's), war minister "Pug" Ismay, John Colville (one of Churchill's secretaries, whose notes are an important source of personal information for this book), and two American representatives of FDR: sickly (but sharp) Harry Hopkins and dashing Averill Harriman, who keep the president up to date on the war efforts and try to convince FDR to join the allied cause.

Churchill's family, especially Clementine, daughter Mary (those diary also provides important material) and daughter-in-law Pamela - who are mostly present at the PM's three residences : 10 Downing St, Checquers (PM retreat), and Ditchley (country getaway and home of Lord and Lady Tree) - play supporting roles, with Mary (whose diary relates much of her 17-year-old's crushes and concerns) coming aboard as a war officer manning an actual gun in southern England.  English citizens were invited to keep personal diaries of the war, and Larson also draws on several of these, giving his account a fresh and personal feel.

Larson also brings the German leaders alive, particularly the vain Herman Goerring and propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, as well as a German ace pilot trying to do his job in a horrible war.

My respect for Winston Churchill continues to grow.  He is portrayed as having odd personal habits (he was a late riser and an early drinker) but he was surely the man of the hour.   If not for Churchill, most of Europe might be fascist or Nazi today.

June 30 2020

Abigail (1970) by Magda Szabo
Translated from the Hungarian by Len Rix (2020)

Written 50 years ago, and only now translated into English, Abigail is a war story unlike any I've read before. Gina Vitay, the 14-year-old heroine, is the beloved only child of a prominent widowed military leader in World War II Hungary.  Educated at home by a French tutor and accustomed to concerts and other cultural events in her native Budapest, Gina is naturally upset when in the fall of 1943, her father brings her to a strict religious boarding school far from home.  Initially furious with her father, she alienates her fellow students and runs away.  Fortunately, she is caught by one of the teachers and returned to the school.  Eventually, she learns that her father is in some danger and the only way to keep Gina safe is to hide her whereabouts.  Eventually she endears herself to the other girls, after much soul searching, but she constantly fears for her father's safety, and she inadvertently compromises her own safety more than once.  She learns about the mysterious Abigail, a garden statue who helps the girls when they're in need, and wonders who is behind Abigail's notes and help?

This is a suspenseful story on many levels, but as a coming-of-age story has many humorous and endearing moments involving the girls' camaraderie, first love, and their relationships with the teachers.  Gina is a feisty, likely heroine.  Magda Szabo, who was herself a teacher in Hungary during the Germany and Russian occupations (1944-45), writes compassionately and very well.   Len Rix has produced an excellent translation that neither feels like reading through a foggy lens nor in simplistic language, as is the case with many translated works, but feels fresh and immediate.  I could hardly put this book down!

December 6 2019

A Bell for Adano (1943)

By John Hersey

This story, published during the second world war, made me feel good about my country - especially at a time when our current president lacks ethics and honesty.

In 1943, American Major Victor Joppolo has been tasked with bringing democracy to Adano, a small Italian town where the residents have been intimidated into submission by a corrupt mayor and Fascist government.   Joppolo sets up shop in the old city hall and earns the people's trust; he hires an office assistant and a translator, even though Joppolo (whose parents were born in Florence) speaks fluent Italian.  He enlists the US Navy to remove land mines, so fishermen can get back to work and the people of Adano can eat.  But Victor does manage to make an important enemy in Gen Marvin, the American leader of Italian ops, when he countermands an order restricting donkey carts from Adano.  Marvin, in a fit of pique over a stalled cart, has them banned altogether, but Joppolo, knowing carts are crucial to supplying water and other necessities, changes the order so the townspeople can eat.  This fateful decision plays in the background through the story, even as Joppolo works to replace the town's beloved old bell that had marked the hour for centuries until being melted down to make bullets.  Maj Joppolo represents the best of the American military - not perfect - but working to restore faith and humanity to a town devastated by war.

December 12

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir (2017)
By Jennifer Ryan

This story begins with the funeral of Edmund Winthrop, the town of Chilbury's first casualty of World War II.  Edmund was a bully, and even his sisters don't seem overly upset, but their father is another story.  "The Brigadier" has lost his only son and heir, and thus faces the prospect of losing the family estate.  Fortunately, his wife is expecting a baby very soon; as long as she gives birth to a boy, all will be well.  Just to be on the safe side, the Brigadier corners the somewhat shady midwife Edwina Paltry at his son's collation.  Since several women in Chilbury are due to give birth at about the same time; Edwina agrees to guarantee a male heir.  Surely at least one of the babies will be a male - hopefully, the Winthrops'.  But if not, Edwina will just arrange a clandestine swap.

Set during the spring and summer of 1940, the town of Chilbury is well within the sights of Luftwaffe bombers.  The war affects the residents of this small town in many ways.  Lots of soldiers and naval officers are serving, leaving the choir without male voices.  The ladies decide to persevere, anyway, and they find camaraderie and support as they rehearse and perform together.  Told through letters and journal and diary entries, we meet the two Winthrop sisters, Venetia, 17, and Kitty, almost 14.  Venetia falls in love with a somewhat eccentric young artist whom she suspects of black marketeering and possibly spying for the enemy.  Kitty's life revolves mostly around the choir and she takes private lessons from Prim, its new leader.  Sylvie, a Czech Jewish refugee, is temporarily lodging with the Winthrops as well.  Mrs Margaret Tilling, a widowed nurse, is truly in the thick of the war.  Her only son, David, has just enlisted and she is stuck with doing her part for the war effort, resentfully billeting a soldier, Col Mallard, in David's room.  Mrs Tilling is often called upon to care for the wounded and also serves as a midwife; she is puzzled by the circumstances surrounding the birth of Rose Lovell, her neighbor's baby, and Lawrence Winthrop.

Reminiscent of the recent Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society, another epistolary novel set during the War, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir is peopled with likable characters who noticeably change and grow as their circumstances become more difficult.  While the southeast corner of England was not occupied as the Channel Islands were, it was still a dangerous place.  War can bring out the best and worst in people, and author Ryan has surely brought out some of the best in this wonderful novel.

Note: I read the audio version and found the narrations to be excellent, particularly Edwina Paltry

November 21: A belated tribute to veterans

Soldier from the War Returning (2009)
By Thomas Childers

Military historian Childers, a professor at the Univ of Pennsylvania, tells the compelling stories of soldiers returning from World War 2 and how they are forever changed by their experiences in the war.  He zeroes in on three specific servicemen and their very different backgrounds, wartime experiences and coping mechanisms.  Surprisingly this is a page-turner.

We learn that not all soldiers return from the front and go on with their lives as before.  Many struggled, never able to come to terms with what they'd seen and done.  Childers tells the story of his own father who, though a responsible family man who stayed in his marriage, was always distant.  Allen Willis lost a leg and struggled to cope with his changed life and his marriage.  Michael Gold was a Jewish POW in Germany.  After the war, he married, had 3 sons, and earned an MD; although he had a successful practice, he struggled and, as with Allen, his marriage failed.  He did eventually come to terms with his wartime experience, remarried and moved to Barrington, where he participated in book discussion group led by Lauri Burke and me.  During the course of the discussions, he mentioned that he was doing interviews for this fascinating book.

As a member of the baby boom generation, I knew plenty of men who fought in the war, but I don't recall any - even my own father - who readily spoke about their experiences.  This book tells the story of at least some of the soldiers whose lives were forever changed by the pain and suffering of war.

Childers also authored the comprehensive World War II : a military and social history, part of the Great Courses series.

September 9

A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II (2013)

By Adam Makos and Larry Alexander

Just a few days before Christmas 1943, an American bomber pilot is returning from his first mission, struggling to fly his damaged B-17 out of German airspace and towards the channel and his base in England. Suddenly he is intercepted by a Messerschmitt fighter, an ace able to take him down in a minute.  But that doesn't happen; instead, the German fighter pilot surprisingly escorts the young American to safety, a move that would have earned him a court martial if the truth were revealed to the Luftwaffe.

Military historian Makos, along with biographer Larry Alexander create a dual biography of the American, 2nd Lt Charlie Brown of West Virginia, and the German, 2nd Lt Franz Stigler.  Both pilots face horrible odds, watch their friends' planes burst into flames, take off in sandstorms and fog, and basically win the odds.  As the "enemy" pilot, it is Stigler's story that is especially riveting. Stigler is a deeply religious Catholic; he loves flying and was already employed as a commercial pilot with Lufthansa at the time the war broke out.  Drafted against his will, he nevertheless proves to be an ace in an ever lengthening war with ever decreasing resources.  Towards the end of the war, young pilots are being sent into combat with only 6 weeks of training (!) and are piloting aircraft with grossly inferior parts and fuels.  At the war's end, Franz is among a small percentage of pilots who have survived.

Fifty years later, Brown wants to search out the pilot who let him live.  He finds Franz, now living in Canada.  Franz explains that Charlie's plane had been so severely damaged, and he could see that his gunners were so injured, that it didn't seem right to attack. Thanks to Franz's merciful act, both men lived full lives, both dying in 2008.

In the midst of a horrible war, an act of mercy stands out.

September 8

Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Mysteries of World War II (2004)

By Robert Kurson

This amazing story follows a group of shipwreck divers, two in particular (John Chatterton and Richie Kohler) who discover an old German U-Boat off the coast of New Jersey in 1991.  Finding a sub this close to the US coast was extraordinary, especially one that had sunk in its watery grave half a century earlier.  The divers seek clues to the identity of the sub (many were lost during the second world war), and their detective work requires numerous dives as the work is restricted to the length of time their air supply would last.  The sub was in deep water, and it was crucial to allow ample time for divers to return to the surface after each trip to the sub. These divers are risk takers in a sport that offers great prizes (a sunken ship's bell was the holy grail for divers) but also potential disaster; ascending too fast, especially as one's air supply is depleting, can cause illness and even death.

The author has done extensive research, both in Germany and the US, and he introduces us to the lives of the German officers who piloted the sub and whose remains lie forever buried inside it.  He manages to honor them, and gives credit to the divers who, while highly motivated and skilled, are not often the best role models.

I learned a lot, not just about the joys and challenges of diving, but also about the Germans who participated in a war far, far from home.

September 1

Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany (2001)

By Stephen Ambrose

My father served in the US Navy and flew an Avenger, but that was close enough to kindle my interest in the men of the US Army Air Corps who flew the much larger B-24s.

The pilots and crews of the WW2 B-24s were truly courageous.  These planes were difficult to fly; they were unheated (skin would stick to the frozen aluminum skin of the plane's interior, so gloves were imperative), they had no bathroom facilities, cabin pressure was not regulated, space was often so tight that crewmen had to remove parachutes just to fit in their designated spaces.  The worst positions were probably the ball gunner who sat curled up in a cramped position underneath the plane and the nose gunner in the plane's front.  The pilot may have had a more comfortable seat, but he was the one tasked with the safety of the crew and accomplishment of the mission.  Ambrose cites as an example former presidential candidate George McGovern, who was a member of this ambitious contingent of men who offered their skills (and in many cases, their lives) to serve their country.  Ambrose follows McGovern as he goes through his training (a lengthy and thorough process) and deployment to Italy.  The magic number of missions is 35, at which point the captain has fulfilled his service.  Sadly, many pilots never make it to that number; their planes are hit, they crash into mountains, etc.  For McGovern, he completes his mission and the war finally ends - but it is almost impossible to imagine the hardship of flying these planes.  Hero is a frequent word these days, but these pilots (along with their gunner and navigational crews) were truly heroic.

Shortly after reading this book, an antique B-24 flew into the airfield at Quonset, RI, and of course I had to go have a look.  I was even more impressed - especially at walking the narrow catwalk from the cabin to the tail gunner, with the bomb bay on both sides and only the sky (in my case, the ground) below. One hopes the airman doesn't make a misstep!

August 30

The Spy Wore Red (1987)
By Aline, Countess of Romanones

This memoir had me looking over my shoulder as I read through Countess Aline's adventures as an undercover agent in wartime Spain.  Aline Griffith, born in New York, was just 21 and employed as a model, when she declared her desire to help the Allied cause during World War II.  She was recruited by the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in 1943 and assigned to work in Spain.  Her mission was to infiltrate Madrid's society to try to discover who had links to the Nazi regime.  She leads a glamorous life, attending balls and dinners, mingling with the highest levels of Spanish society, all the while listening for incriminating gossip and looking for suspicious behavior among the other guests.  The important thing is that, as a spy, she can let herself trust no one.  Even those who purported to represent the Allies could be double agents.  It's a very dangerous assignment, and Aline survives some narrow escapes.  It's worth noting that some reviewers have suggested that she may have "embroidered her exploits as an American spy".  In any case, the book is suspenseful reading and provides a window into the dangerous but crucial work of secret agents.  Aline went on to write several more books, including two others about her work as a spy, an account of her work to restore her husband's ancestral home, and a novel.

After the war, Aline married Luis Figueroa de Perez y Guzman, Count of Quintanilla, later the Count of Ramanones upon the death of his grandfather.  Aline became famous as a socialite, entertaining the likes of Jackie Kennedy, the Duchess of Windsor, Audrey Hepburn, and Salvador Dali, and garnered a place on the best-dressed list in 1962.  She died last December at age 94.

July 28

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (2009)
By Jamie Ford

Set in 1940s Seattle during the backdrop of World War 2, this is sweet coming-of-age story is about prejudice, injustice, and friendship.  Like Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See (Feb 4), this story is told from the perspective of adolescents.  12-year-old Henry Lee is a Chinese student at a prep school where the white kids either ignore or bully him, until he meets Japanese student Keiko, with whom he develops an instant friendship.  Where adults sometimes fail to look beyond a person's appearance, Henry and Keiko have a bond that goes much deeper.  That relationship is interrupted, however, when Keiko's family is taken away to be held in a Japanese internment camp.  The book actually opens about 40 years after the preceding events, with Henry (now a widower) witnessing the opening of the old Panama Hotel, where a cache of displaced Japanese peoples' belongings, there since the war years, is found.  Henry is sure Keiko's old umbrella is among the treasures, and he starts to think about her, and wonder how he can best raise his own son to avoid the prejudice and mistakes of the pre-war years.

June 6: D-Day

Six Armies in Normandy (1983)

By John Keegan

The author opens with a memoir of his own war years as a child in England's west country where he experienced the war through the Yanks who were stationed nearby and became his new friends - and whom he later learned were so crucial in the success of D-Day.  Keegan then outlines the Normandy invasion from the perspectives of the Americans, Canadians, Scots, Brits, Germans, and Poles - each army playing crucial roles  From the preparations and execution of D-Day and the weeks of battles that followed and resulted in the expulsion of the Germany army from Normandy, Keegan discusses the major figures and actual battles in each area.  I read most of the book on audio, but then got the book to look at the maps and photos.


I read this book shortly before visiting Normandy, a pastoral and quiet corner of northern France, in December 2015.  Though nothing can prepare one for the silence of the now-peaceful Omaha beach nor the dignity of the memorial and the rows of crosses and stars of David at the American cemetery at Coleville-sur-Mer, still is was helpful to read this account to get a better picture of what happened in Normandy 74 years ago.  

June 4

Weedflower (2006)
By Cynthia Kadohata

This young adult book features Sumiko, who is 12 years old when her world suddenly changes with the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Raised on her parents' flower farm in California, she and her family lose everything when the US government decrees that all Americans of Japanese descent be rounded up and relocated. Sumiko and her parents, along with other family members, are sent to the Posten internment camp built on the grounds of a Mohave reservation in Yuma, AZ. The camp is hot and dry, and her family's new quarters are a former military barracks, a very different setting from the colorful flower gardens that had been her home.

Most of Posten's residents seem to make the best of a very bad situation, trying to provide schooling and other staples of society to make life as "normal" as possible.  Sumiko meets a young Mohave boy who initially resents the intrusion on his tribal lands by the Japanese.  Eventually he and Sumiko strike up a friendship, partly based on their mutual feelings of alienation from American kids and American society, but in the end proving to be a rewarding cross-cultural relationship that enriches the lives of both.

Endnotes indicate that Japanese Americans served in the war in Europe (as volunteers and draftees) and that their regiment was among the most decorated.

After reading this book, I spoke with Tom Shikashio, a friend whose family had been interned in a camp in Idaho.  I felt such guilt that my [and his] government would force American citizens out of their homes and businesses based on an erroneous assumption that they would side with the Japanese.  Tom had been a little boy at the time and, as was typical of my kind and humble brother in Christ, he insisted that it "wasn't so bad".  I respect Tom for taking the high road when he had every right to retain anger.

Whether it takes the form of racism, anti-Semitism, or any other kind of bigotry, prejudice hurts all of us.  Recent events, tweets, and speech suggest that our country - and our leadership - have learned little since the days following Pearl Harbor.  Michelle Obama said, "When they go low, we go high." Let's aim for the high road.

April 21

Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen

By Bob Greene

This heartwarming book tells the story of the North Platte canteen that opened to every single train that stopped at its railroad depot during the second world war.  North Platte was a frequent stop for American soldiers headed to the east coast and Europe or heading west to the Pacific.  Starting on Christmas day 1941, the women of this small town (about 12000 in the 1940s) transformed their train depot into a center of hospitality, meeting every train starting at 5 AM and continuing through till after midnight, when the last train steamed off.  They offered baskets of homemade food, coffee, magazines, music and friendly conversation to weary soldiers every single day until the end of the war, eventually serving over six million GIs.

The population of North Platte has about doubled in the last 75 years since this story ended and today it is served only by freight trains - but it is encouraging to hear of a group of women who rose to the occasion when they had the opportunity to serve.

April 17

Jacob's Rescue: A Holocaust Story

By Malka Drucker and Michael Halperin

Following up on The Hiding Place, this is another true story of shelter and rescue, but for younger readers.

Jacob Gutgeld is an 8-year-old living in the Warsaw ghetto in 1939, living with an aunt.  When it appears that even children will not be safe in the ghetto, she finds a temporary home for Jacob.  Alex and Mela Roslan, a Christian couple with children of their own, shelter Jacob in their home, eventually taking in Jacob's younger brother David, and other children.  The fear and hunger are clearly presented; even non-Jews become targets of German aggression.  Finally, after 4 years of hiding, Jacob is relieved when Russian soldiers march into Poland and the remaining Jews are freed.  Jacob's story is one victory in a sea of enormous pain and suffering, but one that reminds the reader that there were still good people willing to risk their lives to save others.

April 16

The Hiding Place
By Corrie Ten Boom

A few days ago, I listened to an NPR interview on the 25th anniversary of the National Holocaust Museum.  The speaker lamented the diminishing number of Holocaust survivors and the concern that we must never forget what happened in Nazi Germany.  She also noted that 40% of millennials (those born from 1980-95) have no idea how many people were killed by the Nazis, 60% never heard of Auschwitz, and few know how Hitler came to power.  Really?  Aren't we teaching world history any more?  When I worked as a reference librarian in the 1980s and 90s, this book was on Barrington High School's summer reading list.

Corrie Ten Boom was an aging spinster living with her sister Betsie and widowed father Casper in Amsterdam as Hitler started consolidating his power within his far-right National Socialist (Nazi) party in Weimar Germany, making persecution of the Jews a platform of his reich.  Hitler started invading other nations (Czechoslovakia, Poland, France) and in May of 1940, German soldiers marched into Amsterdam.  The Netherlands surrendered within days.  Like Miep Gies who hid the Otto Frank family, the Ten Booms knew the lives of Jewish friends would be in danger and sheltered many refugees during the course of the war.  Their home was located above their watch shop, located on a corner of a busy shopping street and a quiet alleyway.  Casper lamented that the Nazis had targeted Jews, the "apple of God's eye", and knew they would one day pay the price.  In 1944, the Ten Booms were betrayed, and sent to concentration camps, where Casper and Betsie died.  Only Corrie survived the horrors of the camps, but even there, she testified to God's provision (a camp guard, for example, left her and a group of women to have a Bible study in peace because the guard was repelled by the lice that were a fact of life among the women prisoners).  After the war, Corrie returned to her home and work at the watch shop, eventually writing many books about her experiences and the power of God to provide a "hiding place" (Ps 32:7) for her.  She traveled to the US in 1972, and I will never forget hearing her speak at a church in Brewster, MA.

April 4

The Friends
By Kazumi Yumoto (translated from the Japanese by Cathy Hirano)

I read this book while working as a young adult librarian in the 90s and found it touching and memorable.

The friends are three boys, Kiyama (narrator), Kawabe, and Yamashita.  The story is set in rural Japan, the summer the boys are in "cram school" preparing for their secondary school entrance exams.  Kiyama realizes he's suddenly growing taller, like a beanpole; he frequently refers to his mother's drinking problem.  Kawabe is the tough guy, but sensitive about the thick glasses he must wear and the father who left him years ago.  Yamashita is sensitive about his weight.

As the story opens, Kamashita has just returned from attending his grandmother's funeral.  The other boys ask about it and ponder what it means to die.  They are making the realization that all people die some day.  They determine to find out what happens when a person dies.  Kawabe knows of an old man who lives alone in an old bungalow near the bus stop.  The boys assume the old man will die soon, and determine to follow him so they can see when he dies.  The other boys reluctantly agree; they watch him through the windows of his house, they watch him when he walks to the store.  One day Yamashita brings a plate of sushi along to give to the old man.  Kawabe assumes he has poisoned the food to speed up the process and is surprised to learn that Yamashita just wants to give the man something good to eat.

The man eventually  realizes the boys are tailing him.  One day, as they're standing around his yard, he solicits their help in hanging his washing out to dry.  The next day he asks for help with his garbage.  Soon, they embark on an extensive weeding project. As a reward, the man invites them inside for watermelon.  The man begins to take better care of himself and his home.  One day a bad storm blows through the village, and all three boys flee to the man's home.  While they wait out the storm, the boys ask the old man about his experience in the war.  They hear of horrors and forced marches, in one village they are ordered to kill all the people.  He shoots a young woman.  As she falls down, the man realizes that she is with child. He is so horrified at his deed that he cannot return to his young wife, who assumes he has died a noble death in the war.

The boys go off to soccer camp.  A cemetery near the camp rekindles their interest in death.  Soon after their return, the old man dies.  They are sad to see his stiff body, but not scared and they realize he's moved on to a new stage - just as they have - as each leaves for a different school at the end of the summer.

March 28

Charlotte Gray
By Sebastian Faulks

A young Scotswoman goes to London to help the war effort in 1942.  There she meets and falls in love with an RAF pilot who has already survived many battles.  When he disappears in France, Charlotte takes a job as an undercover agent and looks for him.  Most of the book covers Charlotte's search for Peter in France.  It is crucial that she present herself as a French national; thus her fluency in French is as important as her willingness to put herself in a very dangerous place.  While London may have been in blackout mode, France was occupied by Nazi troops and Charlotte could not even risk writing notes in English; every order, every code must be committed to memory. There is never a time when she can let down her guard; she is perpetually in danger even as she teams up with a French architect and tries to save some children from deportation.  Like the more recent The Nightingale (January 3), Charlotte Gray gives a helpful, if disturbing, perspective on life in Vichy France.  This is one of the best World War II novels I've read - and I've read quite a few!