Once More Unto the Breach: A Novel by Meghan Holloway

Once More Unto the Breach: A Novel. Meghan Holloway. Polis Books. Copyright May 14, 2019, pb, 320 pp.; ISBN: 9781947993600.

Rhys Gravenor is looking for his son in WWII-torn Paris.  He deeply regrets his last conversation with his son, Owain, who declared his “conscientious objector” status and was called a coward by his father.  Now, he carries a letter from his son in his pocket while searching for him. Rhys fought in WWI and knows the horrors of war but is alarmed and horrified by what he observes in cities and towns around Paris.  The cruelty and barbarity displayed by the Germans cannot fail to leave nightmarish scenes etched upon the memory of any and all observers. 

In his search, Rhys is joined by an American nurse and now serving as an ambulance driver, Charlotte Dubois has her own memories and secrets but proves to be formidable, brave and a person of impeccable honesty.  The upshot of this revealing story is that Jewish children are being sought out for destruction, and Owain is part of the Resistance trying to save them by getting them out of the country.  In the midst of it all is a man, Henri, who is also seeking Owain in order to recover missing works of art that Germans are stealing and moving to their own facilities.

In the search by all, hundreds of executed individuals are found slaughtered and left without burial.  Works of art are found hidden and awaiting transport.  Wounded German soldiers are found near death.  Remaining Parisian residents and other town survivors are slow to speak but loyal to those whom they know are honorable people.

Rather than being a factual account of what is mostly already known by most people, Once More Unto the Breach is told starkly with honesty, tenderness and tribute to those who risked and suffered so much to stop the senseless torture and murder being inflicted on France by German soldiers and leaders.  It also includes numerous scenes of the loyal and lovable dog Otto which will warm your heart amidst the chaos. 

This is a thriller novel easily rated as a 5/5.  The author successfully endeavors to show all sides of a war that at one point has no winner but only too many losers.  This is remarkable historical fiction you won’t soon forget.  Watch for more from this skilled author who knows how to craft a great story!

The Kennedy Debutante: A Novel by Kerri Maher

The Kennedy Debutante: A Novel. Kerri Maher. Penguin Publishing Group. October 2018. 384 pp. ISBN#: 978451492043.

Kathleen (“Kick”) Kennedy is the vivid debutante of this novel, a story that captures the essence of the Kennedy clan’s powerful presence, but which presents this famous woman as complex, fearless, socially adept, and devout. She’s a woman of her own character, living out her blend of service and compassion for and within the formidable issues of her time.

The novel begins with Kick’s “coming out” party.  Like any normal debutante, Kick loves to party and is only held in check by her mother Rose, a formidable woman who monitors “everything” about every one of her children.  Kick’s father, Joe, is obsessed with his effect and that of his children and we later see how he comes to respect Kick’s presence and then her ideas which might enhance his position as America’s Ambassador to England.  But Kick is definitely her own woman!

Two challenging issues face Kick within this account.  One is falling in love with a member of British aristocracy, Billy Harrington.  He and his family are staunchly Protestant and Kick’s equally strong practice of Catholicism seem initially like an unbreachable impasse and a painful one at that!  Their love will evolve with some wise counsel of friends, family and mentors.

In the midst of this constant partying and pleasurable activities, WWII is looming.  Hitler’s aggressive behavior is threatening the world and that includes England.  Kick’s family is deeply affected.  Kick chooses her own way of donating her time to help in the war effort.  Billy signs up for Royal service, realizing how patriotic he really is and wanting to make a difference, with a later painful cost.  Kick’s father returns to America, his doubt about Hitler making many consider him a failure.  Kick’s brothers, Joe Jr. and Jack, join the Air Force and Navy respectively.  Kick’s mentally and emotionally challenged sister, Rose, undergoes a change that is tragic for her and the entire family.  Other difficult results of the war loom large, making it almost unbearable but which the Kennedys address with amazing strength.

Almost everyone has heard of the Kennedy family.  But Kennedy Debutante… plunges the reader into the everyday, real life of Kick Kennedy and her family in a way that doesn’t hide flaws but acknowledges “service” and “duty” to the world as the sound principles that made a difference to so many – yes, politically, but also personally.  Memorable, engaging biography and history reading!!!

Eagle and Crane: A Novel by Suzanne Rindell

Eagle and Crane: A Novel. Suzanne Rindell. Penguin Publishing Group. July 2018. 448 pp. ISBN#: 9780399184291.

Haruto (Harry) Yamada and Louis Thorn grew up side by side on California farmlands.  At one time their lands had been joined and owned by the Thorn family.  But to Louis’ father and brothers’ lifelong chagrin, the father had gambled too much in a drunken stupor one night and lost the most valuable west side of his property to the Yamada family.  Not a good loser, he bore a grudge against the Yamadas that grew with the telling into fantastic hate and determination to get back at them for “tricking” the Thorn family out of their property.

When we meet Harry and Louis, they have spent years apart and are now barely on speaking terms, sad because they had been childhood companions and friends for a long time, until Louis heard enough of the conflict to turn him against the “Jap” Harry.  Now they are to slowly become united as they are snagged into flying “barnstorming” and daredevil deed exhibitions planned by Earl, a con man who originally sold a “cure all tonic.”  Ava and her mother Chloe work for Earl and Ava becomes a new source of contention between Harry and Louis.  Later on, that romantic triangle becomes the focus of a mystery.

WWII arrives with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the flight business (which is vividly described quite enjoyably) collapses as all Japanese and Japanese-Americans are interned in camps for the duration of the war.  The mystery begins when Harry and someone else in his family escape the camp and supposedly take up one of the bi-planes and crash it spectacularly with no seeming effort to save themselves.  Murder? Suicide?  It’s up to the local sheriff and FBI Agent Bonner to figure that one out! 

The plot and character presentations are intriguing and keep a perfect pace and pitch for any reader to follow.  Uncertainty is the prevalent motif of this romance/mystery novel so that the reader feels like he or she is the investigator and/or chronicler of this work of historical fiction.  This is a unique perspective of the way WWII changed the lives and attitudes of Americans toward foreigners forever!  Something to reflect on in these trying days of similar conflicts!

Kennedy and Roosevelt: The Uneasy Alliance by Michael Beschloss

Kennedy and Roosevelt: The Uneasy Alliance. Michael Beschloss. Open Road Media. August 2016. 318 pp.  ASIN#: B01J9AGM6M.

Politics and business are the world of these two renowned men, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Joseph Kennedy, ranging in this analysis from the 1920s to the death of Roosevelt.  The initial question that the author poses from the very first page is whether great politicians and those who serve them serve out of the public good or self-interest.  While it might be hard to refrain from an automatic response, Beschloss does a fine job of depicting how these motives frequently operate singularly and equally operate hand-in-hand.  Beschloff’s analysis attempts objectivity, citing only other supportive and opposing viewpoints on each issue challenging these men in the tumultuous times after both WWI and the Depression.

A concise but informative biography of each man begins this text, surprising the reader with the fact that both men suffered from social caste stigma, Roosevelt from his privileged background that shut him out from many youthful peers and Kennedy the Irish background that the upper class devalued in the days when the Irish fled the poverty and starvation of their home country.  However, both men like their forbears clearly displayed the tenacity and charm necessary to make their way from unfriendly to friendly and supportive colleagues and friends. Perhaps this is what initially bonded both men to each other as close knit friends before their differences polarized them into a breach that could not be healed.

Franklin Roosevelt was a mediocre speculator in business at best and this is indeed ironical as he was the President who would attempt to heal the nation and Wall Street after disastrous financial performance or lack thereof.  Kennedy, on the other hand, was astute in financial skills and we learn how his years as Chairman of the American Securities Exchange helped heal the Depression after-effects.  The media’s relentless criticisms, analyses and support are described honestly and carefully.

Not to spoil the rest of the story, the friendship between these two men grew closer, much to the chagrin of many White House personnel and it wasn’t until the potential for another world war loomed large with the bombast of Adolf Hitler that the split began between Roosevelt and Kennedy.  Multiple comments and editorials stated Roosevelt wanted war but that is not clear after reading these pages although we know Kennedy was consistently against war. 

The other fascinating part of this book is the way Roosevelt played the men from whom he sought advice and to whom he seemed to promise undying devotion and friendship.  It’s a frank, realistic look at the world of politics that really isn’t that different from what Americans are experiencing today.  Public or personal interest?  A worthy theme to examine openly and apply to the past and present, presented by an author who has clearly done his research and completely understands the “uneasy alliance” of which he writes.  Highly recommended historical nonfiction.

Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II’s Most Audacious General.  Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. Henry Holt and Company. September 2014. 368 pp.  ISBN#: 9780805096682.

Let me state from the outset this reviewer has absolutely no interest in examining this book for political purposes!  Instead, this reviewer’s father served in the U. S. Army under General Patton and had tremendous respect for his person and leadership. Thus, this reviewer’s fascination grew to desire to know more about this man who was loved and hated by so many in military and civilian circles!  While other books have been read about Patton, this is not a comparison or contrast review; rather it’s a stand-alone objective review of a book about a truly great man whose actions changed the course of WWII in Europe.

O’Reilly and Dugard pose the theory that General Patton was killed because he was too outspoken and considered dangerous to others vying for power and vying to create a European order after WWII that would favor certain countries over other countries.  There is actually very little evidence for this so-called murder other than the accounts of those present at the time and reports that mysteriously seem to have disappeared or gone missing, with very little response from those who should have known about those documents.  Whatever happened, the story of this anti-Patton plot makes for fascinating reading!

Some background is given to the backgrounds of Patton, Churchill, Roosevelt, Lenin, Stalin and other world leaders who were pivotal during the coming Second World War!  The authors examine these characters with what they know will fascinate readers – just enough personal and political information to whet the appetite for more – some of it unnecessary but which builds the “story” being presented.

The authors tell the story of WWII battles led by Patton and that is also mesmerizing reading because it is also an intimate look at the political and military leaders making the decisions about the war.  We read about how Patton arrived in France and moved through that country into Southern Germany.  There a huge competitive campaign emerged in which Patton desired to be the first to reach Bastogne and later Berlin, a competition with Britain’s Montgomery that grew fierce indeed! 

Patton’s verbal gaffes were amusing, inflammatory, truthful, lies, and totally destructive to policy, depending on who was the target of those comments and who was fitting them into or rejecting them into American military and political goals.

In many ways, this book reads like a novel. One has to remind one’s self that this is the account of a real General whose life was almost larger than life for those who served under him or with him and whom one could accurately call a “shaper of history.”  Some have decried this account for leaving out certain facts about Patton’s attitudes toward Jews and political predictions or attitudes.  The reader must judge those accusers after examining what they know and don’t know about Patton and differing written accounts – fiction or non-fiction.  The best?  The worst?  Somewhere in between?  That’s for others to argue.

This reviewer highly recommends Killing Patton as a great read about the man, the war, the assassination theory and one account of a pivotal period in world history!