I've read several books by author Libby Fischer Hellman and enjoyed them all. This book does not disappoint, although the second story is superior to the first. I'll continue to read stories from this excellent author! ( )

This book contains 2 novellas and a short story. I'm not a big reader of short stories but enjoyed all of this. All were set in Chicago area during WWII and were very interesting. I read a lot about that time period but mostly set overseas. These were good because they dealt with American citizens along with immigrants and POW's. Haven't really read a lot about that and it definitely piqued my interest. I had read about the Japanese internment camps in the States but didn't know that we also had camps all over the States for German POW's. There was some romance in the stories but more suspense. All in all a really good read!

I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
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Reading WWII books are hard for me. Sophie's Choice swore me off of any more WWII books many years ago. But what to do when one of your favorite authors writes a collection of short stories on this topic?? Read them, of course. LFH has breathed new life into stories of this era. The collection is not so much about the war as it is about people caught up in a tumultuous time: their hopes, motivations, decisions, desires, situation, maturity, and influences. This is a timeless examination of human behavior in extraordinary circumstances, but particularly and uncomfortably relevant in current times. ( )

Two novellas and a short story about World War II at home in America.

The first novella follows a German Jewish immigrant to the US during the beginnings of the war in Europe. She arrives as a teenager, becomes a secretary in a university mathematics department, and meets a young German physicist.

And this leads to at least two different sides attempting to recruit her as a spy, and her painful choices about what to do about it.

The second is about a young woman on a midwestern American farm during the war, and a contingent of German prisoners of war sent to work on the farm--labor that's badly needed because so many of the American men are away at the war. Not every German prisoner has accepted that the war is over for them.

The short story concerns Jewish young men in Chicago during what for the US are still the prewar years, gangsters, an actress is Jewish theater, and, maybe, German spies.

They all reflect aspects of the war that get less attention, not the big battles in Europe and the Pacific, but the (relatively) ordinary, daily struggles of the war at home, with hardships, challenges, and decisions less dramatic than armed combat, but sometimes equally difficult. These are all very human stories, that pull you into the lives of individuals it's easy to overlook. Hellmann makes them real, interesting, and compelling.

Highly recommended.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the author and am reviewing it voluntarily. ( )

Stories About World War Two at Home

This novel contains three fast-reading tales that depicts the tumultuous effect of war on the home front. Chicago is the backdrop and where the action takes place.

Contents:

The Incidental Spy (a novella) was originally published in 2015.
“The Day Miriam Hirsch Disappeared” was published in 2005.
P.O.W. (a novella) will be published for the first time in 2017.

Taken at large from real events, the author has used her wild imagination to give us a glimpse on what may have happened to people caught up during this tumultuous time. The stories are short and sweet, written with passion and very engaging. “The Incidental Spy” is clever story that brush on the Manhattan Project and the spies who wanted its secrets. “POW” is a love story involving a young farm girl and a Nazi prisoner of war. Finally, “The Day Mariam Hirsch Disappeared” recounts the disappearance of a beautiful Jewish actress and a possible espionage ring days before Pearl Harbor.

I loved these stories I was drawn in from the get-go and stayed immersed into their plots till the very end. Even being novellas the stories are complete with suspense and progresses at a good pace, have excellent plot lines and well-rounded characters. A bit of romance didn’t hurt as well making the lives of the people involved all too real.

I received this ARC from the author for an honest and unbiased review ( )