The whirlwind has passed, and now, whatever destruction it may have left, we can build again. And it is here that the deepest qualities of the Italian people will have a chance to show themselves. The Fascist and German menaces are receding. The day will come when at last the boys will return to their ploughs, and the dusty clay-hills of the Val d'Orcia will again blossom like the rose. Destruction and death have visited us, but now – there is hope in the future.

War in Val d'Orcia: An Italian War Diary

by Iris Oriigo

For the past year much has been written about WWII. It is a subject with never ending stories and characters, heroes, villains, and folks in between. As we remember those war years, I want to introduce you to one of the heroes...a woman named Iris Origo, Mistress of La Foce. Iris was an aristocrat who turned her Tuscan villa, La Foce, into a refuge for displaced children and others who had to flee the destruction of war. She tells her story in elegant prose in the journal that she kept during the years of 1943-44. Here is a summation of her incredible story.

War in Val d'Orcia (Tuscany) 1943-1944

Tuscany played an important in WWII, with the Allied ground forces driving out the Germans in 1944. The action in Tuscany and the Val d'Orcia region was devastated by the war and by the German occupation. My husband, daughter, and granddaughter and I spent a week on a farm in the area, then two weeks at  other spots in the area. We drove the roads, visited the hill towns,  and fell in love with this area that was so devastated. Looking out upon these vistas in one of the beautiful most beautiful places on earth, one could not image the horror that was occurring here in 1943 and 1944..

     I am writing today about the Val d'Ocia, the valley of Tuscany, involving the towns of Pienza, S. Quirico d'Orcia, Montepulciano, Chianciano, Sarteano, Castiglione d'Orcia, Contgmano, Radicofani and Monticciello. Also, there were many small villages between the larger towns.

     In particular, we will be visiting the villa and farms of La Foce, almost in the middle of the valley.
Since it was a rather large estate, it was a regular site for Germans, Italian partisans, Allied prisoners of war, and escapees. All found something of refuge in this estate, including some 23 children harbored from the ravages of bombings in Turin, Bologna and Modena. Their homes destroyed, they were sent there by their families for safe refuge.

     Many books exist about the war in Italy, but we will focus on one book in– War in Val d'Orcia, an Italian war diary 1943-1944 written by Iris Origo, mistress of La Foce. This book in diary form chronicles the brutality of the German occupation, the people who survived the brutality and those who did not.

     Iris Origo writes in her diary that the farms, as she refers not only to her home farm, but to all the farms within the valley, were in the way of the both the Allied 8^th Army and the German occupation army. There were 57 farms in number within seven thousand acres inhabited by about 600 people. These farms relate to the central farm, La Foce, and the villa,.

     
 La Foce  was the center of its activity with a dairy, carpenter shop, oil presses, laundry, granaries,  and wine cellars. The villa is a 16^th Century house, with formal and informal gardens, field hands, carpenters, brick layers, nurses for the clinic, all live in homes nearby or on the farm, basically a self-sufficient village.

     It is this large estate which attracts Italian army and Italian partisan soldier escapees, political agitators, prisoners of war, young Italians escaping the German draft, Allied airman and peasants bombed out of their homes. The villa with all its self sufficient resources had the ability to house and feed hundreds of these people, some passing through and others hiding in the nearby woods. The Germans, too, towards the end of their occupation, took over the property for their field headquarters. They then make it part of a line of defense against the advancing Allied armies. From all the farms, Germans continuously confiscated cars, motorcycles, bicycles, cattle, chickens, ducks, personal belongings, guns, food anything they can simply take.

      
      From a friend elsewhere in Italy Iris heard, “There is a good deal of bombing of towns and villages along the railway, and much indiscriminate machine gunning along the roadways. What will be left of this wretched country? Perhaps a few isolated houses in the woods and hills – all the rest destroyed. I don't believe that the wars of the past, even with the pestilence and famine that they brought, were as destructive as this one. We have struggled to keep our cars and our freedom of movement, then our houses and those we love—and no doubt we shall soon be thankful merely to save our skins”. This news other parts of Italy were suffering as they were in the Val d"Orcia did not bring joy to those at La Foce.

    

 In Iris's own words here are some diary entries:

     March 14, 1944.-- The local news is grim. Three young recruits who had failed to report to the Germans have been shot in Siena, in the presence of their comrades, as “an example.” At Piancastagnaio two partisans, who were caught in the woods, have been shot on the spot, and their corpses hung at the gates of the city.

     April 25 1944 – In the afternoon, we hear that the man who was killed was one of our workmen – a quiet peaceable man, hard-working fellow, totally unconcerned with politics, whose murder by the Germans seems to us inexplicable. What new danger is coming now? In the dead man's little house, which after 30 years of hard work and self denial, he had at last succeeded in owning, the widow is hysterically moaning and sobbing beside the bed of her boy of eleven, who saw his father killed.

     May 18, 1944 – The attack on the Cassino front has begun.

     May 19, 1944 – Cassino has fallen.

     May 22, 1944 – Every day now, whenever I go out of the house, I find a little group of famished people sitting in the farm courtyard; haggard women, with babies in their arms and other children waiting for them at home; thin, ragged schoolboys or old men, carrying sacks or suitcases—all begging for food to take back to Rome. We give them all that we can, but Antonio begs me to remember that we must also go on providing food for own population and for the two hundred partisans in the

woods.

     May 26, 1944 – Anti aircraft guns, stationed at Spedletto, bring down five Allied planes out of an unusually large bomber formation, which is attacking German columns on the road. Some of the airmen save themselves by parachute. From our terrace we can hear the firing, and see the little silver balloons opening and drifting down from the sky. One plane, laden with bombs, explodes as it hits the ground. We see great columns of black smoke soaring up, and long to hurry to the scene to bring first aid; but the Germans will be there before us.The Allied Armies, still advancing, have broken through the Hitler line.

      

Think of this. You are a peasant farmer in Tuscany in 1943 and 1944. The country has been ruled by Fascists and dictator Mussolini since 1922. You are tired of the war, Mussolini too wants out, the Allies demand surrender of your troops and ships, Hitler says NO and sends in thousands of his troops to occupy the country.

     Now you have the Germans, the Allied invasion of the country coming up the interior, the Fascists who think they are still in power and attempt to put together an army, then partisan resistance against Germans which generates into a civil war between the Fascists and partisans..

     What do you do? Where are your loyalties?.

     In Tuscany, what you might do, if not of conscription age, tend your crops, is press the olives for olive oil, press the grapes for wine, milk the goats for pecorino cheese, take care of your family and live in peace, and try to become apolitical. But, and a big but, the Albert line of defense, the defense line where the Germans take a stand to halt the Allies coming up the peninsula, runs right through your back yard. Iris wrote that the locals were too busy with living and surviving to be afraid.

     In the farm roads surrounding the estate, partisan activity was at its peak. Every night German soldiers and trucks were ambushed along the supply routes towards the Albert line of defense. The Germans retaliated with unrestrained brutality killing hundreds of peasants – 83 were executed in Niccolete, 40 in Gubbio, 30 in Bottola, 212 men, women and children in Civitilla

     On June 16, the Allies broke through to Orvieto, 20 miles south of La Foce, halfway to Chiusi, 10 miles away. On June 18, German troops set up artillery forces on La Foce. Troops took over the villa. The war continued to level historic towns and villages, hundreds of years old.

     With the war in their front yard, the Origos of La Foce and the 23 children under their care, the local farmers, and the workers of their land, evacuate and relocate in Montepulciano  One of the most powerful scenes is the march/hike/walk of the children from La Foce to Montepulciano.

Again in Iris Origo's words.:

     

June 27 – The line of fire has been all along the hillside. The allies have at last retaken Chiusi and are pushing on towards Chianciano, We watch their progress by the artillery fire which we can see from our balcony. German sappers are already mining the bridge immediately beneath this house: we watch the dynamite being prepared, open all the windows and wonder when the explosion will be.

     Beneath our windows, the Allied and German forces appear to be dancing, the Lancers, back and forth, forward and back. Now, the gunfire seems nearer, and our spirits rise, now it is farther again, and they fall.

     No military news of any kind. The Allies still appear to be between Chiusi and Chianciano. But in the night some German tanks have gone northwards, and we see little clouds of explosions all over the valley, where ammunition is being blown up

     In the afternoon, the Germans blow up some houses inside the town to obstruct the inner road, and also destroy the magnificent Medicione gateway at the foot of the town.

June 28 – At eleven pm., Allied batteries in the direction of Monticchiello opened fire on the German batteries just beyond Montepulciano and the firing continued all night. At 4:30 am., there was a huge explosion which shook the entire town. The bridge into town had been blown up. At dawn, everyone went out to see the bridge — the rest of us settled down to two hours of unbroken, blessed sleep.

     The Germans have gone at last.

    

July 1 – And now we have come home. Plenty of shell and bomb-holes on the road and in the fields. At La Foce, chaos meets our eyes. The house is still standing with only shell holes in the garden facade, another on the fattoria, and several in the roof. In the garden, which has also got several shell holes and trenches for machine-guns, they have stripped the pots of lemons and azaleas, leaving the plants to die.

    The ground is strewn with my private letters and photographs, mattresses and furniture stuffing. The inside of the house is far worse. The Germans have stolen everything that took their fancy, blankets, clothes, shoes and toys as well as of anything value or eatable, and have deliberately destroyed much of anything sentimental or personal value.

    July 5 – We have been around to see the most damaged farms. Many are totally destroyed; in others, one or two rooms have no roof. In all of them, the looting has been thorough; either the Germans or others have taken all hat was not destroyed by shells or fire. All the farms have lost their cooking utensils, their linen, most of their blankets and their dearly prized furniture bought one piece at a time, year by year, and all their clothes. Now, almost 50 farms have to be provided for. Where will we find linen, blankets or shoes. The place is still strewn with unburied corpses both of men and cattle.

     Nevertheless, for the future, I am hopeful. The whirlwind has passed, and now, whatever destruction it may have left, we can build again. And it is here that the deepest qualities of the Italian people will have a chance to show themselves. The Fascist and German menaces are receding. The day will come when at last the boys will return to their ploughs, and the dusty clay-hills of the Val d'Orcia will again blossom like the rose. Destruction and death have visited us, but now – there is hope in the future.

***

Yes, they did rebuild. And if you travel these same roads today, you will see few remnants of the war. They rebuilt and today, Val d'Orcia and Tuscany blooms like a rose with its olive groves, fields of wheat, vineyards and picturesque farms. The largest Provence in Italy, is considered one of the Edens on Earth. And it is.La Foce is now operated as a place for tourists.

    

You can go there: www.lafoce.com See how it has been transformed by Iris's family. Pack your bags and stay awhile with them for like so many farms in Italy, it now houses tourists.

***

* Some readings:

 War in Val D'Orcia – An Italian War Diary 1943-1944 by Iris Origo, 1947. Used copies available through www.abebooks.com for about $10.

* Italy's Sorrow: A Year of War, 1944-1945 by James Holland, 2008. Available through Amazon.com

* Twilight of Memory, by Julia Faye Smith, tells the story of the 10th Mountain Division, (the U.S. SKi troops and their fight to end the German occupation in Tuscany.). Available at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Memory-Julia-Faye-Smith/dp/1495420205 and by special order at bookstores across America.

Please leave the names of other Italian or WWII war books you would like to recommend. I would love to read some of them. Thanks

"Remember the Ladies" by Gina L. Mulligan

While John Adams was in Philadelphia helping forge the document that would declare to the world that the American colonies had a right to be free from the tyranny, his wife Abigail sent him the following message, "Remember the ladies." She, of course, was asking her husband to give the ladies of the colonies the rights to which they, too, were entitled.

Fast-forward 100+ years and the women of America are no longer gently seeking to remind their men that they need their inalienable rights. They are making their voices heard as they remind the men governing them of their rights. Important to this movement is Miss Amelia Cooke, a strong woman raised by strong, nurturing women in an orphanage.

How did Amelia get from the Orphanage in Cooke, Montana, to the halls of Washington, D.C., where she becomes a female lobbyist? Her physical journey is a large part of this book. Another journey, however, is equally important, for along the way, and at a crucial moment, Amelia learns that sometimes those fighting for a cause, must take a bigger look at the picture and determine what is important. Amelia takes a good look at the ramification of the first votes to give women equality and realizes that, perhaps, women already have power, and that some important things in life would be lost if that vote passes.

In what is perceived as her abandonment of the cause and its supporters, Amelia changes her views. As the vote comes in, the women have lost, but America has gained; Yellowstone expansion, local businesses can continue to exist, and so, too, can a nearby orphanage housing 200 young people.

Amelia leaves Washington and its intrigues and moves to Tennessee. There, years later, she pens a letter to her son, the Senator,  reminding him to "Remember the Ladies." His vote on the Susan B. Anthony Suffrage  (19th) Amendment, sends Tennessee's ratification of the amendment into the positive column and the constitution of the U.S. adopts the constitutional amendment. From there the fight for women's rights still faced an uphill climb, but at least that climb could begin.

Based upon the letter a real Tennessee mother sent her son, Harry Burn, Senator, encouraging him to 'be a good boy' and vote for ratification. The book delves into backroom politics, bribery, and underhanded deals, Still, the grain of truth remains, sometimes women must wield their true power and influence the men about to affect us all.

This is a well told narrative of one woman's growth as she examines her motives and desires. I was gifted with a printed handout of the novel. I was hoping for a bound ARC copy, but evidently the title was in such demand, that the ARC copies ran out and some of us received the printout version. Still I liked the book and recommend it completely. It is well written, thoroughly researched, and engrossing.

Available at major outlets and online.

Most Wanted by Lisa Scottoline will surely be wanted by her fans.

Most Wanted, Lisa Scottoline's recently published novel will surely be most wanted by her legion of fans. It is just as likely to satisfy others as well. Lisa is a master storyteller. She tells tales of family love, usually with strong women who are pursuing a goal.

In Most Wanted that goal is to have a child, a desire that most women relate to at one point or another in their lives. There is a problem. Christine, our spirited protagonist, and Marcus, her husband, cannot conceive. Adoption? Surrogacy? The couple decides on the later. 

And so the process begins: 
                                                     Donor 3319 Profile:
                                                                  Tall. Blonde. Blue eyes. 
                                                                   Medical Student.

Perfect. Until a very happy, very pregnant Christine wakes one morning to watch the news. At that point her donor profile takes a turn: 

                                                     Donor 3319 Profile:

                                                                  Tall. Blonde. Blue eyes. 
                                                                  Medical Student.

                                                                  Wanted for Serial Murder.

Thus begins the heart of this story. Is it the same man? If so, is the tendency to murder carried in the genes? What should the couple do? 

This is a quick read even though it is 417 pages long. As soon as the complication was presented I, along with Christine wanted to know...is it him?  After several turns, we finally learn the answer, but you will not hear it from me.  Read Most Wanted. Learn the truth for yourself. You will be glad you did. 

I was gifted an early readers edition from the publisher. That in no way influenced my review.Thank you, St. Martin's Press.  The book is now available at major outlets and online.

How my historical fiction lost its fiction or And to think I met them on Research Street

For the past few months I have been researching a little known African American designer. She designed for many but was known only to that circle. She was, in her own words, a "design snob." But she was, oh, so much more. Here's my story of the research that allowed me into her social circle.

I met her in an airport last fall. I was in the airport, she wasn't. She died decades ago, but as I was 'surfing the net' I came upon two sentences about her. A 'did you know' kind of post. I was blown away, for no, I didn't know and I thought the circumstances were such that I should.

Born in 1898, the great-granddaughter of a slave and a plantation owner, the granddaughter of a slave and a free man of color, she entered the world in a small, rural town in the Jim Crow South. Through talent, determination, and a desire to reach a goal, she refused to let the circumstances of her birth keep her down. She didn't preach; she didn't march, she didn't give up. She allowed a dream to be born in her heart and in her own personal way, she overcame all obstacles and achieved her dream.

When I began my research, I was writing an historical fiction. Soon it became clear to me that her story, her true, unvarnished story had to be told. It was, at that point told only in bits and pieces and often with the bits inaccurate and  the pieces changing with each retelling. I began my research to clarify things for myself and found myself getting to know a strong woman from a family of strong women.

As I researched, I gave up on the historical fiction for two reasons. First, as I said, her story in itself needs to be told. At times it reads rather like a fairy tale, and at all times is an inspiration. Secondly, I am a white woman, raised in the South. Try as I might I could not convince myself that I could do her justice in fiction. I could not get in her head and speak in her voice. I wanted her to speak for herself. And so she does.

The biography is nearing completion. Along the way I have learned to marvel at what she overcame, and at the people she met. This woman who under normal circumstance would not be welcomed in their homes, became a darling to the Duponts, Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, Roosevelts, Lodges, Posts, Auchinclosses, the Bouviers,..well you get my drift.

As I researched her life, I found beautiful gowns, and their owners. I have been in touch with some fascinating people. A concert pianist now living in Belgium, an academic in Ohio, a lovely socialite who invited me to her home, the daughter of a novelist whose works became the story for several John Wayne movies, including the unforgettable, Shane, and a lady who sounds just like my mother-in-law on the phone.

I've tramped through graveyards, seen homes falling down, visited with ladies who still speak of the members of her family with their family nicknames as if they are just around the corner, and driven through beautiful rolling hills only to find an improvised town at the end of the road.

Now, I think, I can write an historical fiction, not with her as the main character, but with her as the inspiration for a historical era, but first I must help her tell her story.

I've had fun with this research, even when I was pulling my hair out trying to find these beautiful brides, debutantes, and socialites from the 1950's and 60's. That's the beauty of research, you never know where the path will take you or who you will meet along the way. I love it.

A delightful, true to life, series for middle graders...All about a girl named Landry. By Krysten Hager. Get started!

 Books in a series...most of us love them. Young readers, middle readers, and young adult readers love them. Krysten Lindsay Hager is the author of the Landry’s True Colors Series, a clean read young adult series. She also pens the new ​Star Series. Today we talk about the three book True Colors Series,  suitable for ages 10 and up. 

After reading the first book, True Colors I wrote: 

"OMG.   Having taught middle school for 30 years, I can say with some authority that True Colors, by Krysten Lindsay Hager is scarily realistic. The author has an uncanny memory for the middle school years. Her characters speak and act realistically. To adults their obsessions may seem banal, but to middle schoolers, their thoughts, fears, insecurities, and shifting feelings of friendships are the basis of their universe. Hager focuses on this middle school universe in such a way that one begins to wonder if she is still there....is she a middle schooler?

Krysten writes about  friendship, self-esteem, fitting in, middle school and high school, frenemies, modeling, crushes, values, and self-image in True Colors, Best Friends…Forever?, and Landry in Like. 

Krysten is a book addict who has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and writes YA, MG, humor essays, and adult fiction. She is originally from Michigan and has lived in Portugal, South Dakota, and currently resides in southwestern Ohio where you can find her reading and writing when she’s not catching up on her favorite shows. She received her master’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint.

If you haven't started the series with your MG'er start with book one, True Colors. Here's my review of the series.

                                    Book 1:  True Colors

OMG. True Colors is scarily realistic!

The main character, Landry, wants to be one of those squealers who runs toward her friends shouting "OMG, do I have news for you" but she is not. She sees her life as BORING. Even when her life takes a positive turn, her low self-esteem continues to plague her. There are several reasons for this; overbearing friends, false friends, parents who are separated but do manage to get together and then fight, and boys. Then there are the BFF's who unfriend and refriend at the slightest perceived slight. They, too, are middle schoolers going through their own angst.

Then there's THE HAIR! Beautiful, long silky hair, but Landry does not see it that way. How often have I seen girls behaving like Landry, crying about their hair, and changing their hairstyles between classes....even in class if the teacher is distracted.

Honestly, I felt as if I were back at my middle school post watching girls who I knew would grow up to be fine, but who needed support for the moment as they came and went through my classroom and my life. My only negative concern is very petty. I think the girls acted more like the seventh graders I've known than eighth graders. Eighth graders are usually getting their act together a little more than Landry and her friends. But who knows, in the sequel, they might just reach that eighth grade level of maturity.

I was gifted this book by the author for an honest review. I can honestly recommend this book. I think middle school girls will see themselves and their friends in many of the characters.

____________________

Book 2: Best Friends... Forever?

Landry Albright hopes the new year will start off in an amazing way—instead she has to deal with more frenemy issues, boy drama, and having most of her besties make the cheerleading squad without her. Suddenly, it seems like all anyone can talk about is starting high school next year—something she finds terrifying. 

Again I ask: Is this author still in middle school? She is so good at capturing those girls! Yikes.

                                 Book 3: Landry in Like

 Things seem to be going well in Landry Albright’s world—she has been invited to be on local talk shows to talk about her modeling career, her best friends have her back, and her boyfriend Vladi has becoming someone she can truly count on…and then everything changes. Suddenly it seems like most of the girls in school are into hanging out at a new teen dance club, while Landry just wants to spend her weekends playing video games and baking cupcakes at sleepovers. Then, Yasmin McCarty, the most popular girl in school, starts to come between Landry’s friendship with Ashanti. Things take a turn when Yasmin tells Vladi that Landry is interested in another boy. Can Landry get her relationships with Ashanti and Vladi back or will she be left out and left behind?  

Again, I feel as if I am back in middle school overhearing my students's lament about their lives.

Check out the effective book trailer for book three: 

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CsGREKFQco&feature=youtu.be

Interested in purchasing, it's easy: 

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Landry-Like-Landrys-True-Colors-ebook/dp/B01AL6AUA2/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Landry-Like-Landrys-True-Colors-ebook/dp/B01AL6AUA2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1453196883&sr=8-2&keywords=krysten+hager

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/landry-in-like-krysten-lindsay-hager/1123253456?ean=2940157767242

Nook UK: http://www.nook.com/gb/ebooks/landry-in-like-by-krysten-lindsay-hager/2940157767242

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/landry-in-like

Itunes/ibooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/landry-in-like/id1076225388?mt=11

Author bio: Krysten Lindsay Hager is the author of the Landry’s True Colors Series, a clean reads young adult series and the new ​Star Series. Krysten writes about  friendship, self-esteem, fitting in, middle school and high school, frenemies, modeling, crushes, values, and self-image in True Colors, Best Friends…Forever? And Landry in Like, as well as in, Next Door to a Star (Star Series). Her sequel to Next Door to a Star will be out March 22 2016.

Krysten is a book addict who has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and writes YA, MG, humor essays, and adult fiction. She is originally from Michigan and has lived in Portugal, South Dakota, and currently resides in southwestern Ohio where you can find her reading and writing when she’s not catching up on her favorite shows. She received her master’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint.

The author, Krysten Lindsay Hager is easily accessible should anyone wish to get in touch with her: 

Website: http://www.krystenlindsay.com/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/krystenlindsay

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Krysten-Lindsay-Hager/e/B00L2JC9P2/

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/krystenlindsay/

Coco Schumann's memoir, "The Ghetto Swinger: A Berlin Jazz Legend Remembers", is marvelous.

Book Review  "A LEGENDARY MUSICIAN'S JOURNEY 
FROM NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMPS 

TO A LIFE OF MUSICAL BRILLIANCE."

Born in 1924 to Jewish and Protestant parents, Heinz Jakob "Coco "Schumann survived not one but three Nazi concentration camps. As a young man, Coco began playing illegally in jazz clubs in his teenage years in Nazi Berlin. The blond haired, blued-eyed young man passed undetected as Jewish until 1943, when he was arrested and deported to the concentration camp Theresienstadt. (Terezin).

Just as it played an important part in his life outside the camps, music played an important part of Coco's life in the camps, especially in Terezin which Hitler and the Nazis used to stage an unrealistic picture of what went on in the camps. Artists, poets, musicians, etc were sent to Terezin and able to escape the death camps until they were of no more use to the Nazis. While in Terezin Coco played with the  "The Ghetto Swingers" a jazz band organized in camp and used for propaganda purposes. The band can be seen in the infamous Nazi propaganda film Theresienstadt: A Documentary Film about the Jewish Resettlement which was filmed at the camp. The Ghetto Swingers included pianist Martin Roman, Kurt Gerron, clarinetist Bedrich "Fritz" Weiss, and guitarist Coco Schumann. Roman and Schumann survived, Gerron and Weiss did not.

After Terezin Coco was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. He vividly describes his haunting arrival at the camp and the life that followed. He arrived in January of 1945, and again his skills as a musician saved his life. He survived day-by-day as a musician forced to play for the SS, for corrupt and sadistic guards and for his fellow prisoners as they streamed into the gas chambers.

Ultimately he was sent to a remote satellite camp for Dachau where once again music helped him survive.   But musicians need instruments and musician- prisoners often had to improvise. One such occasion involved Coco and a fellow prisoner.

"I clung to my life. Music helped me here, too. Word spread quickly that I was a musician. A prisoner who was in the Aussenkommandos (exterior work detail), laying cables and working on farms had discovered an old, derelict guitar in a barn. He managed to slip a bar of margarine out of the kitchen, and the next day the prisoner asked the farmer whether he would like to trade. He smuggled the big thing (guitar) thing past the guards into camp--unbelievable. Unfortunately it did not have strings on it. This same prisoner got hold of some pieces of cable. I removed the insulation, tensioned them and tighten the cables. I was able to bring the guitar back to life, and it didn't sound too bad.."

While in this satellite camp, he contracted spotted fever, and was forced on what was to be a death march to Innsbruck. Coco, however, is still with us today because an American battalion intercepted this march and liberated them. At the moment of liberation he looked up to see a Protestant preacher standing and crying over him and praying for him. His freedom had arrived.

How can a memoir about a Jewish man's imprisonment in, not one but three, Nazi concentration camps be marvelous?

Because of the beauty of the writing, the presentation of an indomitable spirit, and the joy of life that shines through even at the coldest of moments. This memoir is a tribute to those who made it through the Nazi years, and most assuredly a tribute to those who did not. For this we need to thank not only Coco Schumann but also his collaborators Marx Christian Graeff and Michaela Hass and translator, John Howard.

Coco, not unlike thousands of others, did not talk of his years in the hands of the Nazis for many years. It was only in the 1980's that he began to tell his story in Europe. It has only recently been told in English. The Ghetto Swinger was published in January 2016 by Doppel House Press.

The book should be of great interest to scholars interested in this time in history, to the Jewish population who will probably be familiar with WWII stories from their own families, and to anyone who likes non-fiction that serves to better mankind. It should also be studied by musicians interested in Jazz from the early 1940's in Germany to the 1990's internationally for after his liberation Coco traveled the world and played with the best musicians and singers of his time. He even was the first to play the electric guitar on stage in Germany.

I feel honored to have been given this book by NetGalley.

                                  Available both hardcover and Kindle, possibly other epublications.

The magic of Barbara Taylor Bradford

Love, lies, loyalty and mysteries, all well told. That is a hallmark of Barbara Taylor Bradford. Her many fans will not be disappointed in her latest novel, The Cavendon Women.  The Swanns and Inghams, first introduced in Cavendon Hall,  again come to life under Bradford's skillful pen. Think Upstairs Downstairs, think Downton Abby.

The time period is 1926 to 1929 and problems abound for all during those years. Will the strong bonds between the two families be enough to hold them together?  The setting again focused mainly on Cavendon Hall which is beautifully and fully described. Likewise, the fashions of the day come to life for the reader.

Beyond these beautifully written passages, one reads the dialogue between the characters. Here, I felt, Ms. Bradford fell short. The conversations between the characters are so very simplistically written. Surely the characters have more depth than portrayed in this novel. 

Still, it was a good fireside read for a winter weekend and I heartily recommend it to Ms. Bradford's fans. If you wish to introduce someone to this author, I suggest you go back and start with her wonderful  A Woman of Substance.  

I received my copy directly from the published in exchange for an honest review.