Friday, July 25, 2014

Review: The Major's Daughter: A Novel by J.P. Francis






Paperback400 pages
Expected publication: July 29th 2014 by Plume
ISBN
0452298695 (ISBN13: 9780452298699)




From Goodreads:

"April, 1944. The quiet rural village of Stark, New Hampshire is irrevocably changed by the arrival of 150 German prisoners of war. And one family, unexpectedly divided, must choose between love and country.

Camp Stark is under the command of Major John Brennan, whose beautiful daughter, Collie, will serve as translator. Educated at Smith and devoted to her widowed father, Collie is immediately drawn to Private August Wahrlich, a peaceful poet jaded by war. As international conflict looms on the home front, their passion blinds them to the inevitable dangers ahead.

Inspired by the little-known existence of a real World War II POW camp, The Major’s Daughter is a fresh take on the timeless theme of forbidden love."



My Thoughts: Even though I lived in New England for over 50 years, I had never heard of any POW camps in the area. I thought this was an extremely interesting fact for the basis of a novel.


The story held my attention at all times even though I'm not too sure how credible it would be for a prisoner-of-war to be allowed the chance to meet the Major's daughter. Although, that was a minor concern because the story line was well done. All the characters were well fleshed out and I thought the dialogue was very realistic. Actually, the story of Collie's friend who also fell in love with someone her family deemed not "socially acceptable" was on a par with Collie's own story. Besides being a love story, it also was a social commentary of the times.


Overall, I enjoyed the book a lot. 4****


Recommended for fans of romance, historical and WWII fiction.




Disclosure: A review copy of the book was provided by Plume/NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

6 comments:

  1. There was a POW camp near where we lived in Auburn and many of the prisoners were allowed to assimilate in the community so I could buy that story line. This sounds good and I just love the cover.

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  2. Wow? I had no idea there were POW camps in the states. Where have I been? This sounds terrific.

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  3. I do so like reading about this period in history. So much of hidden stories as well keep coming out.

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  4. Sounds good, Kaye. I know there were POW camps as well as interment camps all across the US during WWII. As the first poster said, some were allowed to assimilate into local communities, most commonly as laborers. Will definitely add this to my list!

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  5. Sounds good and I'm adding it to my wish list.

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  6. Seeing that you liked this one makes me more excited to read it!

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