Unkempt Secrets From the War

 Unkempt Secrets From the War by Jennifer Malech    416 pages

When I was contacted by the author to review her book, I assumed that she had made a typo in the title.  The adjective “unkempt” doesn’t feel or sound right. I even used the Thesaurus to see if I was mistaken, but putting in similar words was just as disturbing. It nagged me, but oh well.

So I began reading. The story starts in 1934 with the three orphaned Rosenberg girls being forced from the family home in Sherborne to an orphanage in London. Originally from Austria, the girls had no family to take them in.

Life in the orphanage isn’t great, but at least Nel gets to go to school. She doesn’t see her sisters much, and they live on different floors (or maybe different buildings, I was never sure)., but she looks forward to visit with them. 

One day Nel meets William Beckham, a young man to whom she is strongly attracted, and he to her. And that’s where the author lost me….around Page 66. It wasn’t the story line, but the use of language that forced me to quit reading. The prose sound as if this should be set in the late 1800s, not in the 1930s.

I really, really wanted to read this book. The synopsis makes it sound like just the book for me:

“Living in London, England during the wake of World War II, (shouldn’t it be WWI?) Nel Rosenberg, a German girl, finds herself facing great opposition, especially after falling for William Beckham who is neither of her class nor race. As war continues to break out across Europe and William heads off to war, rumours of espionage put Nel's future entirely on the line. While working for a London hospital, Nel collects war stories from the soldiers, stories that trace back to her late father's involvement in the first World War. During her time at hospital, Nel encounters an American writer by the name of Mr. Blackwell who asks if she would be willing to write for a column for the New York Register on the Secrets from the War. As she takes to Journalism in a male dominant field, Nel begins to discover family secrets of her own that put her life and her love for William Beckham all at stake. With the height of the war spreading throughout Europe, will Nel be able to forgive those whose secrets try to destroy her in the end?”

But as I said, the language caused me to put it down. Unkempt Secrets From the War gets 1 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Letters to the Lost

Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey   384 Pages

Forever is finally running out for Dan Rosinski. Now in his 90s, he has been given mere weeks to live. He has only one regret: he was never able to find the woman he fell in love with during World War II. Oh yes, he’s tried hard over the years to find Stella, but she seems to have vanished.

In a parallel story, it’s 2011. Jess Moran is running from her abusive, drug-user/seller boyfriend. She’s escaped and is running through London’s cold rain. She stumbles into a cul-de-sac that seems to have been mostly forgotten. One house in particular looks abandoned. She breaks in through the back.

The story jumps back to 1942 when Dan meets Stella Thorne, a unhappily married woman seeking refuge from the rain in a bombed church.

 Inside the abandoned home, Jess finds Dan’s latest letter, trying to locate Stella. With nothing to do since she’s all alone and on the lam, Jess tries to find Dan and Stella. The she discovers a trove of letters from Dan during what was left of the war. What the reader gets is two love stories. The one between Jess and the real-estate agent, Will, who eventually discovers her living there. Then there’s the one between Dan and Stella.

 Well written, although predictable, the story is a good one. I felt that Jess needed to be more complex that she was portrayed. While I enjoyed the story, I never that urge to hurry home to find out what was happening.

 

I give Letters to the Lost 4 out of 5 stars.