Long Way Home

Long Way Home by Lynn Austin 400 pages

 

This is a story of the Greatest Generation---both on the war front and the home front. Most of the men who fought never talked about their experiences. Through a dual narrative, we get to explore how two men suffered from battle fatigue, or as we know it, PTSD and one woman’s fight to stay alive and find her love.

 

Hudson Valley, New York. Jimmy Barnett is not the same person he was when he came home from the Europe theater. Before, he was outgoing, funny, handsome and had plans to be a veterinary like his father. Now, in 1946, he just sits on his bed and stares out the window. No one seems to be able to help him find his way back home. When he attempts suicide, his parents check him into the nearest VA hospital, an hours away where they can only visit him once a week.

 

Motherless Peggy Serrano lives across the road. Her father is a mechanic and doesn’t pay much attention to her, especially since he has a new live-in girlfriend, Donna. Peggy helps Mr. Bennett in his practice and has a special touch. She is so excited when Jimmy comes home, but so sad when the old Jimmy is gone.

 

All three think the arrival of an old Army buddy, Sam, will help bring Jimmy around. But the physically wounded Sam may as well be invisible. However, Sam finds comfort in the Serrano and Bennett families. He shows up, and when his own battle fatigue gets too much, he takes off on his motorcycle.

 

At the VA hospital, Jimmy goes through some awful treatments, like an insulin coma and electric shock therapy. Then Peggy gets an idea: maybe if she could find more of Jimmy’s Army pals, knowing how much Jimmy helped them (he was a medic), that might bring him around. As Peggy is rooting around in Jimmy’s duffel bag, looking for clues, she discovers a picture of a beautiful woman with only the name Gisela written on the back. Could she be the key to unlocking Jimmy’s mind?

 

Berlin, Germany, 1938. Gisela Wolff and her family know it is time to leave Germany. Her father has worked hard to obtain the visas and passports that will allow her family to flee the Nazis. They board the luxury liner, SS St. Louis, and head for Cuba. Cuba denies the 900 Jewish passengers’ entry. The ship then tries to enter America, but again they are turned away (true story) and sent back to Europe.

 

One bright light in Gisela’s light is the young man she meets about the boat, Sam Shaprio. The two quickly fall deeply in love. They are separated and Gisela must make her way through the war. She ultimately winds up in one of the concentration camps.

 

Don’t want any spoilers, so I better stop now. However, grab your hankies, ‘cause when Jimmy and Gisela’s stories converge, you’re gonna need them.

 

Long Way Home gets 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.