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The Last Year of the War - Susan Meissner

Friday, May 24, 2019


My Rating
★★★★★ - You have bewitched me, body and soul. (More Info)

About the Book

An American girl’s life changes forever when her German immigrant parents are interned in a WW2 Texas internment camp.

Elise Sontag is a typical Iowa fourteen-year-old but then her German immigrant father, a legal U.S. resident for nearly two decades, is suddenly arrested on suspicion of being a Nazi sympathizer. The family is sent to an internment camp in Texas, where, behind the armed guards and barbed wire, Elise feels stripped of her very identity. At the camp she meets fellow internee Mariko Inoue, a Japanese-American teenager from Los Angeles, and their unlikely friendship, even after they are both repatriated, challenges Elise to hold on to the belief the life she knew before the war will again be hers. Here is a little-known WW2 story with great resonance for our own times which speaks to the notion of who we are when who we’ve always been is called into question. (From the author's website)

My Thoughts

I adore Susan Meissner! Ever since I read The Secrets of a Charmed Life, I knew her stories would be ones that would linger in my heart and soul. The beauty, the pain, the LIFE that flows from her words melt into your very being.

I can't imagine life being turned so topsy-turvy as what these families lived through. The strength that these people had is admirable, to say the least. I am honored to have been able to have my heart touched by these families, as represented in Meissner's story.

Throughout my life, I have had friends come and go, and that will continue, I know. But it is always so interesting to see the people God has brought into my life for specific seasons. He knew that I would need those specific friends for that specific time. This story speaks to so many aspects of life, friendship, and character. Do we know who we are? Who we want to be? Who is it that we want people to see in us?

Anyone who reads WWII stories really should read this book. A different perspective than the "norm". And your heart will never be the same.

I received a complimentary copy of The Last Year of the War from the publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.


About the Author

Susan Meissner is the critically-acclaimed author of 20 novels. Her engaging stories feature memorable characters facing unique and complex circumstances, often against a backdrop of historical significance. A multi-award winning author, her books have earned starred reviews in both Publishers Weekly and BookList. She was born and raised in San Diego, California, but spent some of her adult life living in Minnesota as well as in England and Germany, before returning home to southern California in 2007. Susan attended Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. Prior to her writing career, she was a managing editor of a weekly newspaper in southwestern Minnesota. She enjoys teaching workshops on writing, spending time with her family, reading great books and traveling. Susan makes her home in the San Diego area with her husband Bob, a pastor and chaplain in the Air Force Reserves. They are the parents of four adult children.


More Books by Susan Meissner on Bookworm Mama


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