If I Were You by Lynn Austin

If I Were You by Lynn Austin

464 pages / 13 hrs, 35 mins

"1950. In the wake of the war, Audrey Clarkson leaves her manor house in England for a fresh start in America with her young son. As a widowed war bride, Audrey needs the support of her American in-laws, whom she has never met. But she arrives to find that her longtime friend Eve Dawson has been impersonating her for the past four years. Unraveling this deception will force Audrey and Eve's secrets--and the complicated history of their friendship--to the surface."  --from the publisher.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I've read other books by Austin, but this one is far and away her best yet. It did drag a bit for me in one spot, but it didn't last long. I loved the characters, and Austin's exceptional presentation of complicated moral decisions, relationships, and extending grace to others. The ending was a bit simplistic, but I do love a happy ending. I give it five out of five stars.

Halsey's Typhoon by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin

Halsey's Typhoon by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin
322 pages / 10 hrs, 38 mins

"December 1944, the Pacific Theater. General Douglas MacArthur has vowed to return to the Philippines. He will need the help of Admiral William "Bull" Halsey's Pacific Fleet. But at the height of the invasion, Halsey's ships are blindsided by a typhoon of unprecedented strength and scope. Battleships are tossed like toys, fighter planes are blown off carriers, destroyers are capsized, and hundreds of sailors are swept into the rolling, shark-infested sea.

"Only now, thanks to documents that have been declassified after 60 years and scores of firsthand accounts from survivors, can the story finally be told. Informed by years of rigorous research and narrated with the immediacy of an action movie, Halsey's Typhoon is an enthralling true tale of courage and survival against impossible odds and one of the finest untold World War II sagas of our time."  --from the publisher

Wow, what an incredible experience that must have been.  There were 790 seamen lost in the typhoon or from exposure to the elements as they waited to be rescued.  President Gerald Ford and Senator John McCain's grandfather were two of the survivors.  The story is well written and mostly understandable for people unfamiliar to wartime jargon, like me.  Wikipedia has a decent article on the event: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Cobra .  I give this one four out of five stars.

All Blood Runs Red: the legendary life of Eugene Bullard-boxer, pilot, soldier, spy by Phil Keith with Tom Clavin

All Blood Runs Red: the legendary life of Eugene Bullard-boxer, pilot, soldier, spy by Phil Keith with Tom Clavin
352 pages

"Eugene Bullard lived one of the most fascinating lives of the twentieth century. The son of a former slave and an indigenous Creek woman, Bullard fled home at the age of eleven to escape the racial hostility of his Georgia community. When his journey led him to Europe, he garnered worldwide fame as a boxer, and later as the first African American fighter pilot in history.

"After the war, Bullard returned to Paris a celebrated hero. But little did he know the dramatic, globe-spanning arc of his life had just begun.

"All Blood Runs Red is the inspiring untold story of an American hero, a thought-provoking chronicle of the twentieth century and a portrait of a man who came from nothing and by his own courage, determination, gumption, intelligence and luck forged a legendary life."  --from the publisher

What an amazing person! I'd like to have half his adventurous spirit. The authors do a great job relating his story and putting it in context of world events. I give it four out of five stars.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
(The Tattooist of Auschwitz #1)
262 pages

"In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tatowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

"Imprisoned for more than two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism--but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.

"One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her."  --from the publisher

I read this for a book club and while it is good, I don't think it lives up to its reputation. One very noticeable problem for me was that two-thirds of the way through, the story began moving faster and with much less detail. The last third had a very different voice. I gave it three out of five stars.

American Duchess by Karen Harper

American Duchess: A Novel of Consuelo Vanderbilt by Karen Harper --- 357 pages, including About the Author, Behind the Book, and Reading Group Guide.

"Bestselling historical fiction author Karen Harper turns her attention to the tale of American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt, and her 'Wedding of the Century' to the 9th Duke of Marlborough. Although mostly forgotten now, Consuelo was the "Princess Diana" of the Gilded Age. One of several American "Dollar Brides," bartered by their ambitious, wealthy families to debt-ridden English aristocrats in exchange for an ancient title, Consuelo was coerced into marriage to a man she hardly knew by her domineering mother when she was just 18 years old.

The Vanderbilt fortune bought Consuelo a title she never wanted and a husband who either ignored or criticized her every action. Once she had satisfied her other primary duty by providing the Duke with two sons --- "an heir and a spare" ---- she and her husband lived separate lives: she inhabiting the London mansion built with her father's money, and busying herself with her numerous charities; while the Duke lived at Blenheim Palace, his primary estate, with his American mistress, and devoted his energies to restoring Blenheim and currying favor with the royal family.   

After ten years of a loveless marriage and thirteen years of separation, Consuelo finally found the courage to begin the arduous process of divorcing her husband to marry the handsome French aviator who had been patiently waiting for her. But the new and happy life that they made for themselves in France was soon threatened by the Nazi's blitzkrieg invasion and occupation during World War II. 

A fictional interpretation of a woman searching for meaning during a period of enormous social change and the upheaval of two world wars.

Click HERE to listen to an interview with the author of American Duchess.

Click HERE to read the review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review from Fresh Fiction.com

Click HERE to read the review from the New York Journal of Books.