Tuesday, August 19, 2008

My Father's Secret War

Pulitzer-Prize winner Lucinda Franks delves into her father's shrouded past in this emotionally-driven memoir that reads more like a novel than a nonfiction book.

After finding a Nazi cap in a box of her father's things, Franks begins a search for the truth of her father's role in World War II. Her father refuses to talk about it, and Franks must piece together the clues she finds. She soon discovers that her father played a pivotal role in the war as a secret agent behind enemy lines.

It's a journey of discovery for Franks as she struggles to understand why her father retreated from the world, haunted by a past that was too painful to discuss with his own family.

If you start this at ten o'clock at night like I did, be prepared to stay up a few hours reading. You'll be hooked from the very beginning. Franks' writing is as amazing as the story she has to tell.

Offering a look at not only the physical but the emotional and pyschological toll of World War II, My Father's Secret War should be required reading for any World War II enthusiast.