Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

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A beloved classic since its initial publication in 1947, this vivid, insightful journal is a fitting memorial to the gifted Jewish teenager who died at Bergen-Belsen, Germany, in 1945. Born in 1929, Anne Frank received a blank diary on her 13th birthday, just weeks before she and her family went into hiding in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Her marvelously detailed, engagingly personal entries chronicle 25 trying months of claustrophobic, quarrelsome intimacy with her parents, sister, a second family, and a middle-aged dentist who has little tolerance for Anne's vivacity. The diary's universal appeal stems from its riveting blend of the grubby particulars of life during wartime (scant, bad food; shabby, outgrown clothes that can't be replaced; constant fear of discovery) and candid discussion of emotions familiar to every adolescent (everyone criticizes me, no one sees my real nature, when will I be loved?). Yet Frank was no ordinary teen: the later entries reveal a sense of compassion and a spiritual depth remarkable in a girl barely 15. Her death epitomizes the madness of the Holocaust, but for the millions who meet Anne through her diary, it is also a very individual loss. --Wendy Smith

Book Description

Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank's remarkable diary has since become a world classic -- a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the "Secret Annex" of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.

Customer Reviews:

Anne Frank Revisited..........2007-10-17

As just about every other student, I read The Diary of Anne Frank in middle school, probably during the 6th or 7th grade. I had a distant memory of it, but not much. Well, recently I watched Schindler's List and this got me re-interested in WWII, and especially the Holocaust. I read Night by Eli Wiesel (highly recommended) and decided to move on to The Diary of Anne Frank. Let me start by reviewing the book:

The Diary of Anne Frank is a diary of a young, Jewish girl (as the title obviously states, haha) whom is forced to go into hiding with her family during the Nazi occupation of Holland in the early 1940's. During this period, Jews were being segregated and even sent off to concentration camps by the Germans on a daily basis. When Anne's sister's name was next on the list, their father decided to take the family into hiding.

Aided by some of Otto's (Anne's father) former employees, the Franks seclude themselves in a small Annex of a business in Amsterdam. There, they are joined by the Van Daan family and later by an older gentleman, Mr. Dussel. Anne's diary chronicles their plight for the following two years, until they are discovered by the German secret police and ultimately sent to their death in Jewish concentration camps.

Anne addresses various topics, from their daily activities, to her interest in the son of the Van Daan's, Peter, to some of her inner most thoughts, fears, and aspirations. I have to share with you that I was EXTREMELY impressed with Anne's intelligence. I couldn't help but compare her to myself when I was only 15 years old and I am amazed not only at her intelligence but her strength to persevere during such horrible times. This young girl manages to keep faith in God and struggles with maintaining her morality, even as all around her she is witnessing a warped world full of sin, hatred and evil. I cannot say that in her shoes I would've reacted the same.

I encourage any reader to read and/or re-read The Diary of Anne Frank. You will be completely enveloped by her wit and warmth and are surely to fall in love with her.

Ann Frank.......2007-10-05

The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition is the diary Anne Frank a young Jewish girl growing up during World War II and the holocaust. Anne lives in Amsterdam with her mother, father, and sister Margot. When Anne is 13 she and her family must go into hiding to escape the Germans call ups, particularly one for Margot. They hide in the back of a warehouse where Otto (Anne's father) works. There are seven people at the beginning including the three van Daans an Anne and her family.
The diary reminds me of The Breadwinner which is about a young girl growing up in Afghanistan during the Taliban's rule. The main character must dress up as a boy when her father is arrested to earn money for her family. Unlike Anne's diary however this was written in modern day. They both had trouble getting food that they needed and lived in fear of getting arrested. Although they lived in different times the experiences of the girls were similar
After a bit Albert Dussel, a dentist, joins the group in, as it came to be known, the Secret Annex. Dussel became a bit annoying when he starts hiding food when the rest of the group need to get coupon books through the black market and are eating rotten potatoes and other foods. He did however give them dental checkups. Anne shared a room with Dussel when he came (before she shared with Margot) and was frequently woken up when he got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. "Mr. Dussel's Toilet Timetable" is some thing that Anne tacks to the bathroom door. "I might well have added "Transgressors will be subject to confinement!" Because our bathroom can be locked from both the inside and the outside." Is something Anne writes after the timetable.
Anne also makes friends with Peter van Dan and spends quite a few evenings in his attic bedroom because it has the only window that's not covered by a curtain. They become valuable resources for each other.
All in all this is a very good book and I highly recommend it.

Amazing diary of a young woman .......2007-10-01

Anne Frank is remembered for being a sweet young girl that went into hiding during the holocaust only to be found and sent to a concentration camp where she died 3 months befroe her 16th birthday. The time in between these two horrible events is full of fear, fights,learning, and love, basically life. This version of the diary has more material than the orginal, which some people think is too much, but it is what she wrote left alone. It has what she intended the book to be. It includes story from the restrictions put on her while she wasn't in hiding because she was Jewish to her chores that she did quietly in the Secret Annex such as peeling potatoes and rubbing beans. It is not always the most interesting book, but it does provoke thought. It's sad in the fact that you know how its going to end before you start, but Anne does not as she's wrting it. Anne Frank's writing surpass her age, she writes not as a stuborn teenager, but as an intelligent young woman.

A Powerful and Intimate Portrait.......2007-09-30

You know the storyline - a Jewish girl, her family, and some friends go into hiding for two years during the Nazi regime in Holland. Said girl writes her thoughts and observations of her life during this time in a diary, which is found and published after her death in a concentration camp. It has become a classic, and it was written by a young teenager.

My favorite aspect of this book will forever be Anne's powerful narrative voice. Her words speak, and more than that they smell and taste and touch. She gives her diary, "Kitty," an intimate portrait of life in the "Secret Annexe," both public and private - of the ups-and-downs of people's relationships, of her inner struggles and growth, of her love. Reading her diary is like looking through the window at the war from two perspectives - one from the outside in, at the life of a girl and a family who were sucked into the Nazi vacuum through no fault of their own; and the other from the inside out, at the crazy world war swirling around the epicenter of one fourteen-year-old girl.

Book Report: Diary of a Young Girl.......2007-09-30

This book tells an amazing story of a young girl living in Germany in World War II. And to think it was all a journal is amazing. Anne Frank, a brave young Jewish girl, spends two years hiding in the secret annex from the Nazis. Anne Frank started to keep this diary on her thirteenth birthday. She called her diary, Kitty. At the start of her diary, Anne describes fairly typical experiences, writing about her friendships with other girls, her crushes on boys.
Later, the Franks had moved to the Netherlands in the years leading up to World War II to escape persecution in Germany. They were forced into hiding with another family, the van Daans. There, they listened closely to the radio and everything that happened during the war. Anne kept up with everything that happened while she was there. It was very hard for her because she was separated from all her friends and her normal life style.
I suggest this book for all ages. It is a very inspirational story. It gives a different perspective on life.
-Hayley Robertson
6th period
10/4/07

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My Father's Secret War
A Book You Just Can Put Down
Slow start
Disappointment
Buried secrets

MY FATHER'S SECRET WAR: A MEMOIR
Lucinda Franks
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 140135226X
Release Date: 2007-03-14

Book Description

In this moving and compelling memoir about parent and child, father and daughter, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lucinda Franks discovers that the remote, nearly impassive man she grew up with had in fact been a daring spy behind enemy lines in World War II. Sworn to secrecy, he began revealing details of his wartime activities only in the last years of his life as he became afflicted with Alzheimer's. His exploits revealed a man of remarkable bravado -- posing as a Nazi guard, slipping behind enemy lines to blow up ammunition dumps, and being flown to one of the first concentration camps liberated by the Allies to report on the atrocities found there.My Father's Secret War is an intimate account of Franks coming to know her own father after years of estrangement. Looking back at letters he had written her mother in the early days of WWII, Franks glimpses a loving man full of warmth. But after the grimmest assignments of the war his tone shifts, settling into an all-too-familiar distance. Franks learns about him -- beyond the alcoholism and adultery -- and comes to know the man he once was.Her story is haunting, and beautifully told, even as the tragedy becomes clear: Franks finally comes to know her father, but only as he is slipping further into his illness. Lucinda Franks understands her father as the disease claims him. My Father's Secret War is a triumph of love over secrets, and a tribute to the power of the connection of family.

Customer Reviews:

My Father's Secret War.......2007-10-18

The book was received very promptly, and was a very good depiction of her experiences in trying to understand WWII from her father's perspective. So many of us "baby boomers" have a difficult time getting our parents to open up and tell us of their experiences during that time. This is a very good book to read.

A Book You Just Can Put Down.......2007-10-04

After all the hype and with the authors oh-so-impressive cred, one expects a book that you just can't put down. She delivers a nice, warm story, but by all means, you CAN put it down.

Slow start.......2007-09-10

As I read the other reviews, I realized they are all true. In many ways this is a poignant and touching story. But Franks takes so long describing their disfunctional family and getting to the interesting part -- her father's war experiences and the process of finding the information -- that I almost put it down without finishing it. I'm glad I stayed with it, as Lucinda finally gets to the real story and redeems herself. (I didn't like her at all at the beginning of the story but I forgave her for her honesty at the end.)

Disappointment.......2007-06-16

You asked me for comments. Perhaps I was expecting more focus on the father. If one enjoys home videos of other families, this book might be of interest.

Buried secrets.......2007-06-13

I almost wish Lucinda Franks chose not to write this book.It was fairly obvious from the start that her father didn't want to remember his role in war..at one point she even asks him if he was a nazi sympathizer.definitely not.My goodness Ms. Frank,leave the poor old guy alone.The book tells a lot about her father and a lot about his daughter.When one of his old buddies phones her and said her dad needs living expenses, some extra cash, she responds that she and her husband have to maintain 3 houses, she can't send dad a few extra dollars..she visits , sees a pile of rancid leftovers in the refrigerator and proceeds to reheat the freshest one for her dad's meal..Golly Lucinda, buy and roast a chicken, peel a few potatoes, buy some canned vegetables.. how hard can that be? Poor dad wears K-mart clothes, so order something for him from Lands'End, you don't even have to go to a store. Again, this is a book that didn't need to be written.

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Incredible journey
Great book
Biography of a True Christian Heroine
Amazing Love, Courage, and Faith
GRIPPING and inspiring!

The Hiding Place
Corrie Ten Boom , and John Scherrill
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0553256696
Release Date: 1984-10-01

Book Description

Corrie Ten Boom stood naked with her older sister Betsie, watching a concentration camp matron beating a prisoner."Oh, the poor woman," Corrie cried."Yes. May God forgive her," Betsie replied. And, once again, Corrie realized that it was for the souls of the brutal Nazi guards that her sister prayed.

Here is a book aglow with the glory of God and the courage of a quiet Christian spinster whose life was transformed by it. A story of Christ's message and the courageous woman who listened and lived to pass it along -- with joy and triumph!

Customer Reviews:

Incredible journey.......2007-10-18

This is a must read!! I couldn't put it down.

What an inspiring true story of a woman-Corrie, here sister-Betsy and their Father. It's a book that shakes us to the core of who we really are and what God-given capabilities are in all of us if pressed into a hard place. The Ten Boom family had an incredible love for people and the God they served. This love was evident in the way they lived their lives not thinking of themselves but putting others first at any cost. A true testimony of the love of Jesus Christ within the heart of believers.

Friend this book will challenge you to walk in new realms in God.

Great book.......2007-10-09

I bought the book The Hiding Place because I had the lost the one I had. I greatly enjoyed the book. It is well written, and Historical. Her story is one that should never be forgotten. The book was in great shape when I got it.

Biography of a True Christian Heroine.......2007-08-08

This is the first book you should read to get to know Corrie Ten Boom, a woman whose life took a dramatic turn when her family was caught up in a turbulent and tragic time when the Nazi's occupied Holland. Corrie, her father and sister were morally convicted to harbor and hide Jews who were facing arrest and deportation. After being betrayed, they were sent to jail, and eventually Corrie and Betsie were sent to Ravensbruck, a German concentration/death camp. Throughout her life, Corrie held onto her Saviour Jesus Christ, and found out that there is no pit too deep that God is not there to pull you out.

Corrie is completed honest and transparent in describing her life. She does not sugarcoat her own mistakes, and the bitterness and hatred she harbored in her heart. She does not make herself out to be a saint. But as a real human being experiencing the depravity of human sin, she in her own power could not forgive or love her enemies. She was incredulous upon hearing her sister Betsie pray for the Nazi's, and as Betsie got physically weaker and weaker, she was strengthened spiritually, encouraging Corrie to let go her hatred, and to spread the word of God's love through the most horrible circumstances. Betsie, before she was set free (passed away), also inspired Corrie to open a home for displaced people after the war. Miraculously Corrie was set free and able to make her way home. She fulfills Betsie's dreams of opening a rest home, and ministering to people who had suffered so much at the hands of evil.

The book ends in 1946. To find out about Corrie's return to Germany and her ministering to former prison guards, make sure to read "Tramp for the Lord."

Amazing Love, Courage, and Faith.......2007-08-06

Corrie Ten Boom and her family exhibited true Christian love. They did not shrink from their duty to hide the persecuted Jews, nor did they lack courage as they were arrested and placed in concentration camps. Several family members died, with only Corrie surviving due to miraculous intervention. Did she harbor bitterness? Yes. But her faith in the Lord God Jehovah sustained her through this difficult time. She came to the place in her spiritual life where God changed her heart, enabling to forgive her captors. This is truly a story that will warm your heart and point you to a personal Savior, Jesus Christ, who loves and cares for His children. Read how God directs their paths, even when imprisoned, and blesses them mightily despite their circumstances.

GRIPPING and inspiring!.......2007-08-04

I really tried not to read this book right before bed b/c of the tough content, but I just couldn't put it down!

The voice is delightful--warm, genuine, matter-of-fact--appealing neither to sentiment or false piety. Corrie shares her story honestly and so pleasantly that you feel you are sitting with her over a cup of tea. She makes no pretense about her own bravery, but humbly shares her own struggles and how the Lord faithfully sustained her. The lessons on forgiveness are timeless and unforgettable. Be careful; you're likely to feel conviction to apply these truths to your own life! =)

I would not recommend this book for small children; anyone under the age of 10 might be too upset by some of the content (her sister's death, their cruel treatment in prison)--but I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to anyone who has ever wondered:
--would they have courage to stand up for their faith if put to the ultimate test?
--why does God allow bad things to happen to "good" people?
--when should one fight back and when should one humbly submit
--is it safe to trust God in absolute surrender?

May God bless you as He blessed me in reading this book!
CM

Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror

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Awesome autobiography and cultural analysis
An Informative Perspective
Eye-opening insights into the causes of Islamic extremism.
EXCELLENT BOOK
Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror

Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror
Nonie Darwish
Manufacturer: Sentinel HC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1595230319

Book Description

One woman's story of why she left the culture of Islamic Jihad to support American liberty and tolerance

Why are so many Muslims embracing jihad and cheering for al-Qaeda and Hamas? Why are even the modern, secularized Arab states such as Egypt producing a generation of angry young extremists?

Nonie Darwish knows why. When she was eight, her father died while leading Fedayeen raids into Israel. Her family moved from Gaza back to Cairo, where they were honored as survivors of a “shahid”—a martyr for jihad. She grew up learning the same lessons as millions of Muslim children: to hate Jews, destroy Israel, oppose America, and submit to dictatorship.

But Darwish became increasingly appalled by the anger and hatred in her culture, and in 1978 she emigrated to America. Since 9/11 she has been lecturing and writing on behalf of moderate Arabs and Arab-Americans. Extremists have denounced her as an infidel and threatened her life.

In this fascinating book, she speaks out against the dark side of her native culture—women abused by Islamic traditions; the poor and uneducated mistreated by the elites; bribery and corruption as a way of life. Her former friends and neighbors blamed all the their troubles on Jews and Americans, but Darwish rejects their bigotry and calls for the Arab world to make peace with the West.

The only hope for the future, she writes, is for America to continue waging its War on Terror, seeding the Middle East with the values of democracy, respect for women, and tolerance for all religions.

Customer Reviews:

Awesome autobiography and cultural analysis.......2007-10-17

Now They Call Me Infidel is a gripping narrative of the author's journey from the upper echelons of Egyptian society to a staunch defender of the West. Like Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Infidel, the book is part autobiography and part analysis of a severely dysfunctional culture. Unlike Ayaan, Darwish is not against the Muslim religion per se, focusing mainly on the destructive aspects of polygamy. This primitive practice harms women, men, the family and ultimately the whole culture.

She further examines the nature of modern Arab society showing how the ruling classes exploit religion in order to advance their oppressive agendas. Darwish confirms the existence of the pervasive Antisemitism that Hirsi Ali observed as a child in places like Saudi-Arabia. For examples of the Anti-Jewish hatred in the mainstream Arab press, please consult Peace: The Arabian Caricature of Anti-Semitic Imagery by Arieh Stav.

On a 2001 visit to Egypt, she noticed the illiteracy, anger and unemployment amongst ordinary people. They blame all of these problems on Israel, obviously brainwashed by the Egyptian media. There is a lack of self-criticism in Arab culture - a taboo against criticizing the family, religion or their leaders. But there's no denying that the constant drumbeat of propaganda against Israel and the USA emanates from, and has totally corrupted the educated segments of Egyptian society.

Observing how many Muslim immigrants do not appreciate Western values, the author warms against radicalism on campus and in mosques funded by petrodollars. Long ago she became aware of the two-faced behavior of Islamist radicals in the West: they speak soothing words to the clueless Western mass media whilst spewing forth hatred in their sermons and the Arab media. To Darwish, the terrorists are pirates who are intent on robbing Western democracies of their soul. She dismisses the misleading portrayal of Jihad as a "personal spiritual struggle," stating bluntly that it has always meant a religious holy war against non-Muslims.

There are many beautiful moments in the book, like her account of experiencing Christian worship for the first time, and her moving description of a visit to Israel and how it altered her perception of that brave little country. And this is the most important message of the book; for Nonie, the most valuable reward of moving to the USA was religious freedom and learning to love: "I had turned from a culture of hatred to one of love." May she be blessed.

Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America by Brigitte Gabriel

The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

The Force of Reason by Oriana Fallaci

Light in the Shadow of Jihad: The Struggle for Truth by Ravi Zacharias

Londonistan by Melanie Phillips

Menace in Europe: Why the Continent's Crisis Is America's Too by Claire Berlinski

Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left by David Horowitz

While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within by Bruce Bawer

An Informative Perspective.......2007-09-15

If you're like me, you might know very little about Mideastern culture and life. This book is a highly readable and personal account of one woman's life, experiences and views on Muslim culture. I'm enjoying it; she puts a "human face" on this part of the world and it's issues.

Eye-opening insights into the causes of Islamic extremism........2007-09-11

The author grew up in Egypt under Nasser's dictatorship, but later moved to America. Her father was an Egyptian military officer killed in Gaza by Israel because he organized raids to cause mayhem inside Israel. She reports on the problems in Egypt and Gaza, and on the government and religious propaganda which is polarizing the Islamic world to the point of Jihad. This is an eye-opening read, and it gives insight into how difficult it will be to ever correct this problem.

EXCELLENT BOOK.......2007-09-01

THIS BOOK IS A MUST READ FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO TRULY UNDERSTAND HOW THE MIDDLE EAST FEALS ABOUT AMERICA AND WHY. NONIE DARWISH IS A VERY BRAVE WOMAN AND I THANK GOD SHE HAD THE GUTS TO WRITE THE TRUTH.

Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror.......2007-08-25

This is an excellen book for those seeking to understand Arab Muslim perspectives. The culture is based on a background, history and value system entirely foreign to our way of thinking. The author relates her life from early childhood, through her school years and early adulthood living first in Gaza then Cairo. She is from the upper middle class, the daughter of a high ranking military officer who is martyred. She describes what it is like to be a woman in the arab muslim world. She raises the issuesleading to a lack of trust both within the society and in relation to other societies. She discusses the inner thinking and the daily propaganda regarding Israel. She also gives important information on the Arab view of Palestines role in the conflict. She distinguishes between the radical Islamic movements and moderate Islam. She notes the purpose and intent of fundalmentalist Islam is the eventual overtaking the world. She discusses how this is being taken to countries throughout the world to bring about this change. We need to understand those with whom we are dealing. This is a book that is easy to read, direct and highly informative.

Average customer rating:

Sorry it's over!
A Terrific Page Turner!
Weakest Boyd I've read
he's my favorite contempo writer
A real page turner

Restless: A Novel
William Boyd
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1596912367
Release Date: 2006-10-03

Book Description

It is Paris, 1939. Twenty-eight year old Eva Delectorskaya is at the funeral of her beloved younger brother. Standing among her family and friends she notices a stranger. Lucas Romer is a patrician looking Englishman with a secretive air and a persuasive manner. He also has a mysterious connection to Kolia, Eva's murdered brother. Romer recruits Eva and soon she is traveling to Scotland to be trained as a spy and work for his underground network. After a successful covert operation in Belgium, she is sent to New York City, where she is involved in manipulating the press in order to shift American public sentiment toward getting involved in WWII.
Three decades on and Eva has buried her dangerous history. She is now Sally Gilmartin, a respectable English widow, living in a picturesque Cotswold village. No one, not even her daughter Ruth, knows her real identity. But once a spy, always a spy. Sally has far too many secrets, and she has no one to trust. Before it is too late, she must confront the demons of her past. This time though she can't do it alone, she needs Ruth's help. Restless is a thrilling espionage novel set during the Second World War and a haunting portrait of a female spy. Full of tension and drama, emotion and history, this is storytelling at its finest.

Customer Reviews:

Sorry it's over!.......2007-10-19

There really ought to be another word for 'gripping' - it's so trite, and yet it's ideal to describe this crackerjack read. I hadn't read anything by William Boyd before this, and I'm delighted to have found him.
And I'm always a bit fascinated by men who can write so convincingly in the first person as women ...
Mr Boyd's crisp, articulate prose carries you along without ever getting in the way - which keeps things clear so you can concentrate on who's who and who's doing what in all the cloak-and-daggery. The plot's quite simple: Ruth, a young English woman, discovers her mother, Sally, had been a WWII spy, working on propaganda for a small British intelligence organisation.
Mr Boyd's technique of alternating chapters from Sally's memoir with chapters from the daughter's life heightens the drama: we swing from Ruth's humdrum life in 1970s Oxford to Sally's derring-do as she progresses from recruitment in pre-war Paris to missions in the US as it tries to withstand pressure from Britain and Russia to enter the war.
Like all great spy stories, the tension builds beautifully with twists and intrigue and subterfuge, of course, and though the plot thickens -- sorry! -- it never bewilders.
I enjoyed the parts that dealt with Sally's recruitment and training, loved the sense of atmosphere in '40s London and New York, and sympathised with both women as each struggled to come to terms with the outrageous skeletons in Sally's cupboard.
A ripper.

A Terrific Page Turner!.......2007-10-04

I'm new to this author so I didn't know what to expect, especially when I read that the story was about espionage that took place during Nazi Germany. Robert Ludlum has always been my favorite author for stories during this period, but I must say William Boyd ranks right up there with Mr. Ludlum. The story was a thrilling read and the research was apparent in the details that the author ensured was portrayed in the story. Once I started reading the book it moved along at brisk pace and soon I found myself reading page after page. I could hardly put the book down. Just a terrific page turner and a super read.

Weakest Boyd I've read.......2007-09-21

This is a well enough written book, as one would expect from William Boyd. That said, its the weakest Boyd I've ever read. This time his portrayal of real life characters in interesting times and extraordinary circumstances falls flat. I found it very hard to care even a bit for the daughter's story. I found it only a little harder to care for the mother's pretty-girl-turned-murderous-spy plot. Even the wartime situations the mother is involved in and that lead up to the climax of the novel are very far from enthralling. Its almost as if this is a novel without protagonists, since the protagnists themselves and the plot around them is so uninteresting. Emphasizing all this are the surrounding characters (ie the Iranian english student, the estranged german father of Jochen, his brother and Ilse) who not only add nothing to the plot but provide no really interesting subplots of their own (actually, to the contrary).

Boyd can be wonderful. But for wonderful Boyd please go for "An Ice Cream War".

he's my favorite contempo writer.......2007-09-18

i have read all of william boyd's novels, his short stories, screenplays and most of his essays--he's far and away my favorite contemporary novelist.

"Restless" is brilliant; it's right up there with his best novels, "The New
Confessions," "Brazzaville Beach," and "Any Human Heart."

the only ones that don't come up to scratch are "The Blue Afternoon" and
"Armadillo."

if you like Ishiguro, Amis, McEwan, or the divine David Mitchell, you will LOVE Boyd's stuff.

just get it!

A real page turner.......2007-09-15

Ruth is a single mother who teaches English as a second language in Oxford, England. One day her mother hands her the first installment in her autobiography, and Ruth discovers that everything she thought she knew about her mother's background is a lie, and that her mother was actually a secret agent by the name of Eva, who worked for the British immediately prior to and during WW2.

From here, the book alternates between Ruth's life in the present day and her mother's story during the war. Like Ruth, I found myself caught up in the spy saga and hungry to see how it developed. William Boyd has done a great job of creating a plausible and intriguing storyline for Eva - more John le Carre than James Bond. While he captures the isolation of Eva's world and the mundane elements of her job, the story also builds with genuine tension and pace. Ruth's life, on the other hand, is more prosaic, but as she gets caught up in her mother's story, she loses her jaded view of the world and starts to see potential intrigue in the people and events around her.

This is an easy book to read and I enjoyed it very much. The details about Eva's training and life as a spy felt real and fascinating to me. The twists and turns in her story kept me hooked without feeling contrived or false. As I read the book I could feel it building towards some kind of climax but I had absolutely no idea where it would go. The mother's and daughter's stories eventually intersect in a way that I found very satisfying. I thought it was a great read from start to finish.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

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Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

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Left To Tell
Left to Tell: Discovering God amidst the Rwandan Holocaust
Everyone needs to read this book. Wonderful
Left to Tell
Powerful, gripping

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust
Immaculee Ilibagiza
Manufacturer: Hay House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1401908977

Book Description

Immaculee Ilibagiza grew up in a country she loved, surrounded by a family she cherished. But in 1994 her idyllic world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide. Immaculee’s family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans.

Incredibly, Immaculee survived the slaughter. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor while hundreds of machete-wielding killers hunted for them.

It was during those endless hours of unspeakable terror that Immaculee discovered the power of prayer, eventually shedding her fear of death and forging a profound and lasting relationship with God. She emerged from her bathroom hideout having discovered the meaning of truly unconditional loveâa love so strong she was able seek out and forgive her family’s killers.

The triumphant story of this remarkable young woman’s journey through the darkness of genocide will inspire anyone whose life has been touched by fear, suffering, and loss.

Customer Reviews:

Left To Tell.......2007-10-22

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan HolocaustThis is an amazing book that will overwhelm you with it's message of faith, love and forgiveness. Reviewers of this book have said that reading it will change your life...........how true they are!

Left to Tell: Discovering God amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.......2007-10-18

This book really reaches down into your very core. Immaculee tells her remarkable story about survival in a time of darkness and death. She finds her inner strength and communes freely with the world deep inside of her...her soul. She finds a way to bring the reader into her world and allows you to experience her deep sorrows and triumphant joys. Her courage through such adversity is remarkable! She is a living example of what true strength and courage are all about.Thank you, Immaculee, for sharing your beautiful soul. It is truly a gift of love and compassion.

Everyone needs to read this book. Wonderful.......2007-10-17

Aside from making you realize what you have to be thankful for if you are having a bad day, week, or year, this book will open your eyes, to the harshness of other country struggles, but more important how hope, determination, and faith can make miracles. This lady had to learn the English language while in a small bathroom cell in hiding with a few other women. How lazy have people who use our system today gotten? Life is easy when things are handed to you. Read this wonderful book to see how this woman conquered fear, and had strong faith, now just in God, but herself. She came out on the other side with pride,confidence and most important, her life. By right herself and those with her would have been dead. More than a good read.

Left to Tell.......2007-10-16

This is the most powerful, inspirational book I have read this decade. Her faith and love of God radiate from cover to cover. This book will make a believer out of everyone who reads it.

Powerful, gripping.......2007-10-16

I don't think there's any way I could possibly identify with what Immaculee Ilibagiza experienced in Rwanda. But her story has gone a long way towards helping me see the devastating effects of civil war in her country.

I am just beginning to learn what has happened in Rwanda, and stories like Immaculee's in turns horrify me, and give me hope. If someone who has experienced what she has can find room in her heart to forgive her aggressors and move on, then I can overcome some of the petty angers and trials I experience in my own life.

Average customer rating:

A Novel To Be Savoured!
Common Humanity
Empathy Without Borders
All the Trappings of a First Novel
History without pretenses; a riveting story that crosses all borders

The Welsh Girl
Peter Ho Davies
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0618007008

Amazon.com

Following two widely praised short-story collections, Equal Love and The Ugliest House in the World, Peter Ho Davies's first novel, The Welsh Girl, deserves to be equally well received. It carefully examines two great themes, dislocation and cowardice, through the stories of a WWII POW camp built by the British in the remote mountains of northern Wales and Esther, the 17-year-old Welsh girl at the heart of the story. The POW camp, filled with Germans, is yet another national insult, as far as the Welsh are concerned, only one of many instances of prejudice between and among the novel's characters: Welshman against Brit and vice versa, Brits and Welshmen against Germans, Germans against Jews. Some of these enmities are age-old antagonisms; others are newly-minted political killing machines.

Davies introduces a Welsh concept--cynefin--for which there is no English equivalent. It means a certain knowledge and sense of place that is passed down the matrilineal line in a flock of sheep. They always know where they belong and never leave their own turf. It is a perfect metaphor for much of what takes place in this carefully plotted story, and for the displacement felt by many of the characters. Esther longs to escape her village, yet is devoted to the flock and to her father. She meets Colin, an English soldier, in the pub where she works. He is a rough sort and things end very badly between them.

Another theme visited again and again is the concept of cowardice. Is it cowardly to save one's life and the lives of others by surrendering to the enemy? Is death the price that must be paid to be considered brave? The German POWs debate this endlessly, especially Karsten, an intelligent, sensitive soldier who did surrender himself and his men when it was clear that all was lost. When he and Esther find one another under impossible circumstances, Davies renders their relationship perfectly: it is star-crossed, but desperately important to both of them, setting them both "free" in the truest sense of the word. The Welsh Girl is a beautifully told story of love, war, and the accommodations we make in the midst of both. --Valerie Ryan

Book Description

From the award-winning author Peter Ho Davies comes an ambitious and moving wartime romance in the tradition of "The English Patient and Atonement". "The Welsh Girl" begins with a provocative but little-known fact of World War II: the British held German POWs in camps in remote Wales, a proud land with age-old antagonisms toward England. Davies?s beautifully written novel imagines the unexpected and perilous romance that blossoms between a secretive local girl and a German prisoner, and explores the indelible bonds of love and duty that hold us to family, country, and ultimately our fellow man. The Welsh girl of the title is Esther Evans, seventeen, the daughter of a shepherd in the rugged Snowdonia Mountains, who works at the local pub. It is 1944, and the war comes to her village just after D-day in the form of a new POW camp. Although the presence of the English guards is only grudgingly tolerated at the pub, the arrival of the German captives brings the entire village to the hillside above the camp. At first Esther watches from a distance, but her attention is soon caught by one of the soldiers, Karsten Simmering, a troubled young man who has begun to question what he is fighting for. One evening, as Esther lingers by the camp fence, she is astonished when Karsten calls out to her in English. The fates of these two become inexorably entwined when their relationship takes a treacherous turn that calls into question all their assumptions about national and personal loyalty.

Customer Reviews:

A Novel To Be Savoured!.......2007-10-15

What a great novel. It's a somewhat slow moving story, but I enjoyed that aspect of it. The book could be savoured that way. I truly enjoyed the Welsh setting and the characters were all very well developed. Great account of the effects of war on civilians.

Common Humanity.......2007-09-07

The story of a half jewish German national reluctantly forced by his mother to flee to Britan in the 1930s where he becomes an interrogator of German prisoners for the British forces as World War II is ending. He believes his ancestry to be of no significance but it renders him bewilderingly ineffective while interviewing the notorious Rudolph Hess. Sent, in consequence to work at a prinsoner of war camp in Wales his life intersects with well-drawn characters who too find that llife is what is lived and not what is imagined or planned. That the vanquished can be kind and the victors rapists are just two of the many textures of life that Peter Ho Davies brings warmly and ruefully to light. That German hated the Jews and the Welsh hated the British discouragingly means, I suppose, that our common humanity requires that we hate or feel superior to someone.

Empathy Without Borders.......2007-08-21

This gem of a novel is not designed for those who prefer action books with linear plots; it's as real as life itself. From the start, I believed in these characters -- Esther, the Welsh girl...Karstan, the German POW...Jim, the young English boy.

The Welsh Girl can be read in so many different ways: as a story of connections that span boundaries and defy expectations. Or it can be read as a novel of identity. Peter Ho Davies write: "We have something in common, you and I. The same dilemma. Are we who we think we are, or who others judge us to be? A question of will, perhaps."

By the end of the novel, each character will wrestle with this question. The POW will learn the true meaning of "to surrender." The young English boy will find out what "courage" is all about. And the Welsh girl, at the center, will discover about cynefin -- a Welsh quality that has no English translation, but loosely translates to the flock knowing its place. And each will define himself or herself further by comparison with a presumed dead Welsh soldier, whose identity seems to be in the eye of the beholder.

I was enchanted by this novel, the first by the author of Equal Love, a fine short story collection. I'd recommend it wholeheartedly for true readers who are fascinated with love, family, loyalty, and national identity.

All the Trappings of a First Novel.......2007-07-13

Not to harp, but this book had all of the unfortunate qualities of a short story writer attempting the fateful first novel. As a first, it's good enough, but not more than that, and hardly "luminous" or compelling as penned in other editorials.

The primary plot of the book does not even get going until well into the novel, and we are not even introduced to Karsten, one of the main characters, until several chapters in. The writing borders on poetic at times, particularly with Davies' capture of the countryside and life in a rural Welsh village, but such is not the stuff of a great novel. It smacks of good short story writing, and that's all.

Another disappointing aspect of The Welsh Girl is the failure of its subplots. At the outset, the text seems to want to focus on a British soldier named Rotherdam, and his interrogation of Rudolph Hess; Hess has been held captive in Wales for some time. Rotherdam and Hess appear again in two subsequent chapters, but their narratives are never fully linked to that of Esther and Karsten, nor does this "subplot" ever truly enhance or highlight the main narrative. It has the feel of a separate story being mashed into another.

Lastly, I was extremely disappointed in the ending of this "novel." In point of fact, it did not really have an ending. The closing chapter is simply a summation of what those in the village are doing after the war, we get a snapshot of Esther alone, raising her child, and the loose knowledge that Karsten stayed to help her and has since gone off. There is some suggestion that maybe he is unable to return, since he went home to Soviet-occupied Germany, but there is no satisfactory explanation of what really happened. The book ends abruptly and pointlessly, with no real closure.

Overall, I found this underwhelming. It had the possibility of being a wonderful piece of historical fiction, but in the end, I think the author fell into the mistake of thinking a novel is just one long story.

History without pretenses; a riveting story that crosses all borders.......2007-06-27

I bought this book on a whim; prompted by the amazon.com-Gods.

If you know anything about the UK geographical divisions, or even if you have only seen photos of the picturesque countryside, you will be enthralled by this story. If you are intrigued by human stories of WWII, you will be intrigued by this story. If you have ever been misjudged in a situation, you will relate to this story.

Peter Ho Davies creates three characters : they are brought to life by circumstances and his narrative descriptions. You come to appreciate all three for who they are.

It is a page-turner to be sure - as the reader waits to discover how three unlikely people will happen upon one another in a world torn by war, prejudice, hatred, and nationalism.

Although the book has been finished for weeks now, I am still thinking on their fate....

Average customer rating:

Awsome Book!!!!
Love It!
A Tear Jerker that's worth reading.
Unbelievable
5-star story

Ever After (Even Now, Book 2)
Karen Kingsbury
Manufacturer: Zondervan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 031024756X

Book Description

In this moving sequel to Even Now, Emily Anderson falls deeply in love with a young Army reservist who is about to serve in Iraq. At the same time, Emily’s parents seem on the verge of losing all they had gained. Will heartbreaking tragedy be the turning point for all of them?

Customer Reviews:

Awsome Book!!!!.......2007-10-17

This is an awsome book! I really liked the military aspect. It opened my mind and reminded me what is going on outside my little world. We need to support our troops. They are keeping us FREE!

Love It!.......2007-08-31

This is the first book I have read by Karen Kinsbury and I love it. I found it difficult to put the book down. Its a love story that will make you cry.

A Tear Jerker that's worth reading........2007-08-06

This book, a sequel to Even Now, caused me to shed more tears than when I first read Black Beauty as a child. Yet, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys an excellently written love story. It is a little slower than some of Kingsbury's other books, but it was definitely worth the read. I appreciate how the book illustrates the fact that most of our news reporters never show the good side of our troops' presence in Iraq. I feel the characters are realistic, and the story believable. Keep your tissues handy, you'll need them.

Unbelievable.......2007-07-21

Ever After by Karen Kingsbury is mainly a book of supporting the war and its servicemen. I completely support the war and agree totally with Karen's arguments, but I've heard them all before so it left me looking for how good the story was. The relationship between Justin and Emily was just too perfect that you couldn't identify with them. Justin is too perfect in all aspects that you couldn't connect with his character. Emily seemed more believable because you saw the determined way about her when she found her parents in Even Now. Also, it left you thinking they are perfect for each other, but when Justin dies all that love between each other seems wasted. Although Karen tries to make it a point that his death caused Joe (his best army buddy) to find Emily and become closer than friends. Well if Emily and Joe were meant for each other, than why'd Emily have to spoil her purity by kissing Justin earlier?
When Emily and Joe become close friends it all happens too predictable and quickly after Justin's death, even though it says 18 months later it really takes only five pages. Although I have to say at least Joe is a little easier to identify with because you saw his weaknesses, his emotional side.
Lauren's conversion to a right state of mind is about the only thing I liked about this book, besides the support for the troops. Though through the whole book you question why Shane still loves her when she can be such an annoying person.
The teen center is very unbelievable because the teenagers there can act like 16 or 10. Their attitude changes from completely emotional to acting like a tough-guy. Karen didn't show how much an impact Justin did on them when he was alive so it was hard to believe they would cry over his death. Plus, why would a nineteen year-old (Emily) spend time with teenagers maybe one or two years younger when they're depicted as near gansters? They call her "pretty mama" or "hot mama", I would most likely stay clear of them.
Though I have to say, I'm glad someone stepped up to support the war and its servicemen when there are so many who are blindly disagreeing.

5-star story.......2007-07-15

The novel raises important questions about both sides of the war issue, and gives thoughtful and thought-provoking responses to each side. It helped me to try to approach people with opposing views more considerately and lovingly. I believe reading this book would build bridges of understanding, no matter what one's opinion of war might be.

Messenger of Truth: A Maisie Dobbs Novel (Maisie Dobbs Novels)

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A Little Off-Balance
Messenger of Truth: A Maisie Dobbs Novel
A Maisie Dobbs Novel
Maisie Dobbs #4
A dry watershed

Messenger of Truth: A Maisie Dobbs Novel (Maisie Dobbs Novels)
Jacqueline Winspear
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0805078983
Release Date: 2006-08-22

Book Description

London, 1931. The night before an exhibition of his artwork opens at a famed Mayfair gallery, the controversial artist Nick Bassington-Hope falls to his death. The police rule it an accident, but Nicks twin sister, Georgina, a wartime journalist and a infamous figure in her own right, isnt convinced. In Messenger of Truth, Maisie once again uncovers the perilous legacy of the Great War in a society struggling to recollect itself. But to solve the mystery of Nicks death, Maisie will have to keep her head as the forces behind the artists fall come out of the shadows to silence her. Following on the bestselling Pardonable Lies, Jacqueline Winspear delivers another vivid, thrilling, and utterly unique episode in the life of Maisie Dobbs.

Customer Reviews:

A Little Off-Balance.......2007-07-26

"God, he's just a little off balance," thought Maisie Dobbs about Officer Tucker while he was questioning her. For Maisie is investigating the death of an artist who supposedly accidentally fell from a scaffold while he was preparing to mount his mysterious triptych (3-piece art work) in a museum in England. Off balance is right, and Georgina Bassington-Hope, a famous journalist in her own right, is convinced that her artist brother, Nicholas, was pushed off the scaffold to his death. Hired by Georgina, Maisie sets of to slowly, methodically investigate the Bassington-Hope family, friends and acquaintances. Her method is fascinating reading as she quietly intuits each vital step in this formidable process, punctuated by significant opposition from the police and some smugglers.

The reader through Ms. Winspear's carefully detailed presentation meets these characters and gets to share in the intimate knowledge about their finer and gauche personality aspects. A psychologist as well as Investigator, she's got the talent with which one is born and that which can't be taught! Astute and compassionately honest she is!

Depression England and the awful World War that preceded it are frankly and carefully presented, leaving no doubt how these events created suffering and incomparable struggle for all who are surviving both. Indeed these characters somehow manage to thrive out of some deeper fine qualities that slowly emerge as Daisie continues her exploration into the seamier side of men and women of both the upper and lower class British citizens.

This is a fine, fine novel that will thrill the true mystery lover who really doesn't want to figure out the puzzle on page 1 or 100 but wants to relish the truly intriguing art divided into successive canvases of a classic, wonderful mystery!

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on July 25, 2007

Messenger of Truth: A Maisie Dobbs Novel.......2007-07-24

The book is well written, a good story line and makes for enjoyable light reading.

A Maisie Dobbs Novel .......2007-07-18

Some books you read as a main course dinner others you save for the dessert. This book could fall into either category. A top read when you
choose to read. The person of Maisie Dobbs has been building for the past three books, and has proven to be a top notch detective and a business person. Be prepaired to find that you will have a hard time putting this book down.

Maisie Dobbs #4.......2007-07-14

I love this series! A thinking woman! Looking forward to the continuation of the series.

A dry watershed.......2007-06-24

This is Jacqueline Winspear's fourth novel about Maisie Dobbs, "psychologist and investigator." Fans of the series may be slightly disappointed, but should still enjoy it. First-time readers will wonder what all the fuss is about. For, as I suspected already in the third novel, PARDONABLE LIES, the narrative span is becoming difficult to sustain over four books.

But Winspear's sense of period seldom lets her down, and there are still many interesting things here: her view of the vibrant art scene between the wars or the heady night world of jazz clubs and cocktails, contrasted with the effect of the Depression on the out-of-work poor and the lamentable state of public health. And those parts of the story which have to do with the rags-to-riches rise of the heroine (housemaid, war nurse, Canbridge graduate, private investigator) are mercifully shorter -- though Maisie's emotional problems would mean very little to those who had not