Valerie P. (vprosser) -
Helpful Score: 2
I had high hopes for this one due to the huge wishlist. It was so boring in most parts -- the part with the interviews with the Jews on the train was the only part worth reading (or in this case, listening to). I found myself wondering why on earth the author made this book so long. The whole thing dragged on & on until the last disc, and then it was BOOM all the action all at the end. I wouldn't recommend this one, but I did LOVE the narrator!
Helpful Score: 1
There are many things to like about this book...and many things that do not quite satisfy the reader. Basically, the premise of this work set in 1940-41 is that, during war in Europe and pre-war on the home front in the America, the real stories of war exist around the edges. This is an account of three women, two who live in a tiny Cape Cod village and the other who is a war correspondent in England during the Blitzkrieg and then travels to Germany and France on trains to get the real story of what is happening to the Jews.
There are both gripping and very sad moments as the reporter makes her way from train to train conducting interviews with Jewish refugees (which she records on a machine that cuts records) while trying to keep Nazi soldiers from arresting her. The counterpoint is the waiting game for America to enter the war from the perspective of life in a small town as the postmistress keeps order in her duties to deliver the mail and the young doctor's wife keeps a vigil waiting for word of her husband who flees to England to heal the emotional wounds caused by losing a patient.
I gave this 3 stars which seems to be the takeaway from other readers who wrote reviews here and on Amazon. For an audiobook, its a good way to pass the time on a long drive. The reader, Orlagh Cassidy is very good with a pleasant voice.
There are both gripping and very sad moments as the reporter makes her way from train to train conducting interviews with Jewish refugees (which she records on a machine that cuts records) while trying to keep Nazi soldiers from arresting her. The counterpoint is the waiting game for America to enter the war from the perspective of life in a small town as the postmistress keeps order in her duties to deliver the mail and the young doctor's wife keeps a vigil waiting for word of her husband who flees to England to heal the emotional wounds caused by losing a patient.
I gave this 3 stars which seems to be the takeaway from other readers who wrote reviews here and on Amazon. For an audiobook, its a good way to pass the time on a long drive. The reader, Orlagh Cassidy is very good with a pleasant voice.
