Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Okay, I know I space and miss reviews more than I used to, but I did actually have a good reason yesterday. Something came up unexpectedly, leaving us ALL tired, and there just wasn’t enough emotional energy to write a coherent review. (It happens.) Today, however, I shall make up for it! I won an advance copy of The Last Year of the War more than a year ago, and I finally managed to be in the right mood for it AND have time for it at the SAME time. (It’s harder than it sounds, trust me.) And–wow.

First of all, Susan Meissner has a way with a story; she drew me in from the get-go. The story itself, however–wowsers. I hadn’t realized that thousands of German-born, long-term American residents were interned during World War II. I hadn’t realized that those interned as individuals were sometimes given the option of their families joining them in an internment camp in Texas, and I most DEFINITELY didn’t realize that some of them were repatriated (as were some of their Japanese counterparts) to their “home” countries–despite the fact that many of the children involved had never actually set foot in those countries. The last of these exchanges took place in January of 1945, meaning that WE SENT AMERICAN CHILDREN to GERMANY and JAPAN in 1945.

We were BOMBING those countries in 1945.

Okay. Deep breaths. (Because SERIOUSLY?) Meissner takes that piece of history and creates a story around it–a story of two girls who meet at that internment camp, one with Japanese parents, one with German–and become friends, and of how that friendship affects their lives, even after they are separated. Elise narrates, and it is her life we follow–from Iowa to Texas to Germany and back to the states–and her story we experience. In some ways the story is really about the relationships and how circumstances mold Elise, but the historical setting is so crucial to everything that it’s difficult to pinpoint its strongest theme; what I can say is that the story is, first and foremost, engrossing. If you’re a historical fiction OR women’s fiction fan, The Last Year of the War is well worth your time.