War Story received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Rolf Margenau.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
War Story, published August 15, 2021
What’s the book’s first line?
“One August morning in 1941, my cousin Hansi lost his left hand to a circus tiger.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Fresh perspectives on World War II – a nine-year-old on the home front, a German prisoner of war in Mississippi, young women ferrying war planes, a young officer working Enigma codes and rockets, and a lawyer trying to keep the government from sending thousands of German and Italian American citizens to concentration camps.
War Story is a novel that follows four major characters during World War II. Three of them come from the German American community in New Haven, Connecticut. Achim is a nine-year-old boy who recounts his experiences on the home front during the war in the first person, like Tom Sawyer meets World War II. Liesel is a young aviatrix who fulfills her life’s ambition and ferries war planes in the United States and then in Britain, where she has harrowing experiences, gains pay equal to her male cohorts, and falls in love. Paul is an engineering graduate from Yale, who becomes an Army officer, goes to Britain and gets involved with the Enigma code, German rockets, and the OSS spy agency. Horst is a Nazi tank commander captured in North Africa and sent to a POW camp in Mississippi.
The well-researched novel provides insights into little-known secret missions during World War II in Europe and brings to light the internment in America of thousands of German and Italian Americans, many of whom were citizens by naturalization or birth. Details of how the U.S. traded those internees for Americans held by the Nazis and how it treated tens of thousands of German POWs during the war will surprise many readers..
The relationship between the characters soon becomes obvious, as they interact in unexpected ways, making their way through pitfalls, dangerous adventures, and newfound love during wartime. It’s a quartet of interlaced stories dealing with how the four heroes come of age.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
The Trump administration’s policy on immigration upset me. As the son of two immigrants who came to America from Germany in the 1920s, I understood we are truly a nation of immigrants and was appalled at ham handed efforts to disrespect and deny all chances for new immigrants to reach our shores, especially those whose skin wasn’t white. I thought about my parents and relatives whose presence here contributed to making our country better. I thought of their dilemma during World War II of living in a country at war with their homeland and how they served America, anyway. After about a year of research, the four characters formed, and the story began.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
Critics agree that it’s a fresh way of looking at the war and includes many interesting and unknown aspects. It’s entertaining and informative, but not in a dry, preachy way. Get into the first five pages and meet Achim and his friends and you can’t stop reading.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
That’s difficult since there are four main characters, each reporting on different aspects of the war: home front, combat, and POW camp. I favor nine-year-old Achim. He’s a good-hearted Tom Sawyer with a German background who tries to make sense of the war at home.
When did you first decide to become an author?
When I published my first essay in the fifth grade. I’ve been writing ever since.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
It’s the eighth and probably the best one.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
When inspiration comes, grab it with both hands and wring it dry. If it doesn’t come, calm down, sit amid nature, look at birds, take a walk or a shower and, if it still doesn’t come, scotch helps me.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
I don’t think so. My friends who work with traditional publishers bemoan their lack of control and having to work so hard marketing their work. However, if someone offered me a million-dollar advance, it might tempt me.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
The thrill of creating something out of nothing when writing.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
Shakespeare.