The Dressmaker's War

Author: Mary Chamberlain
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2016
Pages: 320
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: London, 1939: Ada Vaughan is a young working-class woman with an unusual skill for dressmaking who dreams of opening her own atelier. When she meets Stanislaus von Lieben, a Hungarian aristocrat, a new, better life seems to arrive. Stanislaus sweeps Ada off her feet and brings her to Paris. But when war breaks out and Stanislaus vanishes, Ada is abandoned and alone, trapped on an increasingly dangerous continent.

Taken prisoner by the Germans, Ada does everything she can to survive. In the bleak horror of wartime Germany, Ada's skill for creating beauty and glamour is the one thing that keeps her safe. But after the war, attempting to rebuild her life in London, Ada finds that no one is interested in the messy truths of what happened to women like her. And though Ada thought she had left the war behind her, her past eventually comes to light, with devastating consequences.

Review: I could have been Ada in a different time. I empathized with her. I too have made stupid decisions with long-term consequences. 

This is a different kind of WWII novel that I found by chance. I was browsing the library shelves and something about it grabbed my attention. Once I started reading, I could not put it down.

Moloka'i

Author: Alan Brennert
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2004
Pages: 416
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: This richly imagined novel, set in Hawaii more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little know time and place - and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit.

Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day, a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka'i. Here her life is supposed to end, but instead she discovers it's only the beginning.

Review: Moloka'i has been on my To Be Read list for years. Two things propelled me into reading it now. The May prompt in one of my reading groups is "a book set in a place you'd like to visit." Hawaii is near the top of my list. The other reason is that at Mass recently, the priest spoke about St. Damian who ministered to the lepers on Moloka'i. If I was looking for a sign, those were hard to miss.

Mrs. Robert E. Lee: The Lady of Arlington

Author: John Perry
Genre: Biography
Publisher: Multnomah, 2003
Pages: 400
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Many know about her husband, Robert E. Lee, and her great-grandmother, Martha Washington; may have visited the cemetery that now occupies her family estate. But few today know much about Mary Custis Lee herself. Chronically ill and often in excruciating pain, Mary raised seven children, faithfully witnessing to her husband for years before his conversion. She retained her dignity and faith throughout a fruitless heartbreaking attempt to win compensation for the confiscation of her home and possessions. History is never more powerful than when it provides a role model for enduring hardship with sturdy and radiant faith. Mary Custis Lee is such an example.

Review: I picked this book up at my local library "Fill a Bag" (for $5) book sale. I passed over it a couple times, but on my way out, figured why not? If I started it and didn't care for it, it's easily passed on to someone else or re-donated.

I actually loved it. Informative, interesting, and engaging.
 

I have been to Arlington National Cemetery several times, and it is so peaceful and beautiful. 

It's fair to say that times aren't all that different now.