Gifts of War: A Novel by Mackenzie FordPublisher: Doubleday
I received this book from the publisher through Shelf Awareness.
About the book: (from the back cover) During the Christmas Truce of 1914, a German gives a British soldier a photo, and they make a pact. Hal, the British soldier, promises to find his enemy's English girlfriend, Sam, and let her know her fiance is alive and thinking of her. Several weeks later, Hal - now injured - is discharged from the army and goes to Stratford-upon-Avon to fulfill his promise. But things take an unexpected turn when he meets the woman in the photo and falls in love with her himself. As their romance blossoms, Sam shares with Hal her most private confidence: Her newborn son is of German lineage, information that threatens her reputation and her job as a schoolteacher. Fearful that he will lose Sam, Hal holds tight to the secret - and the photograph - that brought them together.
Mackenzie Ford sets the story of Hal and Sam's love affair against the broader landscape of England at war and brilliantly captures the era and the fates of men and women caught in the sweep of history. A vivid tale of romance, adventure, and intrigue, Gifts of War is a remarkable narrative that explores what made World War I so tragic, so revolutionary, and so exciting.
About the author: MACKENZIE FORD is the nom de plume of a well-known and respected historian who lives in London, England.
Gifts of War
Publisher/Publication Date: Doubleday, July 7, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-385-52895-5
464 pages
