Shadows over Paradise by Isabel Wolff
Lest you think by the title and cover this is a
carefree beach book, guess again. Shadows
over Paradise goes deep.
Jenni Clark is a ghost writer. Her name is never on
the cover, yet she’s immersed herself into the lives of many people and
presented them to the world. When Jenni
is approached to write the memoir of Klara, she accepts but with reservation
after she finds out where Klara lives.
Klara lives in a town Jenni never wanted to go near again in her life.
Klara’s memoir is a difficult one for all of
us. We are well aware of the Holocaust
and the horrors of war and genocide in Europe
but we are maybe not so familiar with the atrocities the Japanese delivered on
prisoners and residents in occupied territories during World War II. Klara was one of those people and her story
brings it all to the surface again for herself and ultimately for her family.
It isn’t pretty but finally just telling the story helps Klara finally
understand it.
While spending time with Klara in this town Jenni
wanted to forget, her story, too, comes to the surface and is revealed not only
to us but to the people in Jenni’s life who were completely unaware of the
burden she carried.
We who don’t know as much as we should of the war’s
affect in the Pacific should take note.
This book was provided by Edelweiss Above the Treeline
This book was provided by Edelweiss Above the Treeline
I agree these stories need to be told. So much was almost forgotten as the largest atrocity was uncovered. I am glad that now is the time to remind history that there were other stories. Even here in Australia we never really heard of the bombing of Darwin and the lives lost. Even on our own doorstep!!! Censorship was more powerful then and I think people needed time to process and recover. Hopefully now they get to tell their tales and we will understand a bit more....hopefully never to repeat the process.
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