Douglas Wellman

This is a multi-faceted story.

Anthony Drago’s mother, Kaleria Palchikoff, was an infant when her aristocratic Russian family fled to Japan in the early 1920s to escape the repression of the Bolsheviks. The family settled in Hiroshima.

She and her family survived the atomic blast in August 1945 and Kaleria, as one of the only English-speaking survivors, was interviewed extensively by the U.S. Army. The account of the blast and the nightmare days that followed is told in Kaleria’s own words. It is a horrific and unimaginable tale of death and destruction. It is also an uplifting story of the strength of the human spirit and the will to survive.

After the war, Kaleria emigrated to the U.S. and built a new life for herself – raising a family in America. She buried her memories for decades. Her story and how she eventually came to terms with the day that changed the world forever is compelling.

Highly recommended.… (more)

This is the very unusual, highly debated story of what happened to Howard Hughes after he "died".

An elderly lady, Eva Renee McLelland, claims that she had been married to a man who was the real Howard Hughes for over 30 years, and the authors share her story, their research, and tries to prove that Eva's story is the correct one.

As much as I want to write my thoughts about whether or not I believe the story, this review is not about that, but about the book itself. It's well documented and researched (though some of the "proof" to me wasn't really proof - showing a small, grainy, black and white photograph of Howard Hughes and one of "Nic" - the man supposed to be the real Howard Hughes - isn't proof to me. You can see anything you want to see in a photograph. Boxes is definitely a fascinating read and a must read for anyone who is at all curious about Howard Hughes life (which always just struck me as sad, overall. The incredible life he led, yet how many people really loved him?) I do hope that Eva's story was true, because that meant that Howard eventually got some peace and love in his life.… (more)

Based on actual events and memoirs of Kateria Palchikoff. Recommended.

FROM AMAZON: On August 6, 1945, 22-year-old Kaleria Pachikoff was doing pre-breakfast chores when a blinding flash lit the sky over Hiroshima, Japan. A moment later, everything went black as the house collapsed on her and her family. Their world, and everyone else's, changed as the first atomic bomb was detonated over a city.

From Russian nobility, the Palchikoff's barely escaped death at the hands of Bolshevik revolutionaries until her father, a White Russian officer, hijacked a ship to take them to safety in Hiroshima. Safety was short lived. Her father, a talented musician, established a new life for the family, but the outbreak of World War II created a cloud of suspicion that led to his imprisonment and years of deprivation for his family.

After the bombing, trapped in the center of previously unimagined devastation, Kaleria summoned her strength to come to the aid of bomb victims, treating the never-before seen effects of radiation.

Fluent in English, Kaleria was soon recruited to work with Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s occupation forces in a number of secretarial positions until the family found a new life in the United States.

Heavily based on quotes from Kaleria's memoirs written immediately after World War II, and transcripts of United States Army Air Force interviews with her, her story is an emotional, and sometime chilling, story of courage and survival in the face of one of history’s greatest catastrophes.… (more)