War, Spies, and Bobby Sox: Stories About World War Two at Home

WAR, SPIES & BOBBY SOX: STORIES ABOUT WORLD WAR II AT HOME by Libby Fischer Hellman is a trio of historical stories about the effect of war on the home front. WWII has always been a fascinating topic to me but it was all about the battlefields, Hitler, and my mother’s and grandmother’s innocent home front stories about rationing and volunteering and writing letters to “our boys.” It certainly was not about spies or secret meetings or POW camps down the road from us in Illinois.

The author writes that WWII was the last time there was such clarity between good and evil. I agree, but as I read these three stories, that clarity became a little blurry. These stories aren’t about fighting in some far off land, but rather about show more individuals that could have been our neighbors – or us – and what happens when difficult decisions have to be made and that line between good and evil isn’t quite so clear. What if a German refugee was forced to spy on the early years of the Manhattan Project in Chicago? What if an inexperienced, unsatisfied young farm girl finds herself in close proximity to men she should not be drawn to? What if suspicious events are happening in your own neighborhood but the word espionage isn’t even part of your vocabulary and you don’t know what these events mean or what, if anything, you should do about them?

I have long been a fan of Libby Fischer Hellman’s work so I had high expectations for this compilation and I was not disappointed. The Incidental Spy was, in fact, the first story I read by her and it was just as powerful and compelling this time around. Lena’s life is hard. She is forced to leave her home, her parents, and her love in Nazi Germany to live in safety with her aunt in the United States. She does eventually settle in to her new home, and finds rewarding, meaningful work, and love again. Life is good. But things don’t always go as we wish and Lena still has more to endure. She is a strong, resourceful woman and she is determined to survive whatever life throws her way, but it’s not easy. She has to make some tough choices, and Libby Fischer Hellman builds the suspense and keeps us wondering until the very end.

POW showed a side effect of the war that most of us probably never even realized existed. Even though her father is away fighting and those are actual POWs in the nearby camp, Mary Catherine is just a young girl helping her mother. The war isn’t a part of her everyday life. This story is about feelings and possible actions and consequences. Again, very powerful and compelling.

The last story in the trio, The Day Miriam Hirsch Disappeared, takes place in the late ‘30s as the country geared up to fight Hitler. Espionage surrounds the disappearance of an actress from the thriving Jewish community of Chicago’s Lawndale, but the main characters, Jacob and Barney, are like the rest of us and don’t have any perspective for events they think they understand but really do not. Very thought provoking and more than a little scary.

The stories may be short, but the characters are well developed and believable, and even though there are no tanks or machine guns or bombers there are battlefields, as well as suspense and tragedy. The stories open your eyes and make you think and will stay in your mind. I highly recommend this book along with everything else Libby Fischer Hellman has written.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review but I also purchased a copy for my library. show less

Reading WWII books are hard for me. Sophie's Choice swore me off of any more WWII books many years ago. But what to do when one of your favorite authors writes a collection of short stories on this topic?? Read them, of course. LFH has breathed new life into stories of this era. The collection is not so much about the war as it is about people caught up in a tumultuous time: their hopes, motivations, decisions, desires, situation, maturity, and influences. This is a timeless examination of human behavior in extraordinary circumstances, but particularly and uncomfortably relevant in current times.

This book contains 2 novellas and a short story. I'm not a big reader of short stories but enjoyed all of this. All were set in Chicago area during WWII and were very interesting. I read a lot about that time period but mostly set overseas. These were good because they dealt with American citizens along with immigrants and POW's. Haven't really read a lot about that and it definitely piqued my interest. I had read about the Japanese internment camps in the States but didn't know that we also had camps all over the States for German POW's. There was some romance in the stories but more suspense. All in all a really good read!

I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.

War, Spies and Bobby Sox by Libby Fischer Hellman contains three stories about life in America during World War II. The Incidental Spy is the first story (and the longest). Lena Bentheim is in love with Josef in Berlin, Germany in 1935. But Lena is only sixteen years old and her parents believe she would be better off in America. Lena is send to Chicago, Illinois to live with her cousin (who is like an aunt to her) Ursula. There she learns English and secretarial skills. Lena gets a job with the physics department at the University of Chicago. She meets and falls in love with Karl Stern who becomes involved in the nuclear weapons project. Life soon takes a dangerous turn for Lena, and she must decide where her loyalties lay. P.O.W. is show more the second story and revolves around Mary Catherine O’Rourke who lives on her family farm outside Chicago. The local German POWs are brought to the farm to help with the apple harvest. Reinhard Deschler catches Mary Catherine’s eye. Nothing but trouble can follow. The final story is The Day Miriam Hirsch Disappeared. The story tells of what happens to a beautiful Yiddish actress in Chicago’s Lawndale community.

War, Spies and Bobby Sox is well-written and has a good pace. I found the first two stories to be engaging (they held my attention). The scientific “stuff” in The Incidental Spy was not for me (regarding the discovery of nuclear weapons), but you can do what I did and skim over it. I do, though, wish the author had focused on stories that showcased women’s strengths and their accomplishments during World War II (the first one does in the end). Instead, we get to see how women lead with their heart instead of their mind (Mary Catherine is a woman who makes many wrong choices). I give War, Spies and Bobby Sox 4 out of 5 stars. It is nice to see a different aspect of World War II. Many people do not know that we had POW camps (German and Italian) in the United States and the soldiers worked on local farms. The author did a very good job with the history from that time-period. War, Spies and Bobby Sox are stories that many readers will enjoy reading. I believe I am just burned out on stories from this era. show less

Stories About World War Two at Home

This novel contains three fast-reading tales that depicts the tumultuous effect of war on the home front. Chicago is the backdrop and where the action takes place.

Contents:

The Incidental Spy (a novella) was originally published in 2015.
“The Day Miriam Hirsch Disappeared” was published in 2005.
P.O.W. (a novella) will be published for the first time in 2017.

Taken at large from real events, the author has used her wild imagination to give us a glimpse on what may have happened to people caught up during this tumultuous time. The stories are short and sweet, written with passion and very engaging. “The Incidental Spy” is clever story that brush on the Manhattan Project and the spies who wanted its show more secrets. “POW” is a love story involving a young farm girl and a Nazi prisoner of war. Finally, “The Day Mariam Hirsch Disappeared” recounts the disappearance of a beautiful Jewish actress and a possible espionage ring days before Pearl Harbor.

I loved these stories I was drawn in from the get-go and stayed immersed into their plots till the very end. Even being novellas the stories are complete with suspense and progresses at a good pace, have excellent plot lines and well-rounded characters. A bit of romance didn’t hurt as well making the lives of the people involved all too real.

I received this ARC from the author for an honest and unbiased review show less

Two novellas and a short story about World War II at home in America.

The first novella follows a German Jewish immigrant to the US during the beginnings of the war in Europe. She arrives as a teenager, becomes a secretary in a university mathematics department, and meets a young German physicist.

And this leads to at least two different sides attempting to recruit her as a spy, and her painful choices about what to do about it.

The second is about a young woman on a midwestern American farm during the war, and a contingent of German prisoners of war sent to work on the farm--labor that's badly needed because so many of the American men are away at the war. Not every German prisoner has accepted that the war is over for them.

The short show more story concerns Jewish young men in Chicago during what for the US are still the prewar years, gangsters, an actress is Jewish theater, and, maybe, German spies.

They all reflect aspects of the war that get less attention, not the big battles in Europe and the Pacific, but the (relatively) ordinary, daily struggles of the war at home, with hardships, challenges, and decisions less dramatic than armed combat, but sometimes equally difficult. These are all very human stories, that pull you into the lives of individuals it's easy to overlook. Hellmann makes them real, interesting, and compelling.

Highly recommended.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the author and am reviewing it voluntarily. show less

I've read several books by author Libby Fischer Hellman and enjoyed them all. This book does not disappoint, although the second story is superior to the first. I'll continue to read stories from this excellent author!