Book Recommendation - Long Way Home

 

Lynn Austin has been one of my go-to authors for women's fiction as well as historical for many years. Her writing style is fluid, her characters relatable and her story lines intriguing. Her upcoming release is no different. Taking place during and after WWII, this book follows the "long way home" that soldiers took after the war to recover who they were previously. The story surrounds a young soldier named Jimmy. Before the war, he was a veterinarian student, well loved and compassionate. After the war, he finds himself in the VA hospital after trying to kill himself. His friend and neighbor, Peggy, works to piece Jimmy's timeline together in order to find out what happened and discovers his long way home. 

As a recipient of the author's newsletter, I learned a few behind the scenes bits about the book:

This book was written in honor of the author's dad, who joined the navy at age 18 and fought in WWII in the Pacific. While he didn't talk much about his experiences, Ms. Austin noted that he struggled with certain facets of every day life, such as crossing a long bridge which would bring anxiety for him. Psychiatry was in its infancy those days, and some of the treatments prescribed to young Jimmy were actual treatments used on soldiers returning with what we now call PTSD. Here's a picture of the author's dad in his Navy uniform.

One of my favorite characters in the book is a dog named Buster. He plays an important role in Peggy's life and also helps some of the soldiers that Jimmy encounters in an interesting way. Buster was inspired by the author's sister's dog, Franny. Here's a photo of Lynn Austin and Franny along the Hudson River, which is near where Jimmy and Peggy grew up.

Another part of this book that was interesting to me was the journey of a young Jewish German girl named Gisela. She and her family were passengers on a ship fleeing from Germany after Kristallnacht. This element of the story had enough details that I wondered if it was actually true and indeed it was. I found this information on the journey of the St. Louis. How heartbreaking it must have been for those folks to have their journeys follow such a path!

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/voyage-of-the-st-louis

Due to the heavily emotional content of this story and the realism portrayed in how the soldiers and Jews were affected by the war, this book felt a little "heavier" than Ms. Austin's prior novels, but still contained her beautiful writing style and wonderful characters. I would recommend to fans of historical fiction! This book releases on June 21, 2022 wherever books are sold!

For additional information, check out the links below:

Lynn Austin's website: https://lynnaustin.org/

Lynn Austin's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LynnAustinBooks

My full 4.5 star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4724319445