My Book Choice

A few weeks ago I was looking at the online catalogue of my Audio Book Library .  Each entry gives you a synopsis so you have an inkling of what the book is about.  A book by Robert Ryan caught my eye.  I had long ago given up reading books about WW2.  In the years immediately following the war I had read every book I could find about the Maquis, the Partisans, the S.O.E. etc.  Tastes change, however, and I haven't read a war book for ages.  But this book I felt I must read.

"After Midnight" tells the story of an Australian girl's search for the fate of her father, an airman reported missing in Italy in 1944.  This reminded me vividly of my Australian friend, Anne,  whose father's plane had been delivering supplies to the partisans in Italy when it disappeared.

I emailed Anne to ask if she knew of this book.  Her reply was a surprise.  The author had contacted her ten or so years ago to ask permission to make her story the basis for a novel he proposed to write.  She saw the book before publication and after the author agreed to tone down one or two sex scenes the book was published.  The Audio Library has over 8 ,000 books so it was another of those coincidences that I hit on this one.

Anne is still pursuing her search.  Over the years she has travelled many times to Italy meeting people who were involved with the partisans.  She has been following up leads in Poland and South Africa where she has made friends with people who are still interested in what happened in the war. By her efforts relatives of the crews of planes which were lost in the war have been put in touch with one another.  As one can imagine this has been the source of great comfort and interest.

For more about Anne's father and her search, click here.