The Postmistress

June 6 --  I am almost finished with this book called The Postmistress by Sarah Blake.  It's one of those books that you read and think, eh, not sure if I am digging this or not...and then you hit like page 176 and suddenly, out of nowhere, you are hooked.  Badly.

I love those kind of books.  Largely because it makes me happy that I kept reading instead of bagging it earlier on.  And also because I am always quietly cheering for the author to pull it off.  I have this soft side for writers, you know?

Anyway, this particular book is about World War 2 but it focuses on two things which are somewhat unusual -- it focuses on the time period before the United States got involved in the war and it concentrates primarily on women.  It's a perspective that is unusual in the realm of WWII fiction and non-fiction.  Having just completed the novel Unbroken about running legend and Japanese War Camp survivor Louis Zamperini, it's totally fascinating to read about the female angle.  What I like in particular is how it makes me consider what it must have been like being an American who knew what was going on in Europe with the Jews long before the United States joined the war and its people decided that what was happening to the Jews in Europe was a monstrosity instead of a convenience.  (Yes, amazingly, there was a strong anti-Jewish sentiment in the United States in the time period preceding the second world war.)

Reading a book like this re-awakens my dream to work on my book.  I don't know if it will ever be done.  But at the moment, I guess it's still okay to dream.