Some of the great epic and tortured love stories have been intertwined with the inherent drama of World War II — think Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair or the current Oscar nominee Atonement.
Novelist Owen Sheers contributes to this tradition quite effectively with his debut novel, Resistance (available 2/19). The story takes place in the 1940s in the small, bucolic Welsh valley of Olchon, where 26-year-old Sarah Lewis wakes one morning to find that her husband, Tom, has disappeared — just like all the other men in town. As the Germans approach amid a punishing winter, Sarah’s life is thrown into turmoil when she meets a young German officer.
With an eye for exquisite detail, Sheers explores unimaginable heartbreak, cowardice, and patriotism — all set in a little-known corner of that war about which we know more than any other.
Resistance (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday; hardcover; 306 pages)
author Owen Sheers talk about his book in the Welsh countryside
Ask.com for more information on Resistance
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