Written by Sue Parritt⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
|
My thanks to Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for the invitation to join the blog tour for
Feed Thy Enemy, and to author Sue Parritt for a free copy of this book to review.
Why not follow the tour with these bloggers:
Feed Thy Enemy, and to author Sue Parritt for a free copy of this book to review.
Why not follow the tour with these bloggers:
The blurb:
In this heart-warming narrative based on a true story, a British airman embarks on a plan that risks it all to feed a starving, war-stricken family.
Thirty years after serving in World War II, middle-aged Rob’s holiday plans see an unforeseen change that leads him on a coach tour of Italy. Struggling with post-war PTSD and depression, he reluctantly agrees to the journey – and sparks a dream that plunges him into long-stifled memories.
Set in Europe, Sue Parritt’s Feed Thy Enemy is an account of courage and compassion in the face of trauma. When Rob’s flashback delves into his attempts to save a famished family with a series of increasingly daring raids on his army’s supply stores, will he trigger suppressed remembrances of past war, love, and sacrifice – and find the strength to confront them in the present?
Historical Fiction
My thoughts:
I was drawn to this book by the cover, the period in history, and the fact that it is based on a true story.The story starts in 1974 with a cancelled cruise.
Rob and Ivy Harper were booked to take an Aegean cruise with Rob's air force pal Alf Simpson, and his wife Dawn. To compensate, the travel agent has found space on a coach tour around Italy instead of the cruise. Both couples are persuaded to take the coach trip. Rob's wife has dealt with the arrangements, and not fully apprised her husband, as she knows he will try to avoid going back to Naples where he was stationed during WWII. Even thirty years on, he still suffers from his wartime experiences.
The story is told in two parts - Rob's wartime experiences, and Rob's life in 1974 (the present).
During the war, Rob becomes fond of a widowed cleaner at the hospital, Susanna. Her son is ill and needs antibiotics which are not generally available at that time. Rob buys the medication the boy needs and gives it to Susanna. A platonic relationship begins. On visiting Susanna's home, Susanna's father asks Rob to help feed his starving family. Rob agrees, and with Alf's help, begins to regularly bring some tins of food, purloined from the officers' stores, to the family. He also buys other food they need from the market, where the stallholders openly trade in black market goods.
Rob is eventually posted away, and does not have time to let the family know. He has often wondered whether any of them survived the war.
Now travelling around Italy on the coach trip, Rob decides to try to find out what happened to the family. He cannot remember their address, but thinks it should be possible anyway. His supportive wife, Ivy, accompanies him on his quest to trace the Italian family.
We learn a lot about Rob's wartime experiences, and how that jarred with his gentle nature in this well-told story. The friendships Rob and Alf made along the way, provided them with a brief escape from the horrors of war, and their forays on the officers stores for food for the family made me smile.
Rob is a likeable character and Ivy is a devoted and supportive wife. I liked Alf, who comes across as a bit of a 'Jack the Lad'. He is certainly more clued up than Rob when it comes to relieving the the officers's stores of their contents! I didn't like Dawn. She seems quite disagreeable, especially when Alf cries off the museum trip with a stomach upset. I wondered why he could not tell her the truth.
I loved the addition of the photographs throughout the story. It underlined the fact that this story was based on real people, their very real struggles, and their bonds of friendship.
A very enjoyable story which will appeal to readers with an interest in WWII.
| Author Bio – Sue Parritt |
|---|
 Originally from England, Sue worked in university libraries until taking early retirement in 2008 to concentrate on creative writing. Since then she has written short stories, articles, poetry, a short TV drama script and six novels: Sannah and the Pilgrim, first in a trilogy of a future dystopian Australia focusing on climate change and the harsh treatment of refugees from drowned Pacific islands. Odyssey Books, 2014. Commended in the FAW Christina Stead Award, 2014. Pia and the Skyman, Odyssey Books, 2016. Commended in the FAW Christina Stead Award, 2016. The Sky Lines Alliance, Odyssey Books, 2016. Chrysalis, the story of a perceptive girl growing up in a Quaker family in swinging sixties’ Britain. Morning Star Press, 2017 Re-Navigation recounts a life turned upside down when forty-year old Julia journeys from the sanctuary of middle-class Australian suburbia to undertake a retreat at a college located on an isolated Welsh island. Creativia Publishing, 2019. Feed Thy Enemy, based on her father’s experiences, is an account of courage and compassion in the face of trauma as a British airman embarks on a plan that risks all to feed a starving, war-stricken family. Creativia Publishing, 2019. Sue’s current project, A Question of Country, is a novel exploring the migrant experience through the protagonist’s lifelong search for meaningful identity. Passionate about peace and social justice issues, Sue’s goal as a fiction writer is to continue writing novels that address topics such as climate change, the effects of war, the treatment of refugees, feminism and racism. Sue intends to keep on writing for as long as possible, believing the extensive life experiences of older writers can be employed to engage readers of all ages. |
| Social Media Links – | |
| Web site | http://www.sueparritt.com/ |
| Facebook Author Page | http://www.facebook.com/SueParrittAuthor/ |
No comments:
Post a Comment