In Times of Rain and War
In 1940, a young German Jewish girl named Audrey Stocking is hiding in England with her aunt Claire during the Luftwaffe Blitz on London. Audrey feels she is fortunate to have escaped Germany, but she misses her family back home and yearns to see them safe once more. Yet Audrey hides other secrets, some of which she isn’t fully aware of herself. Meanwhile, Claire has some secrets of her own.
Even though the United States has not yet entered the war, Lieutenant Wesley Bowers, U.S. Marine Corps, has been dispatched to England to work with the British Bomb Disposal effort. Wes is initially shocked at how primitive and ragged his tiny unit of engineers and sappers appears. Very quickly the American drastically changes his opinion as he witnesses the technical prowess, courage, resourcefulness, and humor of his British mates in the course of their incredibly dangerous missions. Soon Wes meets Audrey as his team is sent to deal with an unexploded bomb in her flat. The two young outsiders become close and increasingly find they enjoy each other’s company amid the turmoil around them. Yet the war isn’t going away, and their precarious relationship becomes even more threatened.
At its simplest, this book is a love story. Wright bases much of it on well-researched history of life in London during the Battle of Britain. There is also interesting technical detail on the battle between the German engineers designing the bombs and fuzes and their British counterparts, the “Backroom Boys,” who seek to counter them. This emotion-laden novel is especially recommended for romance fans who can appreciate the vivid wartime setting.
