The Lost Diary
In 1994 London, forty-eight-year-old Johanna (Jo) notices a newspaper ad seeking articles for the upcoming 50th anniversary of VE Day. Considering it an excellent opportunity to learn more about her background, Jo asks her German-born mother, Katja, to talk about her WWII experiences. Katja reluctantly agrees; she is recuperating from an operation at Jo’s house while her apartment is being renovated.
Katja had originally lived in Berlin, but had relocated to a village in the Sudetenland in 1943 to escape the Allied bombardment. There she had been involved in espionage activities, memorizing maps by candlelight. At one point, Katja and her child narrowly escape capture by the SS. Back in London decades later, the revamping of Katja’s apartment uncovers an old diary and other items allegedly belonging to Jo’s late father. Jo, divorced and at a crisis in her own life, is astonished to learn of some of the facts, yet needs her mother’s input to fill in some of the blanks.
This historical novel has several coincidences, yet it’s a pleasant surprise to read in Rose Alexander’s note that “it is based on the true stories of members of my family.” Alexander has done a tremendous job telling the story from Jo’s point of view and disclosing the facts as she learns them right up to the ending, thereby keeping readers in suspense. The novel includes in some detail the wartime pain and suffering of both sides, particularly of the German civilians from Allied bombings and atrocities by Russian soldiers. The historic long marches of the Allied POWs from Poland to Germany and the German civilians’ displacement from Sudetenland to Germany are woven into the plot. This unique story, combined with Alexander’s intimate writing style and evocative scenes, deserves to catch a movie producer’s eye. Highly recommended.
