The Secret Letter
“Inspired by an incredible true wartime story,” this epic novel spans decades, countries, and generations. The reader follows the intimate lives of two teenage girls, city-based Imogen in England and farm girl Magda in Germany, whose very existences are upended by WWII. Each girl attempts to deal with family and friends, their own inner conflicts, and even elicit love as the war unfolds.
For Magda, the rise of the Hitler culture infuriates. She witnesses friends drawn into the Hitler Youth and is appalled when her Jewish friends and their families suddenly disappear. For her family’s very survival, she plays a dangerous game of acquiescence but seethes beneath her apparently accepting exterior. On the other hand, Imogen is evacuated early in the war to the Lake District far away from possible harm by bombing raids. Later she becomes a Wren and focuses all her energies on helping her country survive while new friendships and unexpected loves impact and complicate her landscape.
Surviving on vastly different landscapes, the two girls struggle to persevere and to find some solace within the unfolding maelstrom. At times, extremely difficult decisions are made when forced events overtake humanity. Often, self-reflection is replaced with the day-to-day realities of simple survival. The overall narrative of the war is narrowly placed within what would be the realistic environment of the two girls; that is, they view the conflict from a very restricted, censored lens. The actions of Magda, late in the war and against all common sense, in secreting away a downed RAF pilot, reverberate many years later when Imogen unexpectedly receives a “secret letter” inviting her to a ‘thanksgiving ceremony’ in Germany. With this missive, diverse pasts collide, secrets are revealed, humanity is exposed, and previously unimagined futures are opened.
