Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3169777 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

A vivid trip down memory lane.
The book begins in Long Island, 2007, with Rose and Charlie. They have been married sixty years. They sit at a table, with a box of memorabilia opened in front of them, reminiscing with their daughter, Susan, and Paul, Susan's husband. Part One begins in Brooklyn, the early 1940's. Rose has been married to Joseph Rabinowitz for only six months before he is deployed to Germany. Money is tight with everyone. World War II is in full swing. Hitler is doing his worst and the American soldiers are battling for freedom. It is not long before Joe learns that Rose is pregnant. Joe is to be a daddy! His buddies are thrilled for him. The soldiers make a pact together. Should one of them die, the survivors would contact the family of the fallen soldier and attest to his quick death on the battlefield. An instant ending. No pain and no suffering - regardless of the truth.

Joe is one of the soldiers killed during battle. One of his war buddies who happens to live in Brooklyn, Charlie Shapiro, makes it home. Charlie had spent time as a POW in Germany. Like the other soldiers, Charlie seldom, if ever, spoke about his time over seas. Once Charlie gained enough weight and strength back, he went to visit Rose and her daughter, Susan. Charlie falls in love with Rose and Susan, but Rose is still grieving. Yet Charlie convinces Rose to marry him anyway.

Part Two is in Queens, the 1950's. Rose and Charlie have been married five years. Part Three is in Long Island, the 1960's. Kennedy has just been assassinated. The main focus is still Rose and Charlie, but more and more scenes are with an adult Susan and her two siblings. Throughout the years, Rose has written Joe, one or two notes per year, about Susan and her second family's lives. Charlie still wonders if Joe still comes first in Rose's life. It is a question only Rose can answer.

***** The entire story is told within the space of a few hours, on a single night, by Rose and Charlie to Susan and Paul. However, the reader watches the events as they unfold for Rose and Charlie. Told in such vivid details, I felt as though I were there. This tale is absolutely perfect for a made-for-TV movie! Keep the tissues handy. This author will touch, if not play with, your heart strings. *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.