The ornately painted Chinese Boxes loomed just out of reach throughout my childhood...but my brother and sister and I paid no attention. The twin; red boxes were part of the familiar-to-the-point-of-being-invisible landscape; like that big tree outside your window with a botanical name you never learn. Sorting through her parents belongings after their deaths; Joanie Holzer Schirm discovered an extraordinary lost world. Hand-written on faded and brittle stationary; stamped by censors and military authorities; and neatly filed in those two lacquered boxes; were 400 letters from 78 correspondents-along with carbon copies of the letters her Czech father had sent to them during World War II. "My father never mentioned that he planned to leave a magnificent gift;" Schirm tells us; a "treasure trove" in which "I would come across the very souls of his cousins and friends. Many of the secrets cloistered by those bright and shiny Chinese boxes were ghastly. Lives lost; lives shattered. Friends abandoned. Lovers betrayed. The paths I followed beyond the letters made clear that guilt and grief continued to wound and sometimes cripple those who remained; long after the war was over." And yet the story that they ultimately add up to - a story that is as emotionally absorbing as a novel; as meticulously documented as the important work of history that it is - not one of mere survival; but inspiration.
#3723075 in Books Two Peas Publishing 2010-11-20Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x .54 x 5.98l; .77 #File Name: 0984077383236 pagesISBN13: 9780984077380Condition: NewNotes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Like being there!By General HoodThis is not an international spy thriller despite the title. It is an amazing true account of a Southern family's efforts to survive the Civil War. It reads more like a novel than a memoir. I never learned anything in school about the Civil War except generals; battles and dates. This shows what a devastating effect the war had on ordinary civilians. It is of particular note that the father is a born Yankee from Vermont. It shows the often divided loyalties within families that the war created. I loved Betsey's description of her mother: "a finely tempered steel blade sheathed in a scabbard of white velvet." The illustrations are perfect for the era and the maps and appendix are very helpful. I highly recommend this book for school age children to learn more about our heritage as Americans. They will readily identify with these children. Great story for adults; too!
