Keeping the Promise by Donna E. Elliott

Jerry Elliott was listed as Missing In Action in Viet Nam in 1968. This book, written by his sister, is the story of her almost 40 year hunt for him. She describes how the lack of closure caused the disintegration of her family and of the callousness and deception of the government in her attempts to get information about him. She eventually joins Viet Nam Veterans Against the War, taking part in marches in Washington, DC. She makes three trips to Viet Nam searching for answers. It is hard to imagine that our government walked away from Viet Nam, leaving hundreds if not thousands of POWs there. Elliott gives a very believable explanation of why that happened. This is an interesting but ultimately very sad story. It's a good reminder that the war is never really over for those families who are left with no answers. I recommend this for anyone interested in Viet Nam history.

Amandine A Novel by Marlena De Blasi

This is De Blasi's first work of fiction although she is a food writer and has written a number of other books. It is a great start. Set in France during the few years before WWII and during the occupation, it tells the story of a young Polish girl, Amandine, born illegitimately to a wealthy young member of Polish nobility, who is placed in a French convent under the care of a young French woman, and all traces of her identity are removed. The first part of the book covers the first dozen years of her life there. Amandine is greeted with varying degrees of welcome, from love from her young governess to hatred from the abbess. The author draws very complex characters, with complicated relationships to each other, and the coming of Amandine brings these to a head.
The second part of the novel follows Amandine and Solange, her governess, as they leave the convent and head across occupied France, trying to get to Solange's village and Amandine's ultimate goal of finding her mother. It is interesting that the two have lived so isolated from normal society and village life that they seem incapable of understanding the changes that the presence of the Nazi's have brought or the dangers of war. I found myself emotionally invested in the characters and fascinated by the story. The ending was predictable but handled in a very delicate way that I appreciated. A well-told story.

Broken For You by Stephanie Kallos

Margaret Hughes has spent most of her life sealed off from others in her large home. Facing terminal cancer, she asks a waitress what she would do if she had only a year or two left to live. "I'd do what scares me the most...Do the opposite of what I've always done." Margaret decides to open her home to a boarder which introduces the other main character, Wanda, a young woman on a single-minded quest to find the lover who has dumped her. Their encounter changes their lives and a growing circle of other "loners". It is ironic that as Margaret works to create an environment to die in, she actually creates a vibrant, healthy surrogate family and meaning for her life. There are many characters in the book and lots of sub-plots that move along at a steady pace. My main criticism of the book is that there are way too many coincidences in the story and it definitely strains credulity. But I found it very engrossing and came to care about the characters.