From the acclaimed author of Secrets of a Charmed Life and As Bright as Heaven comes a novel about a German American teenager whose life changes forever when her immigrant family is sent to an internment camp during World War II. In 1943, Elise Sontag is a typical American teenager from Iowa—aware of the war but distanced from its reach. Then her father, a legal U.S. resident for nearly two … U.S. resident for nearly two decades, is suddenly arrested on suspicion of being a Nazi sympathizer. The family is sent to an internment camp in Texas, where, behind the armed guards and barbed wire, Elise feels stripped of everything beloved and familiar, including her own identity.
The only thing that makes the camp bearable is meeting fellow internee Mariko Inoue, a Japanese-American teen from Los Angeles, whose friendship empowers Elise to believe the life she knew before the war will again be hers. Together in the desert wilderness, Elise and Mariko hold tight the dream of being young American women with a future beyond the fences.
But when the Sontag family is exchanged for American prisoners behind enemy lines in Germany, Elise will face head-on the person the war desires to make of her. In that devastating crucible she must discover if she has the will to rise above prejudice and hatred and re-claim her own destiny, or disappear into the image others have cast upon her.
The Last Year of the War tells a little-known story of World War II with great resonance for our own times and challenges the very notion of who we are when who we’ve always been is called into question.
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Even though 81 year old Elise’s memory is being ravaged by Alzheimer’s, she is still determined to find her childhood friend, Mariko. She and Mariko met and bonded in a most unconventional way when they were only 14 while living at an internment camp in Texas during World War II. Is Mariko still alive? If so, will they be reunited before Elise’s memory fades away forever? Find out in this heartwarming coming-of-age story about how the strength of a friendship can see you through the difficult times!
I knew about the 120,000 Japanese Americans that were unjustly held in these camps but don’t recall hearing that German Americans were also detained for being possible Nazi sympathizers. I liked learning about this portion of history and, since I’ve read so many books set during WWII, I was happy that some of it focused on the aftermath of war instead of only the war itself.
If you want to read more about the internment camps, I would highly recommend Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (4 stars) by Jamie Ford and Daughter of Moloka’i (4 stars) by Alan Brennert.
Trigger Warning: Drowning
Location: California (Los Angeles and San Francisco), Iowa (Davenport), Texas (Crystal City), Germany (Stuttgart, Pforzheim, and Munich)
I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
From the acclaimed author of Secrets of a Charmed Life and As Bright as Heaven comes a novel about a German American teenager whose life changes forever when her immigrant family is sent to an internment camp during World War II.
Susan Meissner never fails to move me to tears in her books. She writes the most beautiful dialogue. I love war genre novel that teaches me something new about that time period as this one did. I really knew very little about the interment camps and especially the German Americans that were affected. Beautifully written and moving. Heartbreaking at times and one you will definitely not forget. 5 stars definitely.
The Last Year of the War was a moving story about family and the consequences of the war. I enjoyed the way that the characters’ lives were detailed during these terrible days. Elise is fourteen years old and living in Iowa in 1943 when her German born father is arrested under suspicion of being a Nazi sympathizer. Their family ends up living in an interment camp in Texas. This is where Elise meets another teenager her age, Mariko, a Japanese-American and her Japanese family. The characters are described in wonderful detail. The characters are enjoyable. The relationships portrayed of the families are beautiful. The story starts at the present time and then progresses through the difficult years when Elise and Mariko were teenagers. The memories and promises of their friendship helps carry Elise through the future years during and after the war.
As soon as I found out that Ms. Meissner had a new novel coming out, I was very excited to receive an arc to review. I’ve been looking forward to this one. I’m sorry to say that I was disappointed.
This is a 3* mainly because I learned some history, liked the last ¼ of the book but then didn’t like the very ending 🙁 does that make any sense to you. I think part of the strength of As Bright As Heaven was definitely in it’s well described characters and of course the Spanish flu epidemic and mystery surrounding the baby, all of those things were “action” for me. There was so much that happened to the characters and I also felt that they “grew” as a family throughout the novel.
This book was such a slow starter that I almost put is aside for a while, it dragged with very little going on with the characters, just some interaction at the Camp and of course her meeting with Meriko. I was at 50% on my Kindle before there was even anything that was keeping me reading. I did have some knowledge of German Americans being interned during the way, partially because I live in a suburb of Milwaukee which had a very large German population, especially during that time period. This was also mentioned in another book I read about internment camps.
This book finally kicked in for me when they were sent to Germany and I really enjoyed the last 1/4 of the book. I wish so much that there had been this level of emotion in the rest of the book.
I don’t want to give away any of the interesting parts of the book because I know readers will be looking forward to this but I will say that when she came back to the US I started to feel as though I understood more of Elise’s character. I cared more for her in that little part of the book than I had up until that time. Even to the end though I didn’t feel the strong force of Elise and Mariko’s relationship, which initially I thought was the driving force of the book. I never felt a deep connection to Elise or any of the characters really, they all felt rather flat to me. By the end of the book I felt that the war itself was the strongest “character” in my opinion.
There are many reviewers who loved this book but I can’t really recommend it and I feel badly for that. Ms. Meissner is a wonderful author and I will look forward to her future novels.
I received an ARC of this novel through NetGalley.
Elise Sontag and Mariko Inoue meet at an internment camp in Texas during WW2. Elise is a German American and Mariko is a Japanese American. Elise’s family is sent to the camp because the government is worried her father is a Nazi sympathizer even though he has been living in America for 20 years and Elise and her younger brother Max were both born in America. At the camp, most people stick their own nationality. A friendship between German and Japanese girls is unheard of.They dream of turning 18 and going to New York to start their lives. In the last year of the war, Elise and her family is sent back to Germany. Elise doesn’t even speak German. This book is a heartbreaking story of two unlikely friends and the horrors of war. I loved the characters and the descriptions are so real you are in the camps with Elise and Mariko and in Germany with Elise and her family. I truly enjoyed this book and tissues will be needed while you are reading. I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Berkley. All opinions are my own.
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. This was a unique take on World War 2. This story is told from the point of view of a woman looking back on her life. She was born in Iowa to German parents. He father was found guilty of helping Germany during the war and they were sent to an internment camp. They were then sent back to Germany during the war. She meets an American GI at the end of the war and they get married and he takes her back to America with him. She has to find what she wants to do with her life and how to make herself happy. This is a great read and one not to be missed.
I received a ARC of this from Penguin First To Read
Very good book written about two teenage girls, one German and one Japanese. It tells the story of the girls friendship and families during WWII. Their lives are changed forever when the United States sends them to internment camps.
Lindas Book Obsession Reviews “The Last Year of the War” by Susan Meissner, Berkley, March 2019
WOW! WOW!WOW! Susan Meissner, Author of “The Last Year of the War” has written an amazing, unique, riveting, captivating, intense, heart-breaking, emotional and intriguing novel. Susan Meissner describes vividly the characters, events and landscape in a period in United States History that is often not openly discussed as it should be. The Genres of this Novel and Historical Fiction and Fiction. The story takes place during World War Two, mostly in the United States, but also takes place in Japan and Germany. The timeline goes to the past or future when it pertains to the characters or events in the story. The authors describe her characters as complex and complicated due to the circumstances in the story.
Elise Sontag is an American citizen of German Descent. She goes to school, and lives an American life. Elise doesn’t speak German. When the war breaks out, her German father, a legal United States resident is arrested. and regarded as a spy. He is eventually sent with the rest of the family to Crystal City Internment Camp in Texas. Elise meets a special friend Mariko Inoue, a Japanese American teen who also is in the Internment Camp. Mariko writes a story and wants Elise to help her find an ending.
I appreciate the hours of research that Susan Meissner has done to tell this story. Can you imagine two American teenagers imprisoned because of their backgrounds in the war? Although there was shopping , stores, schools and hospitals, the camp was surrounded by barbed wire.
In the last year of the war, many of the German and Japanese families that were held in the camp, were sent back to Japan and Germany. Germany was being bombed by the Allies, and Elise is at a loss, since she doesn’t speak German. Will Elise and Mariko keep their promise to be friends?
I highly recommend this novel to readers who appreciate World War Two and the unique part of history . Be warned, keep some Kleenex on hand.
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