From Kirkus Reviews"Anenberg beautifully and convincingly portrays the contradictions of American society during the period, and he ably juxtaposes Eaton's mission to save her son with stories of the past--showing a world which, despite many technological advances, has made few discernible social advances.......In this historical novel set shortly after World War II, an African-American woman seeks to save her injured son amid racial tension and strife. Phosie Mae Eaton leaves her home in Galveston, Texas, to visit her son, Will, a wounded U.S. Marine fresh from combat on Iwo Jima, now in a Los Angeles military hospital. Even as a Southern black woman familiar with the evils of segregated society, Eaton is stunned to discover that racial rules and regulations extend to war heroes. She finds that they are kept in a separate house from the white soldiers, banned from receiving whites' blood transfusions and aren't allowed basic amenities, such as coffee, from the Red Cross. She finds Will balancing precariously between life and death, as the gunshot wound in his stomach has festered and become infected. Doctors usually treat such infections with an easy injection of penicillin, but the hospital has no 'colored' needles due to their treatment of venereal-disease cases (which have skyrocketed due to postwar celebrations). Eaton strives to help her son in any way possible and, in order to stay in California, takes a job as a maid for a wealthy and eccentric Jewish family."Like novels include...."Show Falling on Cedars" - David Guterson"The Blind Assassin" - Margaret Atwood "Striver's Row" - Kevin Baker"The Help" - Kathryn Stockett "The Postmistress" - Sarah Blake"Stage Door Canteen" - Maggie Davis"Children of Secrets" - Lander Duncan"A War of Her Own" - Sylvia Dickey Smith"That Year of our War" - Gloria Goldreich "The Listener" - Shira Nayman "Sophie's Choice" - William Styron
About the Author: Noel Anenberg MFA is a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times. After service in the United States Navy in Viet Nam he returned home to graduate from the University of Southern California with an English degree and teaching credential in 1973. He turned to business successfully operating a small family enterprise with his wife as their children grew. Mr. Anenberg returned to USC where he graduated from its Master of Professional Writing Program in 2003. He taught college level English courses aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN 71 on the Gulf of Arabia during the Second Gulf War. He now teaches fiction at Pierce College Los Angeles, is a mentor in the PEN International Prison Writing Program, a volunteer with INSIDE OUT Writers who teach creative writing to children in Juvenile Hall, and he works with individual writers. He enjoys surfing, snowboarding, and spending time with his grandson Mac and his dog Walter. Noel Anenberg and his beloved wife, an interior decorator, are doting grandparents who live in the Santa Monica Mountains with their last homebound child, the aforementioned Golden Retriever named, Walter Anenberg.