July 15, 2022
The patriotic endurance of occupation finds a new spotlight in Robathman's historical fiction tale spanning the years between 1941 and 1946. It is set in Bergen, a tight-knit Norwegian fishing community, where Rumi Orlstad mourns the loss of her beloved Magnus amidst Resistance efforts to transport souls to free lands on the deadly and dangerous "Shetland Bus." Longtime neighbor and family friend, Marjit Sabo, watches Rumi and her father manage their herring business until an unexpected traveler, Jen Parkes, arrives with secret plans to wreak havoc on Nazi forces in the area. Jen works fast to support an underground network of Special Operations Executive (SOE) forces while those collaborating with the occupiers, or "Quislings," surround everyone with watchful eyes. Using their fishing undertakings as cover, Rumi and Jen find themselves in the middle of the evil Lebensborn program. Struggling to find hope and maybe a second chance at romance, Rumi, Jen, Marjit and the whole assortment of underground resistance operatives face their enemies with a new vigor of purpose. Readers of war fiction will appreciate the author's realistic portrayal of life in the heavily occupied country and women's fiction and romance readers will find comfort in Rumi's cracked but never completely broken heart.
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