I’ve been excited for a month now. My second novel Chasing the American Dream was released February 2 and is now available through the following:
Here are a few comments from early reviews of the book:
From DP: A surprise recognition on a downtown street of a vicious brutal SS officer David arrested at the end of WWII begins this wonderful well-researched book. The story of his and his family’s sacrifices while seeking justice for his Jewish friend, Jacob, are compelling and draw you in. The book captures both the burden of seeking justice and also forgiving yourself for failures (imagined or real).
From MR: While the novel’s excellent details will make you feel you’re in 1950s Cleveland, the topics feel totally current—cancel culture, over-the-top press coverage, and government conspiracies. I imagine it would provide terrific fodder for a book club conversation.
From PM: Given the current political climate, with ‘neo-Nazi’ groups exercising public spaces, this novel is extremely relevant, as is the question of accountability for crimes committed in the past. It’s almost as if the author had been prescient to the early 2021 political situation.
From MW: They say those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it. This book made me think of other times throughout history where right and wrong are blurred and bent in order to pursue a particular goal without caring about the context or what the ramifications are. The best books are those that make you ponder things long after you close the book. This is one of those!
From MS: I like the fact that the book was not a downer or a dark kind of book and it had a happy and decent ending. We need more of these kinds of reads.
One More Page Bookstore offered me the opportunity to be interviewed online by Sara Fitzgerald. They have posted the interview on YouTube, so anyone who missed it on February 10 can still see us in all our glory: at right is the ad for the interview and below is a button to take you to the interview itself on YouTube.
Sara is an excellent interviewer, asking me probing questions about where this book came from, how my family felt about exposing their story to the public, and how I manage the craft of writing. Let me know your reactions! I promise to respond.
In case you’re looking for the opportunity to hear more about the history behind the story, I will be talking at the Patrick Henry Library via Zoom on Saturday, March 6 at 2 pm. Click here to register.
Here’s a hint of the contents of the upcoming talk:
Lorelei Brush’s new novel, Chasing the American Dream, captures David Svehla’s quest for justice against those whom he knew to have committed crimes against humanity during World War II. To his horror, his mission transforms into a fight with the U.S. Government which threatens his own American Dream. A central theme of the book is the question of when the government is justified in suppressing information from the public and when it has a moral responsibility to release the information. Think: the coronavirus, the Patriot Act, and back after the war, the bringing of more than 1,000 Nazi scientists to the U.S. when they were known to have supervised labor camps. We’ll explore the context of that transfer of personnel, called Operation Paperclip, and the McCarthyism of the 1950’s, which resulted in my many innocent Americans losing their jobs.
Next month I’ll return to my habit of talking about issues in writing my books. I’ll provide some background on my research into World War II and its aftermath and in later months of this year, give you a preview of my third novel, still in the writing process.
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