A Prophet Without Honor
It has become a cliche of modern history that the best chance the West had to resist the onslaught of Nazi aggression was in March 1936, when Hitler ordered the reoccupation and remilitarization of the Rhineland in direct violation of two major international treaties. But no such resistance occurred. After the fact, Hitler boasted that the German Army 'would have scurried back to Germany with its tail between its legs' had any active French or British force taken the field but none did. If events had turned in that direction, Hitler would be barely remembered. From such small causes do large effects spring.
A Prophet Without Honor is an epistolary novel that explores this alternative path of history with a depth and rigor seldom encountered in novels in this genre. The story spans 26 years, from 1910 to 1936 and chronicles the life of the hero, Karl von Haydenreich, who provides the English and French with 'the Order' - the direction to the German Army to retreat if opposed. He does this at enormous personal cost, but the Nazi regime collapses as a result of the battlefield humiliation. However, he magnitude of his accomplishment, so obvious in our timeline, is largely unappreciated in the world that comes to be as a result of his actions. Hence, the title 'A Prophet Without Honor' - in his own land, i.e., the history he has created, his achievement is unrecognized.
The narrative has considerable scope, from the Bavarian Alps to post-war Paris, public schools in England, the beer halls of Munich, the night life of 'Cabaret' Berlin, and the dungeons of the Nazi S.S. The epistolary form of the book permits the dramatic events of the those decades to be recounted in vivid, first person voices. The story is populated by strong, dramatic characters, most of them fictional, but a few actual historical personages whose careers have been appropriately reimagined - most notably and colorfully, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who plays a central role in the key events of the story. (The one character whose portrayal is in no way fictional is Adolph Hitler. No matter how outlandish the antics of the Fuhrer may appear in the narrative, they are all drawn from perceived behavior at various points in his career).
This is not a 'fantasy' novel. It reads as an actual history, albeit one that never came to be. Fact and fiction are blended seamlessly, so much so that my circle of friendly readers were unanimously insistent that I provide an Author's Note indicating the points of departure into fiction. This I have done. One of my readers commented that it took an effort of will at the end of the book to remind himself that this was not real history, that the alternative history presented was fiction. That is precisely the effect I hoped to achieve.
Thursday's Child
'Thursday's Child' is what the subtitle indicates it is - an epic romance.This is a fairly unexpected outcome for a book that began life as an attempt to write a little pastiche on a Harlequin romance, with pretty much the same appeal as those bon-bons possess, but with just a tad more substance. In no time, however, the project took on a life of its own - and then it exploded on me, to put it mildly. As it did, some other ambitions joined the first modest one -(1) to write a really exciting, but completely non-violent, melodrama; (2) to create a heroine truly strong in the way I have known strong women to be, not some ersatz faux masculinity, but genuine, altogether different than male, feminine in its essence; (3) to discuss some of the life problems that really gifted young women do encounter; (4) to draw in subtle and indirect ways from the considerable body of myth and folklore/fairy tale that treat of romantic love; and (5) to garnish all the various ingredients of the salad with a light sprinkling of some of the philosophical, moral, and life insights I have acquired during my own stay on this planet. I use the term 'light sprinkling' because, above all, I wanted the book to be fun, and lively. It is my hope (and belief) that I succeeded in all of this. But of course I cannot be the judge of that.
So 'Thursday' became a book with all the trappings of a five-buck paperback romance, and with the same entertainment value multiplied several fold - but also a fairly serious (though lively) novel of ideas. Above all, in its largest scale, it is a parable about the uses and misuses of power. The journey implied in the title ("Thursday's child has far to go") is actually an exploration of these modes, and an education of the heroine to her own responsibility to her vast human potential.
This blog is open to comment on all these themes and topics, or any thing related, or books or other works related to them, or really anything at all. I hope the blog encourages anyone who visits to read the book, which does repay the effort. But, more than that, I hope it encourages that person to think and comment, and share those thoughts and comments here.
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