Review: The War Widow
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 31, 2012
This novel is set around the Neuremberg trials, seen from the viewpoint of Lieutenant John Petersen, who is assigned to guard the highest ranking survivors of Hitler's Reich. These include Goering, Hess, Keitel, Jodl and Speer, among others, although it is Goering who is the main focus in this book. Petersen's job is to make sure the prisoners get, "a fair trial before they're hanged" and the outcome is never in question.Petersen is a rather naive young man and the book gives flashbacks of his life, as well as looking at the present. One of his greatest problems is the rather stereotypical Colonel Gaffner, who seems to swing between benevolence and outright hostility towards the young Lieutenant. There is also the issue of prisoners not being granted military courtesy, which the likeable Petersen seems to ignore virtually from the first; becoming compromised in treating Goering as the "likeable rogue" he sees, rather than the man on trial for war crimes.Some of the most interesting parts of the book take place outside the prison, with Petersen's room mate Lt Robert Simmons, who is heavily involved in the black market and the young woman, Lisbeth, who cooks and cleans for them. Over the whole book though is the sinister and sly presence of Goering, determined not to be hung like the common criminal he does not believe himself to be. This is a good debut, although it was a shame the storyline with Simmons petered out and our main character was just a little too trusting to be wholely believable. However, there is a lot to commend it and it is an interesting view of a historical event seen from a personal perspective.