Endkampf: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Death of the Third Reich

Stephen G. Fritz

University Press of Kentucky, Oct 8, 2004 - Fiction - 382 pages

"Soon or a little too lateeverything you never knewyou always wanted turns uphereat The Breakers" -- from the book In her new novel At The Breakers, Mary Ann Taylor-Hall, author of the widely praised and beloved Come and Go, Molly Snow, presents Jo Sinclair, a longtime single mother of four children. Fleeing an abusive relationship after a shocking attack, Jo finds herself in Sea Cove, New Jersey, in front of The Breakers, a salty old hotel in the process of renovation. Impulsively, she negotiates a job painting the guest rooms and settles in with her youngest child, thirteen-year-old Nick. As each room is transformed under brush and roller, Jo finds a way to renovate herself, reclaiming a promising life derailed by pregnancy and a forced marriage at age fourteen. Jo's new life at the hotel features a memorable mix of locals and guests, among them Iris Zephyr, the hotel's ninety-two-year-old permanent boarder; Charlie, a noble mixed-breed dog; Marco, owner of a nearby gas station/liquor store, who may become Jo's next mistake; and enigmatic Wendy, her streetwise eighteen-year-old daughter, who signs on as housekeeper. Irrepressible Victor Mangold, Jo's former professor and a well-known poet some twenty years her senior, invites himself to Thanksgiving dinner and into her life, his passion awakening Jo's yearning for art and love. At The Breakers is a deeply felt and beautifully written novel about forgiveness and reconciliation. In Jo's words, she is "trying to find the right way to live" as a long-suffering woman who is put through the fire and emerges with a chance at a full, rich life for herself and her children, if only she has the faith to take it.

Contents

• WAITING FOR THE END: 1
• FEARFUL ARE THE: 31
• B: 61
• 4: 93
• Nationalesialische: 110
• Krautostheim: 110
• 5: 115
• 6: 159
• STRUGGLE UNTIL FIVE: 195
• 8: 223
• AFTERWORD: 267
• NOTES: 275
• BIBLIOGRAPHY: 333

Popular passages

Page 357 - ... schöne Bäume, und wenn der liebe Gott mich ganz glücklich machen will, läßt er mich die Freude erleben, daß an diesen Bäumen etwa sechs bis sieben meiner Feinde aufgehängt werden. Mit gerührtem Herzen werde ich ihnen vor ihrem Tode alle Unbill verzeihen, die sie mir im Leben zugefügt - ja, man muß seinen Feinden verzeihen, aber nicht früher, als bis sie gehenkt worden.‎

About the author

Stephen G. Fritz, professor of history at East Tennessee State University, is the author of Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II. He lives in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Endkampf: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Death of the Third Reich
• Author: Stephen G. Fritz
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky, 2004
• ISBN: 0813123259, 9780813123257
• Length: 382 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / General