Author Lee Carver is my guest today.
She has an amazing background. Meet this interesting woman and her World War II story from a German's Point of View.
Lee Carver is once again failing at retirement. After being born, educated, and married in the United States, she established homes and reared their children in Greece, Saudi Arabia, Argentina,
WWII
is the new Amish. This new genre is becoming quite popular. As the WWII
veterans are rapidly dying, the war moves into the classification of
historical. What prompted you to write this story?
I’ve never been a history buff. Biology and
chemistry, such logical sciences, pushed away any desire to study history,
politics, and especially wars. My husband is quite the opposite, and had always
wanted to visit the European battlefields where his father fought. The book and
TV series Band of Brothers brought
that desire to a slow burn. Robin Sink McClelland, the daughter of Col. Robert
Sink, Regimental Commander of the Parachute Infantry Regiment featured in Band of Brothers, is a personal friend.
Having never traveled out of the US, Robin organized a private tour to visit
the area where Col. Sink fought. We were invited to join the tour, which became
a remarkable, world-expanding experience. I had toured Germany several times
and used to speak the language, but this trip changed my understanding of
Europe, its history, and World War II. I simply had to write a story about
fictional characters caught in that scene.
You’ve
never written a historical novel before. Does this represent a change in your
genre for the future?
No, I’m returning to contemporary fiction. The
intensive research necessary to write A Secret Life totally involved me for
more than a year, and I’m so glad I did it. However, my next novel, to be
released December 3rd, is a contemporary missionary story. It’s an
inspirational romance set in the Brazilian Amazon, where my husband and I lived
for over six years.
While other WWII
novels are written from the perspective of American soldiers and the women who
fall in love with them, the central character of A Secret Life is a
young German man. Why did you take that approach?
As a person who has lived in seven countries and
traveled to more than forty-five, I felt that the attribute I could offer
readers was a foreign view. I walked the hills in this story, I ate German
food, spoke German, and toured the great cities of Europe. And while most war
novels show Germans only as detestable Nazis, I knew and loved Germans who
suffered terribly under Hitler. Without becoming too graphic, I wanted to show
that there is another side to this beautiful country.
Romance novels, almost by definition, begin with a man and woman
who must fall in love, but they have compelling reasons why they shouldn't. And
then they do, and the story ends. Again, yours is different. Why did you break
the pattern?
Can you imagine marrying someone who is not at all who you
thought? The sweet love story covers a profound deception. The compromises of
marriage are based on faith in the person and personality represented during
the courtship. What if all that were totally false? Could love survive? Would
God even bless such a marriage? The development of the character Karl—who he
is, what he believes, and his purpose in life—plays out after his marriage. He
grows, strengthens, and takes control after his return to Germany. He is no
longer reacting to events; he is making them happen. That’s when Karl becomes
the hero of his own story.
You say that every
novel you write is inspirational. How do you work that into a novel about war?
There is no pulpit event, no point at which action stops and
I, the author, hop up on a soapbox and explain Jesus and salvation. It’s just
there. My characters live in the Christian worldview. Karl comes from a
Christian family, though his faith has not be tested as it will be. His mother,
an American from a Jewish family, converted before she met her husband, and her
faith runs deep. Karl’s relationship with God deepens as he perseveres, as he
learns what love is. His faith is the foundation of his life, as it is for his
wife Grace, and as it is for us.
One final
question: you self-published three books before this one, which has a
traditional publisher, the Inspirational line of Prism Book Group. Why the
switch?
The Most Excellent
Adventure, a
collection of experiences—mostly humorous—all over the world, was first
published in Brazil. Later I edited it and published through Amazon. Then I
wrote the first novel, Love’s Second
Verse, almost as on-the-job training. The plot involves a woman working as
an IT specialist in the world largest international bank (go figure). As
technology rapidly advanced, the story line was becoming dated. I had to either
publish it right away or toss it. The third book, Flying for Jesus, is totally autobiographical, a nonprofit venture
to give testimony to God for the amazing years as missionaries in Brazil. These
are all available through Amazon.com. But my goal to be traditionally published
is rooted in the desire to be recognized as a worthy novelist. I want to be
admitted into the ACFW Conference courses for “published” authors—published by
ACFW recognized publishers. It’s a gratifying professional step.
A romantic excerpt from the courtship of Karl, living as the
American Henry:
“If I
were wealthy, would he consider me a better prospect for his only daughter?”
She
bent her head. “It’s terrible to say, but I think so. He wants me to marry a
‘good provider.’ Sometimes he even tries to match me up with guys he meets in
his business.”
Like
grit in his teeth, Henry abhorred the thought of losing her to another man. He
took both her hands in his and locked eyes with his love. “Someday, Grace, I
will be wealthy. I will be the son-in-law your father respects.”
She
drew a sudden breath.
His
words were tantamount to a proposal of marriage.
He
watched her recover from mild shock, and attempted to do the same. In truth, he
had declared his intention.
She
looked down with a blush. Then she leaned toward him. “Money isn’t important to
me. I love you. We’ll make it fine. I’ll work…”
“You
won’t have to, my sweet.” In an echo from the past, he borrowed Father’s words.
“I have a plan.”
Her
smile opened her expression as if in wonder. Whatever her thoughts, pleasure
ran through them.
He
found courage to continue. “I don’t know how long it will take, but I will not
dally.”
***
The German Army of World War II
rips KARL VON STEUBEN from his family and privileged life, forcing him to
conceal his American sympathies and Jewish heritage. Stripped of every tie to
his home country, he determines to escape. As he crawls to the Siegfried Line,
only he knows the hiding place of gold ingots melted from the jewelry of
prisoners. Wounded after assuming the identity of a fallen American soldier,
Karl briefly deceives even himself.
Discharged and shipped to America, he discovers
God’s unmerited favor in a beautiful Atlanta nurse. But he must return to
Germany or relinquish his family fortune and rear children under the name of
another man. Will Grace forgive his duplicity and accept him as a loyal
American?
The hotlink for the print book and Kindle is http://amzn.to/1sr2NPc
I would appreciate your sharing the word to anyone else who might be
interested in the book. Having this spread by FB and other digital means is
invaluable.
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