Cider - Shop now
$21.24
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Friday, May 16 to Nashville 37217 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Wednesday, May 14
In Stock
$$21.24 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$21.24
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
30-day refund/replacement
30-day refund/replacement
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Uvi Poznansky
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Marriage before Death: WWII Spy Thriller (Still Life with Memories) Hardcover – February 9, 2021

by Uvi Poznansky (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars 219 ratings
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$21.24","priceAmount":21.24,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"21","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"24","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"giSS9U1cWMmQK268mulaf1%2BnDeZLoX966O0WQmgC%2BLxqm7W9dpwsmfoSZM%2BnwFtlkAs1NWVOJlasAgJfcL5TIOUtefic%2Fkxgl1HE28GJsyBts7Ps6JYZ2XzKfGbcjfK0s%2BFlVVhItulu3UZrUP6%2Frg%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

From USA Today Bestselling Author, Uvi Poznansky, comes a captivating WWII Spy Thriller:

After D-Day, her photograph appears on the most-wanted Nazi propaganda posters. Who is the girl with the red beret? She reminds him of Natasha, but no, that cannot be. Why does Rochelle step into his life when he is lead by SS soldiers to the gallows? At the risk of being found out as a French Resistance fighter, what makes her propose marriage to a condemned man?

★★★★★ ”The story of how they survived such horrors is extraordinary. Also extraordinary is the author's deep and gorgeous writing.”

Scroll up and get Marriage before Death now!

Read more
Previous slide of product details
  1. Book 5 of 5
    Still Life with Memories
  2. Print length
    181 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    February 9, 2021
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-13
    979-8707119583
Next slide of product details
The%20Amazon%20Book%20Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

From the Publisher

WWII love story
Get it all: Apart from Love, Apart from War
My Own Voice
The White Piano
The Music of Us
Dancing with Air
Marriage before Death
Buying Options
Buying Options
Buying Options
Buying Options
Buying Options
Customer Reviews
3.7 out of 5 stars 88
3.7 out of 5 stars 44
3.8 out of 5 stars 315
4.0 out of 5 stars 234
3.9 out of 5 stars 219
Price $4.99 $4.99 $4.99 $4.99 $4.99
Story Falling in love with Lenny should have been the end to all of Anita's troubles. For her, it's only the beginning, when family secrets start unravelling. His ex-wife, Natasha, is succumbing to a mysterious disease. Can Anita compete with her shadow? Coming back to his childhood home, Ben is unprepared for the secret: his mother, Natasha, who used to be a brilliant pianist, is losing herself to mysterious disease. His father’s new wife, Anita, reminds him of the way she used to look. Lenny goes as far back as the moment he met Natasha during WWII, when he was a wounded warrior and she—a star, brilliant yet illusive. Natasha was a riddle to him then, and to this day, with all the changes she has gone through, she still is. Fooling German espionage may cost Lenny the trust of the girl who captured his heart. Will Natasha discover his secret D-Day reports, disguised as love letters to another woman? After D-Day, her photograph appears on the most-wanted German propaganda posters. Who is the girl with the red beret? Why does she step into his life when he is led by SS soldiers to the gallows? What makes her propose marriage to a condemned man?

Editorial Reviews

Review

  • "Ms. Poznansky has done it again, but this time--and I don't say this lightly--she has written my favorite book to date in her stable of literary gems... The tension was riveting." - Aaron Paul Lazar, Author
  • "Uvi Poznansky wears a coat of many colors. Originally from Israel where she studied Architecture and Town Planning then moving to the US where she studied Computer Science and became an expert in Software Engineering, Poznansky managed to combine the design elements of two studies into unique formats. And she has accomplished the same with the other side of her brain - making visual her ideas (she is an accomplished painter, drawer, and sculptor who has enjoyed exhibitions both in Israel and in California, her present base)." - Grady Harp, HALL OF FAME, TOP 100 REVIEWER
  • "The author is able to weave love and war into a captivating story which held me riveted to my seat for the duration." - Serenity, HALL OF FAME, TOP 10 REVIEWER
  • "Uvi Poznansky raises the stakes in a high stakes story, filled with uncertainty, drama and suspense... This book is a nail biter and one I found hard to put down. For me, this is Uvi Poznansky's best novel to date." - Richard Weatherly, Author
  • "Uvi Poznansky's lyrical prose shines through and gives this story a haunting, unforgettable quality. In addition, her sensitive handling of a much-changed Rochelle is touching and oh-so-real. Now off to acquire the others in the series." - Catherine Cavendish, Author
  • "Uvi Poznansky, a master story-teller, captures the sights, sounds and smells of World War II France, bringing them to life with an imaginative plot, excellent writing, a mastery of fine detail and the creation of imagery in her scenes. She draws you into the story as though you were there, experiencing what Lenny and Natasha experience." - Bill Cronin, Author
  • "The story of how they survived such horrors is extraordinary. Also extraordinary is the author's deep and gorgeous writing, interweaving desperation with descriptions of 'beautiful light streaming from high-arched, stained glass windows, rattling in the duel between the German artillery and ours.'" - J.A. Schneider, author of suspense and psychological thrillers
  • "What the reader sees is how their relationship survives the horrors of war making their love for one another all the stronger. Through their eyes we see the terrible sights, sounds and smells of war, something no one ever forgets... This is Uvi Poznansky at her masterful best." - Jess Steven Hughes, Author
  • "Uvi is a masterful storyteller that will draw you in to her stories and leave you needing to go back and read all the rest of these books in her series." - Angela Kate, Author
  • "Ms Poznansky displays a firm knowledge of time and place and has the ability to take the reader with her on her story. You feel you are there and witnessing the events first hand." - John Holland, Author

From the Author

The series Still Life with Memories includes the following volumes:
  • I: My Own Voice
  • II: The White Piano
  • III: The Music of Us
  • IV: Dancing with Air
  • V: Marriage before Death
To read excerpts from this series check out this free book:
  • Book Bites: The Wrong Girl

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08W7JNXFZ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (February 9, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 181 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8707119583
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 out of 5 stars 219 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Uvi Poznansky

Uvi Poznansky

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Uvi Poznansky is a USA TODAY bestselling, award-winning author, poet and artist. “I paint with my pen,” she says, “and write with my paintbrush.” Her romantic suspense box set, Love Under Fire, made the USA TODAY bestselling list, as did her medical thriller box set, Do No Harm; and her romance box set, A Touch of Passion, was the 2016 WINNER of The Romance Reviews Readers' Choice Awards.

Education and work:

Uvi earned her B. A. in Architecture and Town Planning from the Technion in Haifa, Israel and practiced with an innovative Architectural firm, taking a major part in the large-scale project, called Home for the Soldier.

Having moved to Troy, N.Y. with her husband and two children, Uvi received a Fellowship grant and a Teaching Assistantship from the Architecture department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. There, she guided teams in a variety of design projects and earned her M.A. in Architecture. Then, taking a sharp turn in her education, she earned her M.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Michigan.

She worked first as an architect, and later as a software engineer, software team leader, software manager and a software consultant (with an emphasis on user interface for medical instruments devices.) All the while, she wrote and painted constantly, and exhibited in Israel and California. In addition, she taught art appreciation classes. Her versatile body of work includes bronze and ceramic sculptures, oil and watercolor paintings, charcoal, pen and pencil drawings, and mixed media.

Books and Genres:

Ash Suspense Thrillers with a Dash of Romance is a suspense series. It includes Coma Confidential, Virtually Lace, and Overdose.

Still Life with Memories is a family saga series with touches of romance. The series includes My Own Voice, The White Piano, The Music of Us, Dancing with Air, and Marriage before Death.

Still Life with Memories Bundle series includes volume I, Apart from Love (My Own Voice+The White Piano); and volume II: Apart from War (The Music of Us+Dancing with Air+Marriage before Death.)

The David Chronicles is a historical fiction series with a modern twist. It includes three novels--Rise to Power, A Peek at Bathsheba, and The Edge of Revolt--and six art through the ages collections, describing each moment of the story.

Her poetry book, Home, is in tribute to her father. Her collection of dark tales, Twisted, and her Historical Fiction book, A Favorite Son, are both new age, biblically inspired books. In addition, Uvi wrote and illustrated two children books, Jess and Wiggle and Now I Am Paper. For each one of these books, she created an animation video (find them on YouTube and on her Goodreads page.)

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
219 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Customers say

Customers find this book to be a riveting historical drama with an imaginative plot and fast-paced style. Moreover, the writing style receives praise for its musical flow and exquisite detail, while the characters are well-developed. Additionally, they appreciate its readability, with one customer noting it can be read as a stand-alone.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more

29 customers mention "Story quality"25 positive4 negative

Customers praise the riveting and imaginative plot of the book, describing it as a fascinating historical drama.

"...A very well written WWII historical romance book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment...." Read more

"...A cool addition to the series, and an enjoyable glimpse of different times and lives, I enjoyed Marriage before Death and I’m eager for more...." Read more

"...Ms. Poznansky is a very talented writer who can easily weave a reader into a story. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen for me with this tale...." Read more

"What I enjoyed most about this book is the two poignant chapters about a husband dealing with his wife’s Alzheimer’s that bookend the World War II..." Read more

17 customers mention "Writing style"17 positive0 negative

Customers praise the writing style of the book, describing it as gorgeous, beautifully told, and flowing in a stylized blend of literary prose.

"...Only an honest one. A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written WWII historical romance book...." Read more

"...The writing is musical, as befits a tale with a musical protagonist. The story is intriguing with some sweetly touching scenes...." Read more

"...Ms. Poznansky is a very talented writer who can easily weave a reader into a story. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen for me with this tale...." Read more

"...a hint of the past and the future of her story, as always in elegant prose- ‘“The last line,” she says, turning away from me. “..." Read more

15 customers mention "Readability"15 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, with one mentioning it can be read as a stand-alone, and another noting it's very easy to follow.

"...A very well written WWII historical romance book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment...." Read more

"...A wonderful tale from a superb author. Highly recommended." Read more

"...I love this author’s writing, command of language and ability to construct fiction you can relate to. Can’t wait for the next book in the series." Read more

"...This book is a nail biter and one I found hard to put down. For me, this is Uvi Poznansky’s best novel to date. [..." Read more

7 customers mention "Pacing"7 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the pacing of the book, describing it as fast-paced and poignant, with one customer noting it's never a dull moment.

"...It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment...." Read more

"...It is a character-driven plot, related with intrigue and in a fast-paced style that will have readers turning pages as they are drawn into the events..." Read more

"...Also extraordinary is the author's deep and gorgeous writing, interweaving desperation with descriptions of "beautiful light streaming from high-..." Read more

"This book moved much faster for me than the two before it...." Read more

5 customers mention "Character development"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the character development in the book.

"...Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters to keep track of...." Read more

"...It is a character-driven plot, related with intrigue and in a fast-paced style that will have readers turning pages as they are drawn into the events..." Read more

"...The writing style as well as the character development is excellent. Ms. Poznansky has that ability to write in an almost lyrical style...." Read more

"...The characters are well-developed and believable, as is the plot of the story...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Tony Parsons
    5.0 out of 5 stars A very awesome book cover
    Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    1944, WWII. Corporal Leonard “Lenny” Kaminsky (American) & Private Edward “Ed” Babcock, dug in a foxhole were talking about the war.
    Normandy. Corporal Kaminsky had parachuted safely.
    Madame Vion said Natasha had hid the chute.
    The Royal Engineer platoon defused the explosives on the Bénouville Bridge that was put there by the Germans.
    What news did Natasha have for Lenny?
    Why was there a picture of Rochelle everywhere?
    Santa Monica, CA. Flashback: Leonard “Lenny” Kaminsky (husband, narrator), & Natasha (wife), just had their 35th. wedding anniversary.

    I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.

    A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written WWII historical romance book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great WWII movie, or better yet a mini TV series. To be continued. It wasn’t as exciting as I hoped so I will only rate it at 4/5 stars.

    Thank you for the free author; Amazon Digital Services LLC.; book
    Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Sheila Deeth
    4.0 out of 5 stars Music and war, love and memory, and more
    Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Fifth in the Still Life with Memories series, Marriage before Death takes readers to the dangerous small towns of France just after D-Day. The German occupation is failing, and those in the resistance find their lives increasingly in peril. But what of resisters who aren’t even French, who might be labeled spies and be betrayed for the price of a life or a hat? And what of those who meet in surprise, neither knowing the other would be there?

    Knowing the future adds an interesting poignancy to stories from the past. Readers know from the start that Natasha’s memories are fading. But Lenny’s memories are clouded only by love and uncertainty. As the characters play their different roles, the question of who is real, what memories are true, and what constitutes personality lie in the background, enriching every step of the path.

    The writing is musical, as befits a tale with a musical protagonist. The story is intriguing with some sweetly touching scenes. While the reader will guess before the characters what’s going to happen, there’s always that interesting question of memory and reality. A cool addition to the series, and an enjoyable glimpse of different times and lives, I enjoyed Marriage before Death and I’m eager for more.

    Disclosure: I already love the series and I got this one on a deal.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Dee Arr
    3.0 out of 5 stars Lukewarm Offering from Talented Author Misses the Mark
    Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Though it was not a genre I normally read, I enjoyed Uvi Poznansky’s “The Music of Us,” and anticipated that “Marriage Before Death” would be on the same high level. Unfortunately, by the end of the book I felt let down and disappointed. Here’s why:

    “Marriage Before Death” is the story of Lenny and Natasha during WWII. While the Prologue is reminiscent of the style in “The Music of Us,” that descriptive strength faded as the story moved into the past. Perhaps it was my disenchantment with the incredible coincidences of people meeting others they know in the middle of a war-torn country in order to aid the plot and keep the story moving. When this happened the first time, I could overlook it, but repeated occurrences only served to paint the story line as weak.

    Even weaker were the conversations, which sounded unrealistic. Perhaps Ms. Poznansky has moved into a genre where she is not as comfortable, for the words did not flow as well as they did in “Music,” and at times I would have been easily convinced that this was an entirely different author. The flow returned in the Epilogue, though by that time it was too little, too late. Describing a love that grows or falls apart through no fault of either party is the author’s forte. Delving into an unrealistic storyline, especially one that Amazon categorizes as a thriller, dilutes her strengths.

    If you haven’t read any of the other four books in the series, it would be hard to treat “Marriage Before Death” as a standalone. I have only read book three, though that was the tale of the pair falling in love, and it was enough for me to understand the present-day issues in the Prologue and Epilogue. If you are interested in this series, I would go back at least to “The Music of Us,” or even to the first book.

    On a positive note, there is no in-your-face sex or objectionable language in either of the books I have mentioned. Ms. Poznansky is a very talented writer who can easily weave a reader into a story. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen for me with this tale. Three stars.
    7 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • Espionage Lover
    5.0 out of 5 stars Courageous People Confronting Stark Reality
    Reviewed in Canada on August 19, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Stark historical reality intertwined in lucid prose with deep romantic love. Poznansky succeeds at crossing over in the thriller genre. Marriage before Death will interest both men and women readers. I particularly enjoyed the portrayal of courage in the direst of historical situations. No spoilers here. Pick it up yourself. You'll be happy you did.
    Report
  • Wilma Lettings
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent WW2 fiction with depth
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Like the rest of the series, this novel deals with the nasty disease that is Alzheimers’, a topic close to my heart and subject of some of my own writing. As with her other work, Uvi deals with the subject with grace, precision and depth. The result is one moving and evocative novel.
    Natasha and Lenny meet us at the beginning of this novel in modern day US. Natasha, a pianist, suffers from Alzheimers and Lenny, her husband, regrets the gaps in his knowledge about her that he now no longe rcan fill.
    Flashbacks tell the story of Lenny and Natasha during WW2. She said she was leeaving for New York, but then they find themselves both in occupied France. She as spy and he as soldier.
    It is an intriguing story with an excellent authentic WW2 feel. The writing is amazing and the story shines with emotional depth. It is a moving and touching story, especially with the tragedy of loss in its many incarnations; the narrative is eloquent, the prose is stylish, the story perfectly paced and historically accurate. The book adds a great deal of information about the time and place, bringing much more to the table than a tragic love story. Uvi balances the tight line between sentimental and romance wonderfully. Beautiful, bittersweet, romantic and tragic - an excellent series. As one reviewer called it: This is “Literary writing at its best.”
    Report
  • Paul Douglas Lovell
    5.0 out of 5 stars It is easy to award it Five Stars.
    Reviewed in Germany on June 17, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    This series just gets better and better. The more episodes you read the more of the character's lives are revealed. They start off (almost) ordinary and develop into very charismatic and interesting people the more their past is unmasked. When you invest in the characters either as a writer or a reader you easily fall in to the emotions and poignancy of the stories... I can really see 'Still Life With Memories' the series, translating to the small screen.

    I was given this as an advanced copy for a honest review. It is easy to award it Five Stars.
    Report
  • John Holland
    5.0 out of 5 stars Love and War
    Reviewed in Australia on August 29, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This is another satisfying story from the gifted pen of Uvi Poznansky. This is essentially a WW11 spy thriller, but also a love story.
    The love between Lenny and Natasha takes place amidst the chaotic violence of war and intrigue.
    Written with maturity and clarity and coloured with deft imagery, this story takes us deep into a place where love struggles to survive the circumstances around it.
    Ms Poznansky displays a firm knowledge of time and place and has the ability to take the reader with her on her story. You feel you are there and witnessing the events first hand.
    I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves a well written and authentic feeling story. I would not tie it to one particular genre. It is at once a WW11 spy thriller and a love story. There is an underlying psychological element as well.
    It is a pleasure to read.
    Report
  • Scott Bury
    4.0 out of 5 stars Not quite perfect, but then, neither are we
    Reviewed in Canada on May 18, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    I have recently discovered the books of Uvi Poznansky, and she has written a remarkable series of books. Together, they tell one unified story, but from multiple points of view. The author does a remarkable job of capturing each individual voice

    Still Life with Memories is about Lenny and Natasha Kaminsky, and about the way Natasha’s illness affects the whole family over a long time.

    Natasha is a concert pianist and composer, hailed as a genius, and Lenny a soldier and intelligence operative.

    They meet and fall in love, and Lenny says he cannot believe his luck when Natasha accepts his proposal of marriage. After the war, they return to the States and settle in Santa Monica, California. Natasha tries to re-start her music career, but shelves it when she becomes pregnant.

    She becomes a piano teacher while Lenny pursues his own career, and Natasha’s enormous white piano fills up most of the living room in their small apartment.

    But before many years pass, Lenny starts to notice something is wrong with Natasha. She has increasing memory lapses, which also affect her playing. Gradually, she loses the ability to play the piano. Lenny becomes despondent over the gaps Natasha’s memory and the damage it inflicts on their relationship. Lenny begins recording interviews with Natasha, then transcribing them in an effort to write a book about their life together.

    Then he meets Anita, a teenaged girl who looks astonishingly like a young Natasha. Anita sets her sights on him as her best chance for a better life than her mother could give, and Lenny falls for her. Natasha, as fragile as she is, leaves Lenny, but seems to come back more than once.

    But when Lenny makes Anita pregnant, the marriage is over. Not only does Natasha leave Lenny for good, so does their son, Ben, who is one year older than Anita.

    The most remarkable thing about Poznansky’s series is that she tells it from different points of view.

    Anita, who first appears in Lenny’s life as a teacher, is the narrator of book 1, My Own Voice. In Book 2, The White Piano, Ben, Lenny’s son is the PoV character. Lenny then takes over the narrating for the rest of the series, and we get to put the pieces together of Natasha’s real story.

    Natasha is the most interesting character in the series. She’s a highly talented artist and, it turns out, was resourceful and effective during the war. The way that the author slowly reveals her story is sometimes anguishing, sometimes teasing, but always fascinating.

    And the author perfectly captures each PoV character’s voice as she does this: the calculating other woman, the angry son, the guilt-ridden husband.

    Still Life with Memories also reveals the ephemera quality of memory, through the differences in details that each character remembers about their interactions.

    Battered by fate
    Poznansky shows how each of us tries to be master of our own fate, but we are at the same time victims of an often cruel universe, dealing with things that we could never have seen coming. In book 4, Marriage Before Death, Lenny wonders how it is that some of the soldiers on the battlefield die, while other survive, and whether his time is up. And in other volumes, he tries to make a new life for himself and his family, but suffers setback after setback. When Anita finds him, he seems powerless to turn her away, even though he tries.

    Anita is more skilled or talented at surfing the maelstrom of life. She rises from an impoverished single-parent household, without much education, and catches a successful man—one who can give her things she could only dream of as a girl.

    Ben recoils when he learns of his father’s affair with a girl younger than himself, drops out of school and leaves for Rome. When he returns, he also finds attracted drawn against his will to Anita, the woman who replaced his mother in many ways.

    A couple of flaws
    I find myself equally unable to resist Poznansky’s storytelling style. While she perfectly captures each character’s individuality, at the same time she writes in a style that seems at once fresh and old-fashioned. She has, I think, also captured a prewar literary voice that is refreshingly distinct from the mass-produced style you can find in today’s commercial bestsellers.

    But the books are not quite perfect. There are a couple of flaws.

    First, Lenny seems to be an incompetent intelligence operative. In Marriage Before Death, he wanders behind enemy lines with ease with little purpose or mission, and gets caught almost immediately.

    Also, the timing seems a little off. If Lenny is in his 20s during the war—and it seems he is—then I’m having trouble working out the timing for when he meets Anita in Santa Monica. She describes Lenny as being in his 40s, so that would take us to the mid-sixties or at best early 70s. However, Anita plays a song from “the sixties” as if it were really old. Somehow, the timing just seems a little off there.

    Overall
    This is a wonderful series, a richly colourful portrait of the intersecting, overlapping and mutually supportive and destructive lives. It portrays the intricate relationships of family, of the ways we intentionally and unintentionally hurt the people we love, and how what we do to each other ultimately creates the people they, and we are. It’s not quite perfect, but then neither are we.

    Well done, Ms. Poznansky
    Report