Hi this is Betsy from Otto’s. I know we’re all sick of war stories but there’s a new novel called 22 Britannia Road that will take you inside the mind and the heart of the 'survivors.' Janusz is a Polish freedom fighter who escaped to England and fought with the British against Hitler. Silvana is the wife he left behind in Warsaw. Aurek is their son. Silvana survived by living for years in the forest, fiercely protecting her boy who seems more animal than child when they are finally found and reunited with Janusz, who now has a decent job and home in England. But both husband and wife have secrets that are too painful to share and the boy doesn’t even know how to stand up straight or sleep in a bed. Was trying to find the love they lost a mistake? Has war changed them too much? In alternating chapters we learn the past and the present of each and the surprising conclusion. You won’t be able to put it down. I know I couldn’t. 22 Britannia Road, by Amanda Hodgkinson. You’ll find it at Otto’s, a booklover’s paradise in the heart of downtown Williamsport.
