In Leeds, England, in World War II, Beryl Clarke has her hands full with volunteering as an Air Raid Precautions warden, her day job, and her grieving mother. When her pilot brother, James, goes missing in action, Beryl worries whether it might be all too much for her mother. Then she finds out that her company, Waddingtons, is secretly making escape kits for prisoners of war hidden inside Monopoly games. Kenneth Bor... Read Article

Rationing of meat and cheese was an important part of life on the US Home Front. A complex and constantly changing system kept grocery shoppers on their toes. Why meat and cheese? The United States produced meat and cheese for her civilians and military, and also for her Allies. During World War I, food shortages were a serious problem, with hoarding, escalating prices, and rushes on stores. When World War II started... Read Article

Despite a long family history working for MGM Studios, Liesl Weiss is fired from her stenographer’s job during the Great Depression. Abandoned by her husband, Liesl struggles to support her two children, her mother, and her shiftless brother. Then she receives a strange job offer from Jewish lawyer Leon Lewis, asking Liesl, a part of the German-American community in Los Angeles, to infiltrate the Friends of the... Read Article

Rationing was part of life on the US Home Front during World War II. Along with gasoline, sugar, coffee, canned and processed foods, meat, and cheese—butter, fats, and oils were rationed. To help produce the glycerin needed by the military, housewives also collected kitchen waste fats. Why Fats? Shortages of butter and oils began early in the war. Most cooking oils came from Pacific lands conquered by the Japanese,... Read Article

For Lauren Westlake, the King Tut craze in 1925 gives her a chance to prove herself as an Egyptologist at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City – and to her own father. with whom she has a distant and guarded relationship. For Detective Joe Caravello, the same craze has led to a wave of forgeries. The only person he can think of to help him is his old friend – and object of his unrequited love – ... Read Article

  Rationing of processed foods was an important part of life on the US Home Front. A complex and constantly changing system kept the grocery shopper on her toes. Why processed foods? Tin was short. The Japanese controlled 70 percent of the world’s tin supply. Tin’s resistance to temperature, shock, and moisture made it an ideal packaging material. The US military used it for ration tins, ammunition boxes, pl... Read Article

Thank you to all 600 (!!) of you who entered The Sound of Light “Hygge” Release Day Giveaway. I randomly chose one entry, and the winner is… Miriam Sikora! Miriam, I’ll send you an email. Please respond with your mailing address by March 2, 2023. If you don’t respond by that date, I’ll pick a new winner.... Read Article

The Sound of Light releases today! To celebrate, I’m giving away a “Hygge” prize pack! Come join me on Facebook Live Video on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, at 11 am PST/2 pm EST where I’ll describe the items and their significance to the story! The video will be available for viewing afterward as well. The Danes prize hygge, a sense of coziness and contentedness. Since this novel is set in Denmark in Wor... Read Article

During World War II, many items were rationed in the United States, including shoes. Why Shoe Rationing? Due to the serious rubber shortage (Make It Do-Tire Rationing in World War II), footwear made of rubber or with rubber soles was rationed or unavailable. Also, the military had a high need for leather, not just for shoes and combat boots, but for those popular leather flight jackets. As a result, civilians made do... Read Article

When Tessa Payton takes a DNA test, it reveals she’s Greek – which she knows – and Jewish – which she did not know. All Tessa knows is that her great-grandmother immigrated right after World War II. Not only does Tessa’s mother shed no light on the subject, but she urges Tessa to drop the matter. Tessa does not. Emptying her savings, Tessa buys a ticket to Thessaloniki, Greece. There, to... Read Article