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

In 1942, Evie Farrow helps run the family inn on Ocracoke Island, but island life has been disrupted by German U-boats sinking ships off the North Carolina coast. When British survivor Sterling Bertrand washes ashore with secrets galore – and claims to be seeking a German spy, Evie’s life is turned upside-down. Back in 1914, Louisa Adair helps run the same inn, but questions about her heritage haunt her. ... Read Article

The Sound of Light is coming February 7, 2023! My publisher, Revell Books, and I have put together a fun package of goodies for anyone who preorders a copy (or has already done so) and enters by February 6, 2023! You can preorder at your local bookstore or online (find links here). Any version counts, including e-books and audiobooks! Baker Book House has an amazing preorder deal (40% off, plus free shipping)! As my ... Read Article

“Who am I?” That’s the question Sebastien Trovato asks himself. Found as a baby floating in a basket on a canal in Venice, raised by an unlikely troupe of craftsmen and women, and now as a young man rotating between islands, between guilds, he doesn’t know where he belongs. Until Mariana washes ashore during a storm, and he knows he belongs with her. Almost a century later in San Francisco, Da... Read Article

In the 1930s in Salzburg, Austria, Elsa Mayer-Braun is a rising opera star, falling in love with her brilliant, arrogant, and magnetic conductor, Wilhelm Hoffman. Meanwhile, in London, young Hattie Featherstone is a secretary, a civil servant, longing for more. When she and her sister Vera hear a gramophone record of Elsa singing, a love for opera is born in them. Impulsively, Hattie and Vera travel to Salzburg to he... Read Article

Eighty years ago this week, the United States held its first War Loan Drive. The Second World War cost the United States $300 billion dollars, with the federal budget rising from $9 billion in 1939 to $98 billion in 1945. How was the nation to pay for that? Taxes were increased with an additional 5 percent Victory Tax. To assure payment, on June 10, 1943 the government approved the first automatic deduction of taxes ... Read Article

Eighty years ago, coffee rationing began in the United States. Although not necessary for survival—though that’s debatable—coffee has been a staple in the American diet since the Boston Tea Party, and coffee rationing was extremely unpopular. Why Coffee? During World War II, Latin America produced bumper crops of coffee beans, and those countries were Allies or neutral. However, all coffee came to America by se... Read Article

When World War II comes to Derby, Maine, wealthy Louise Cavendish decides to close her private town library to open a nursery for the children of factory workers. Avis Montgomery’s reading consists of magazine articles on How to Be the Perfect Housewife, but when her librarian brother goes to war, Avis takes his position. And when Louise unveils her plans to close the library, Avis impulsively founds the Blacko... Read Article

At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the First World War came to an end. The Armistice was signed for the War to End All Wars, but peace was built on a shoddy foundation, and war returned, nastier than ever. The end of the Second World War brought the United Nations and the promise of rational negotiation and eternal peace. Instead the nuclear era introduced the tense decades of the Cold War, f... Read Article