It is January 1940. Tall, broad-shouldered, and handsome, Charlie Stoker is loved by everyone. Seen by all as the man who has it all, he is tortured by the belief that he lives a lie, a double life. His religious upbringing and inborn sense of righteousness demand that he resolve his problem, but WWII intervenes. Charlie, Bobby, Harry Bateson, Billy Walters, and even mild Percy Spence vanish to serve their country.While Charlie completes his army training, Sally Spence gives birth to a beautiful daughter, Shirley, and Charlie becomes godfather to his own child. Then, the ‘phoney’ war explodes. The drama of Dunkirk is followed by the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. London is in chaos. The lives of all those associated with the Stokers are endangered by the constant threat of the never-ending air raids. With all the men absent, their families spend their nights in Anderson shelters or hiding behind black-out curtains. Somehow, stirred by Winston Churchill’s passionate speeches, they keep up their spirits and find a way for most to survive.Charlie becomes a commando officer, who endures some of the fiercest battles of the war in Europe. He is saved from near death by the French Resistance; then, later, he leads his men through the entire Italian Campaign. His experiences there teach him to see his problems in a different light. Is there, at last, a path to acceptance?
Tod Benjamin’s first novel was published in 2017 at the age of 81, after a long and varied life of three careers. Firstly, a five year management course led to five years as a department store manager. That was followed by twenty-five years in the chemical industry, a career that took him all over the world.
Retirement to Bournemouth to play golf and to write created the opportunity for his third career. He began to write seriously. Now, unable to play golf, he devotes most of his time to writing. With an amount of poetry, some short stories and three novels completed, Charles and Charlie, his second novel, is the first of The Stoker Trilogy. Book two, The Tallyman, continues this saga of the first half of the twentieth century through the 1930s, and the third volume, The Soldier, completes the story through World War 2 to 1950.
Customer
Reviews
1 reviews
-
Acceptance by Tod Benjamin is the third book in a trilogy of historical fiction. This book covers Great Britain's involvement in World War II through the life of the main character, Charlie Stoker. Starting the war as a common soldier, Charlie becomes a commando officer and will participate in the war in various scenarios. Although the other books detail the families and lives of several characters in this work in greater detail, this book can be understood if read on its own.
What I liked most about this book was the author's perfect understanding of the conflict. In high school, I was obsessed with this conflict and have read over 100 books on the subject. I can say without exaggeration that the author, Tod Benjamin, made accurate analyses of the conflict from the Battle of Britain to Rommel's actions in Africa. You can see from the first page that he understands the subject very well. The fact that much of the book describes commandos' actions also helps to make the book fast-paced, dynamic, and exciting.
The book has no defects worth mentioning. I found two grammatical errors: a word not capitalized and General Patton's name misspelled. Other than that, the book's
Overall, Acceptance by Tod Benjamin is action-packed, fast-paced and intriguing. The authcomknowledge of conflict with his writing skills and created exciting to read. Since there is nothing that I didn't like, I gladly rate it 5 out of 5 stars.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in World War II. It is a delightful way to understand the conflict better. Regarding sexual content, there is nothing very explicit (due to something specific about the main character). Even so, there are many profane words, and the book should only be read by those over 18 years.
Write a Review
Discover