The story is set is post-war Germany and features all the problems therein. The setting is not an unusual one either. Furthermore, you will rarely find a novel that is written as well as this one. It is one you know you will enjoy after reading only the first few chapters.
Sheldon Green's Prodigal Sons tells the story of a man, a Polish Jew, who is fortunate enough to look more Polish than he does Jewish. Because of this accident of birth and his education prior to the war he is able to operate successfully in the resistance during the war. Unable to help his parents who have been sent off to a ghetto by the Nazis, he joins a group to make underground war on the Nazis.
Through this training, his innate abilities, and his language skills he becomes a valuable asset to the new state of Israel after the war. Helping to defend the new nation from Arab attempts to end its existence, he meets someone who informs him of the fate of his parents.
This sets him on a course to return to Europe and hunt down Nazis who have escaped justice. With a new identity he finds himself fully integrated into post-war Germany. His undercover persona aims him in his mission but also throws up complications such as falling in love.
There is just enough action and not too much romance, to keep this Prodigal Sons interesting throughout. If you are like me you will find yourself surprised when you reach the end. Sheldon has written an engrossing novel about an interesting time in central European post-war history.
Article comments
1 - Sheldon Greene
Thanks so much! Sheldon Greene