“Who is it?” she said in a curt voice.
“Miss Thornbury? There’s a telegram for you.” It sounded like an adolescent boy. How had he gotten backstage? Archie must have paid someone to allow this child to deliver a telegram to her. That didn’t surprise her. Archie, that coward, it was easier to send a message than to face her.
She opened the door and signed for the telegram. Then she grabbed a few coins from her purse and tipped the boy.
Damn you, Archie, she thought. Why was she still so damn attracted to him?
“I have to see you. There are so many things that you don’t know. Things I have to tell you. Things that influenced me to break up with you when I did. But, I shouldn’t have left you. I made a mistake, Gilde. I love you. Meet me tomorrow at eleven a.m. in front of Big Ben. I’ll be waiting and praying for your forgiveness. Please show up, Gilde. All I ask is that you give me a chance to explain.” It was signed Archie
Part of her wanted to see him, to punish him, to make him sorry for what he did to her. Part of her wanted to tell him about his child, to tell him about Alden, and how Archie had abandoned her at the hardest time in her life. But the biggest part of her was afraid to see him, afraid that somehow all of the anger, the attraction, and the mixture of emotions she felt towards him would draw her right back into loving him. The whole thing made no sense but it made all the sense in the world. Could she walk away. She’d waited so long dreaming that the day would come when she could hurt him the way he hurt her, but if she did would she get caught in her own web? And besides that, what the hell was he talking about? What had caused him to leave her? What were the secrets that she didn’t know?
Big Ben at eleven tomorrow morning. She read the letter again. He wanted to meet her at Big Ben the following morning. She would have to be out of her mind to show up … but would she be able to resist?
CHAPTER 77
1945 December, France
William Lawrence was finally going home. He’d spent two and a half years in Marlag, a POW camp for naval prisoners. It was a hellhole surrounded by barbed wire with bunk beds and a charcoal-burning stove in the center of the room where the prisoners huddled through the winter trying to stay warm. He’d lived on thin, watery soup and one piece of black bread twice daily, always hungry. When they were captured his fellow naval men warned him to get rid of his tags because they had a Star of David on them indicating that William was Jewish. William refused. According to the Geneva Convention the prisoners were to be treated humanely. But this did not include William. By wearing his Star of David, he set himself up for constant persecution. When the war ended, he was taken to the hospital undernourished, blind in one eye, and too sick to make it all the way to Britain. He spent the next six months in the French hospital trying to recover from the nightmare he’d lived through, all the while enduring constant questioning about his treatment by the Nazis.
“How were you treated?” the Red Cross asked.
How could he ever explain? They had so many questions. And he was far too tired from the ordeal. He didn’t want to talk about it anymore and didn’t want to think about it anymore. However, even though he refused to discuss his captors, their memories were always present, waiting for him to try to sleep and then making their appearances in his nightmares. Many times during his imprisonment, he’d longed for death to free him from his misery, but his memories of his lovely young wife, his sweet and beautiful Gilde at home awaiting his return, had kept him alive. When he got to the hospital he’d asked one of the nurses to send a letter to his family. He had been too weak to write it so he dictated it to her. She promised to send it. But months passed and he received no answer. He tried again as soon as he had the strength to write it himself, but the letter was returned unopened.
Finally it was time. He was well enough to be discharged from the hospital. William would never be in good health again. His body was twisted from torture. His bones were weak from lack of nourishment, but he had a train ticket, and soon, very soon … he would be back in London, home. He would hold his precious Gilde in his arms, see his parents and his sister again, and give thanks to God that he had survived.
Coming soon … the final book in the Michal’s Destiny series
“Another Breath, Another Sunrise””
1945.
The Nazi’s surrender. Hitler is dead. But, the Third Reich has already left a bloody footprint on the soul of the world.
The Margoils family and their friends Lotti and Lev Glassman were torn apart by Hitler’s hatred of the Jewish people. Now that the Reich has fallen, the survivors of the Margolis and Glassman family’s find themselves searching to reconnect with those they love.
Lotti Strombeck Glassman, is a German woman, living in Berlin. She had been a good friend to the Margolis family. Lotti had been married to Lev, a Jewish man, who was taken away by the Gestapo and never seen again. In 1945 the curtain comes down on Hitler. But, Stalin is pushing his army towards Germany’s capital city. There is an angry mob of Russian soldiers who are on their way to punish what’s left of Hitler’s Aryan race. They will take out all of their hatred for the Third Reich on the terrified women left behind in Berlin.
Alina Margolis escapes to America with her lover at the beginning of the war. Although she has been away from Germany, her life has not been easy. Alina is strugglilng to make her way in a foreign land that doesn’t welcome Jews or Jews of German decent.
At ten years old Gilde Margolis , along with a group of other children board a train out of Germany. They are headed for Britain on the Kindertransport. Alone and frightened, Gilde must leave everyone and everything she loves behind. She is taken in by a family in London. However, London is in the throes of war. Bombs rain down on the city. Food, clothing, even bath water is rationed. As air raid sirens blare and buildings are turned to rubble, Gilde Margolis comes of age. She learns to love, to sacrifice, but most of all to survive.
This is a story of ordinary people whose lives were shattered by the terrifying ambitions of Adolf Hitler… a true mad man.
MORE BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
Michal’s Destiny
Book One of the Michal’s Destiny series
Siberia 1919.
In a Jewish settlement a young woman is about to embark upon her destiny. Her father has arranged a marriage for her and she must comply with his wishes. She has never seen her future husband and she knows nothing about him. Michal’s destiny lies in the hands of fate. On the night of her wedding she is terrified, but her mother assures her that she will be alright. Her mother explains that it is her duty to be a good wife, to give her husband children and always to obey him. However, although her mother and her mother’s mother before her had lived this way, this was not to be Michal’s destiny. Terrible circumstances would force Michal to leave her home and travel to the city of Berlin during the Weimar period where she would see and experience things she could never have imagined. Having been a sheltered religious girl she found herself lost and afraid trying to survive in a world filled with contrasts. Weimar Berlin was a time in history when art and culture were exploding, but it was also a period of depravity and perversions. Fourteen tumultuous years passed before the tides began to turn for the young girl who had stood under the canopy and said “I do” to a perfect stranger. Michal was finally beginning to establish her life. However, the year was 1933, and Michal was still living in Berlin. Little did she know that Adolf Hitler was about to be appointed chancellor of Germany, and that would change everything forever.
A Family Shattered
Book Two in the Michal’s Destiny Series
Taavi Margolis is arrested on Kristallnacht when he races out of his apartment to protect his daughter’s fiancée, Benny, who is being attacked and killed by a gang of Nazi thugs as they pillage and destroy the streets of a little Jewish neighborhood in Berlin. Taavi’s wife, Michal and their two daughters stare in horror through the window as Benny is savagely murdered. Then, they watch helplessl
y as the gang turns their attention to Taavi. They beat him with clubs until he is on his knees and bleeding on the pavement. When the police arrive, instead of arresting the perpetrators, they force Taavi into the back of a black automobile and take him away. Michal, pulls her daughters close to her. No one speaks but all three of them have the same unspoken questions. Will they ever see their beloved husband and Papa again? They realize, after tonight, the Anti-Semitism that is growing like a cancer all around them can no longer be ignored. Their future is uncertain. What will become of this family, what will become of the Jews? This is the story of the struggle of one Jewish family, to survive against the unfathomable threat of the Third Reich.
All My Love, Detrick
Book One in the All My Love, Detrick Series
Detrick, a German boy, is born with every quality that the Nazis consider superior. This will ensure his future as a leader of Adolf Hitler’s coveted Aryan race. But on his 7th birthday, an unexpected event changes the course of his destiny forever. As the Nazis rise to power, Detrick is swept into a life filled with secrets, enemies, betrayals, alliances, and danger at every turn. However, in spite of the horrors and the terror surrounding him, Detrick will find a single flicker of light. He will discover the greatest gift of all, the gift of everlasting love.
You Are My Sunshine
Book Two of the “All My Love, Detrick” series
Munich, Germany, 1941
A golden child is genetically engineered in the Nazi's home for the Lebensborn. She is the daughter of a pure German mother and a member of Hitler's SS elite. With those bloodlines, she is expected to become a perfect specimen of Hitler's master race. But, as Germany begins to lose the war and the Third Reich begins to crumble, the plans for the children of the Lebensborn must drastically change. Alliances will be broken. Love and trust will be destroyed in an instant, secrets will rise to the surface, and people will prove that they are not as they seem. In a time when the dark evil forces of the Third Reich hung like a black umbrella of doom over Europe, a little girl will be forced into a world spiraling out of control, a world where the very people sworn to protect her cannot be trusted.
The Promised Land:
From Nazi Germany to Israel
Book Three in the “All My Love, Detrick” Series
The Holocaust robbed Zofia Weiss of all she holds dear. The Secret State Police have confiscated her home, killed her friends, and imprisoned the man she loves. After searching through displaced persons camps and finding nothing, Zofia is sure that her lover is dead. With only her life, a dream, and a terrifying secret, Zofia illegally boards The Exodus, bound for Eretz Israel.
Along with a group of emaciated Jewish survivors, Zofia sets out to find the Promised Land. Despite the renewed sense of hope, Zofia lives in constant fear since the one person who knows her dark secret is a sadistic SS officer with the power to ruin her life and the life of an innocent Lebensborn child.
When the Nuremberg trials convict the SS Officer of crimes against humanity, Zofia believes she is finally safe and does her best to raise the beautiful girl entrusted to her care. As the child becomes a woman in her own right, can she find true love and belonging in a post-war society, or will the secrets of her heritage tear apart the only family she’s ever known?
To Be an Israeli
Book Four in the “All My Love, Detrick” Series
Elan Amsel understands what it means to be an Israeli. He’s sacrificed the woman he loved, his marriage, and his life for Israel. When Israel went to war and Elan was summoned in the middle of the night he did not hesitate to defend his country. Even though he knew he would pay a terrible price for his decision. Elan is not a perfect man by any means. He can be cruel. He can be stubborn and self-righteous. But he is brave, and he loves more deeply than he will ever admit. This is his story.
However, it is not only his story; it is also an account of the lives of the women who loved him. Katja, the girl he cherished but could never marry, who would haunt him forever. Janice, the spoiled American that he wed to fill a void, who would keep a secret from him that would one day shatter him. And … Nina, the beautiful Mossad agent Elan longed to protect, but knew that he could not.
To Be an Israeli spans from the beginning of the Six-Day War in 1967 through 1986 when a group of American tourists are on their way to visit their Jewish homeland.
This book is a saga of a people who to this day live under the constant threat of war and terrorism. It is the story of a nation built on the blood of her people, a people who understand that if Israel is to survive they must put Israel first. These are the Israelis.
Forever My Homeland
The Final Book in the “All My Love, Detrick” Series
A group of Americans go on a tour of Israel with their synagogue. One of them has a secret.
Meanwhile, a group of radical Islamists plan to use the visitors to bend Israel's policy of never negotiating with terrorists in order to free members of their group who are being held in Israeli prisons.
However, the terrorists must contend with Elan Amsel, a Mossad agent who's devoted his life to the preservation of his beloved Israel. Elan believes that nothing can break him, that is, until the fate of two innocent girls is thrust into his hands.
Forever My Homeland is the story of a country built on blood and determination. It is the tale of a strong and courageous people who don't have the luxury of backing down, They live with the constant memory of the Shoah, and a soft voice that whispers in the desert winds... “Never Again.”
THE VOYAGE:
A Historical Novel Set during the Holocaust
Inspired by true events
On May 13th 1939, five strangers board the MS St. Louis. Hitler promises them a future of safety away from Nazi Germany and the terrible Third Reich. But unbeknownst to these strangers they are about to embark upon a voyage built on secrets, lies, and treachery. Sacrifice, love, life, and death hang in the balance as each of them fights against fate to survive. But the voyage on the St. Louis is just the beginning of their journey.
A FLICKER OF LIGHT
Hitler’s Master Plan
The year is 1943...
The forests of Munich are crawling with danger under the rule of the Third Reich, but in order to save the life of her unborn child Petra Jorgenson must escape from the Lebensborn Institute. Alone, seven months pregnant, and penniless, avoiding the watchful eyes of the armed guards in the overhead tower, she waits until the dead of night. Then Petra climbs under the flesh-shredding barbed wire surrounding the institute and at the risk of being captured and murdered, she runs headlong into the terrifying desolate woods. Even during one of the darkest periods in the history of mankind, when horrific acts of cruelty become commonplace and Germany seems to have gone crazy following the direction of a madman, unexpected heroes come to light. And although there are those who try to destroy it, true love will prevail. Here, in this lost land ruled by human monsters, Petra will learn that even when one faces what appears to be the end of the world, if one looks hard enough one will find that there is always A Flicker of Light.
THE HEART OF A GYPSY
If you liked Inglourious Basterds, Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, you’ll love The Heart of a Gypsy!
During the Nazi occupation, bands of freedom fighters roamed the forests of Eastern Europe. They hid, while waging their own private war against Hitler’s tyrannical and murderous reign. Among these Resistance Fighters, there were several groups of Romany people (gypsies).
The Heart of a Gypsy is a spellbinding love story. It is a tale of a man with remarkable courage and the woman who loved him more than life itself. This historical novel is filled with romance, and spiced with the beauty of the Gypsy culture.
Within these pages lies a tale of a people who would rather die than surrender their freedom. Come, enter into a little-known world, where only a few have traveled before… The world of the Romany.
If you enjoy romance, secret magical traditions, an
d riveting action…you will love The Heart of a Gypsy.
Please be forewarned that this book contains explicit scenes of a sexual nature.
A NAZI ON TRIAL IN GOD’S COURT
This is a very short story. It is 1,235 words. Himmler, Hitler's right-hand man, has committed suicide to escape persecution after the fall of the Third Reich. What he doesn't realize is he must now face a higher court. God's court. In this story he will meet Jesus and be tried in heaven for crimes against humanity, and the final judgment may surprise you.
Watch Over My Child: Book Three in the Michal's Destiny Series Page 23