The Roses Underneath

The Roses Underneath by C.F. Yetman is an historical novel set in a time of war. But it's not about the war. It's about Anna and her daughter Amalia. The Roses Underneath is about survival. And hope … and love and fear and a time period that should not be forgotten.

From the opening paragraph of The Roses Underneath, you see and feel how desperate the conditions are for Anna. She eats a spoonful of lard for her breakfast and brushes her teeth with her finger.  Anna does not make enough for child care, but she does find a spot where Amalia can sit and Anna can see her from her office window. She finally gets a job working for the Americans and is able to make enough money to buy bread for her and Amalia. She is making enough that she and Amalia can survive.

Because she can speak English, she is recruited to help the Americans find and catalog the stolen art. She begins working at the Collecting Point of the American Army's Monuments Men. As she begins to help find stolen art and to translate, she begins to trust the Army architect she is assigned to. But there are others she cannot trust. Her life is better, but it is also tenuous.

The Roses Underneath is not a book to read and forget. It will stay with you. It will touch you. You will see yourself in Anna.  You will worry for Amalia. You will come to know the people in Anna's life. And you will be taken back to a time and a war that you've read about in history books. With The Roses Underneath, you can live that time through Anna. 

I give The Roses Underneath a rating of Hel-of-a-Time.

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FTC Disclaimer: The Roses Underneath was sent to me by C.F. Yetman's publicist. I read the book because it was interesting. I kept reading it because it was captivating. I have a feeling that if you begin reading it, you, too, will keep reading.