If you read my review of Things We Didn’t Say, you will be well aware of my love for this incredible story and my admiration for the young author who has penned a novel with the skill and then some of a seasoned writer.

I’ve worked with Amy for many years in her role as publicist for Bethany House and she is a delight. In many ways it came as no surprise that she had this story – and I trust many, many more – inside her, and I strongly encourage you to invest in this epistolary novel that is witty, moving, and absorbing.

For now, you get to met her Johanna and Peter in this spotlight. We hope you enjoy it!

Over to you, Amy…

Meet Johanna & Peter

Johanna Berglund

Physical Stats

Height: A bit below average (but she’s not about to wear heels to make up for it)

Hair colour & style: Blond and kept mostly in a practical style…except when she impulsively dyes it black. It’s a long story.

Eye colour: Light blue

Dress sense: Her clothing is basically a rotation of modest skirts and blouses in variations of gray, brown, white, and—when she’s feeling really daring—blue. Once, when forced, she dressed up as Athena for a costume ball.

Resembles…

I’m so bad at this. I can’t think beyond the woman on the cover, so probably her.

Can’t live without…

Books and tea, her battered typewriter and a hefty supply of stamps, brisk walks in the woods to clear her head

Strengths

She’s brilliant with languages (near-fluent in six of them), witty, enterprising, determined, and has a secret compassionate side, especially for people who are left out or discriminated against.

Vulnerabilities

To her, tact is insincerity, so she says what she means. She’s a bit of a loner who has felt since childhood that no one understands her, and she finds it hard to trust and open up to others.

Passions

Her dream is to go to Oxford and find a scholarly career in the translation of ancient classics. But she also enjoys a good hot fudge sundae.

What book would they recommend?

So many! But especially classics like Beowulf or Arthurian legends, or even Little Women (she shortened her name to Jo after reading it). She will probably judge you if she catches you reading some pulpy crime thriller.

Your inspiration for the character

I knew the plot of the story would involve a disgruntled town, so I made them call in Jo as a translator for the POW camp, the absolutely worst person for the job of public relations. Her dry sense of humour is definitely borrowed from me, but the rest of her just sprang to life without a particular model.

Background to the story

When researching interesting aspects of WWII in Minnesota, I found that there were a number of German prisoner-of-war camps that sent Nazi prisoners to work in local farms and factories, and also that some civilian women worked at the camps. As I read more, I found upset letters to the editor, escape attempts, and plenty of drama for a story.
 

Peter Ito

Physical Stats

Height: Tall and lanky

Hair colour & style: Black and cut short—being an instructor at a Japanese language school for enlisted army men, he’s expected to set an example

Eye colour: Dark brown

Dress sense: A neat civilian suit while teaching. Though he’s generally a pretty snappy dresser, his favourite thing to wear is a baseball uniform.

Resembles…

Some of the actual Military Intelligence Service language school students

Can’t live without…

New challenges, his mother’s cooking (but also the occasional hole-in-the-wall burger place), and a great match of baseball, Ping-Pong, or even a board game.

Strengths

He’s intelligent, brave, warm-hearted, and very good at inspiring his students to work hard and learn. A peacemaker by nature, he’s learned with people he trusts to not avoid conflict but speak his mind.

Vulnerabilities

He sometimes nurses grudges, and hasn’t yet decided how to deal with resentment toward the white students who receive officer positions when his fellow Japanese-Americans are passed by. It’s hard for him to get up the courage to speak from his heart.

Passions

He loves to excel in all he does and enjoys travel. It’s hard to plan for after the war, but he wants to do something to help people, maybe foreign aid work.

What book would they recommend?

He has been caught by Jo, on occasion, reading a pulpy crime thriller. But he also reads a few classics she recommends, his grandmother’s Bible, and the nonsense poetry of Ogden Nash. 

Your inspiration for the character

I read many letters and diary entries of the students and teachers at the MIS Japanese language school, and lifted bits of Peter’s story from them. Mostly small things—like the fact that many loved the first snow but quickly grew disenchanted with the Minnesota cold—but also some of the men’s feelings and doubts about serving America in a time when America had taken away their families’ rights. I hope his letters were accurate to these brave men who I came to admire.

Thank you for sharing with us, Amy! And congratulations on your novel once again.

Amy Lynn Green is a lifelong lover of books, history, and library cards. She worked in publishing for six years before writing her first historical fiction novel, based on the WWII homefront of Minnesota, the state where she lives, works, and survives long winters. She has taught classes on marketing at writer’s conferences and regularly encourages established and aspiring authors in their publication journeys.

If she had lived in the 1940s, you would have found her writing long letters to friends and family, listening to jazz music, daydreaming about creating an original radio drama, and drinking copious amounts of non-rationed tea. (Actually, these things are fairly accurate for her modern life as well.)

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