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Drawing upon a long-suppressed episode in American history, when thousands of German immigrants were rounded up and interned following the attack on Pearl Harbor, In Our Midst tells the story of one family's fight to cling to the ideals of freedom and opportunity that brought them to America.
Nina and Otto Aust, along with their teenage sons, feel the foundation of their American lives crumbling when, in the middle of the annual St. Nikolas Day celebration in the Aust Family Restaurant, their most loyal customers, one after another, turn their faces away and leave without a word. The next morning, two FBI agents seize Nina by order of the president, and the restaurant is ransacked in a search for evidence of German collusion.
Ripped from their sons and from each other, Nina and Otto are forced to weigh increasingly bitter choices to stay together and stay alive. Recalling a forgotten chapter in history, In Our Midst illuminates a nation gripped by suspicion, fear, and hatred strong enough to threaten all bonds of love—for friends, family, community, and country.
"Good people suffer terrible injustices when war reasserts tribal loyalties. ... A sad, and sadly still relevant, history lesson in fictional form." —Kirkus Reviews
"Touching...Jensen admirably pulls off the balancing act between an emotionally gripping narrative and adherence to historical facts...Jensen's satisfying fictional account of a lesser-known chapter of U.S. history resonates chillingly with today's headlines." —Publishers Weekly
"A thoroughly researched work of truth-telling, In Our Midst shines the light of 'liberty and justice' on our history and reveals another horror that must be acknowledged. Jensen knows how to transport the reader into the domestic side of WWII; through taste and touch, sight and sound, we are there. From joy and delight to despair and horror, every character struggles to create and sustain their unique authenticity. To survive, each character must learn to blend aspirations with realities." —Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab's Wife and Four Spirits
This information about In Our Midst was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Nancy Jensen's bestselling novel The Sisters was selected by the Independent Booksellers Association as a #1 Indie Next Pick, and included by Kirkus Reviews on its list for Best Fiction of 2011. She has been awarded an Artist Enrichment Grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women and an Al Smith Fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council. Her first book, Window: Stories and Essays, was published by Fleur-de-Lis Press in 2009. She teaches in the Bluegrass Writers Studio at Eastern Kentucky University and shares her home with five rescued cats.
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