Susan Meissner, author of The Last Year of the War (Penguin Random House), will join a conversation with readers via Zoom on Saturday, May 16, at 5 p.m. This free event is presented by the History Book Festival and the Lewes Public Library. Please register in order to receive instructions for joining the conversation (instructions will be emailed to you the day before the event).

While the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II is well documented, The Last Year of the War highlights a lesser known part of history, the internment of more than 11,000 American citizens and legal residents of German descent (Italian Americans were also interned). Meissner’s novel, centering on a German American teenager whose father is accused of being a Nazi sympathizer, was described by Kirkus Reviews as “a quietly devastating story that shows how fear and hatred during World War II changed (and even ended) the lives of many innocent Americans.”

Her other novels include A Fall of Marigolds, Secrets of a Charmed Life, Stars over Sunset Boulevard, A Bridge Across the Ocean, and As Bright as Heaven, a work set in Philadelphia during the 1918 Flu Pandemic.

Purchase The Last Year of the War at Browseabout Books, official bookseller of the History Book Festival, and help support local independent bookstores. Online sources and digital versions are tempting; however, supporting local brick and mortar shops helps to preserve our vibrant main streets.  Order books online or via phone at  302-226-2665 (note that phone orders are taken daily from 11–3).

This event is a joint effort of the History Book Festival, the Lewes Public Library, Delaware Division of Libraries, and Sussex County Libraries.