A Master Plan for Rescue
A Novel
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Named a Best Book of 2015 by the San Francisco Chronicle
From the bestselling author of Mary: Mrs. A. Lincoln, a magical novel about the surprising acts we are capable of in the name of love.
Set in 1942 New York and Berlin, A Master Plan for Rescue is an enchanting novel about the life-giving powers of storytelling, and the heroism that can be inspired by love. In essence, it is two love stories. It is the story of a child who worships his parents, then loses his father to an accident and his mother to her resulting grief. And it is the story of a young man who stumbles into the romance of his life, then watches her decline, forever changing the arc of his future. Each is propelled by the belief that if he acts heroically enough, it will restore some part of what—or whom—he has lost.
But when they meet, this boy and this man, their combined grief and magical thinking will allow them to dream the impossible. Sharing stories of the people they have lost, they are inspired to join forces and act in their memory. To do something so memorable that it might actually bring their loved ones back—even if only in spirit.
A Master Plan for Rescue is a beautiful tale, propelled by history and imagination, that suggests people’s impact upon the world doesn’t necessarily end with their lives, and that, to some degree, we are the sum of the stories we tell.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Newman's quaint yet sprawling historical drama, the lives of a young boy and a Jewish migr intersect to form an unlikely partnership. Twelve-year-old Jack is suddenly stricken by near-blindness at the exact moment he hears Pearl Harbor has been attacked. When he later witnesses his father's deadly fall into an oncoming subway train, Jack's overwhelming grief compels him to create a magical parallel reality in which performing a patriotic act of valor will redeem his father's love, if not bring his father back. After hearing Nazi saboteurs have come ashore in New York, Jack follows and confronts Jakob, who emerges from beneath the subway car he's repairing to share his story of romance, loss, and eventual escape from Berlin. Within this magically conceived universe they collaborate on a "master plan" to steal the saboteurs' submarine and rescue 23 Jewish children. Featured historical events include Kristallnact (The Night of Broken Glass) and the trans-Atlantic voyage of the S.S. St. Louis (a cruise ship turned troubled refugee vessel). Newman showcases an intricate, expertly woven plot, but the persistent over-explanation of metaphorically significant moments becomes tedious. Nevertheless, a boy processing grief through a reimagining of history is an ultimately affirming tale.
