There are so many battles and pivotal moments in history, it can be hard to keep them all straight. Historical fiction fans, I know one of my favorite aspects of a standout historical novel is its ability to unearth a forgotten time period or major event and open my eyes not only to a moment in the past but also to the ways in which history was changed because of it. Tracy Groot’s latest novel, Maggie Bright, does just this, giving readers a fresh perspective on the Battle of Dunkirk and the ways in which prayer was used as a line of defense during this crucial battle.
Below, check out Tracy Groot’s note from the author, featured in Maggie Bright. And click here for more info on Tracy’s novel.
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In the midst of our defeat, glory came to the island people, united and unconquerable; and the tale of the Dunkirk beaches will shine in whatever records are preserved of our affairs.
Winston Churchill
The evacuation of Dunkirk shines as the greatest military rescue in history. Approximately 340,000 men were saved from certain death or imprisonment by the Herculean efforts of many.
Yet what of those left behind?
Many British and Allied soldiers paid a heavy price to buy time for others to make it home. They defended the retreat by protecting the ever-shrinking corridor to Dunkirk, often fighting down to the last man and bullet until they were killed or taken captive. Thousands of these defenders died. Forty thousand spent five years in captivity.
Forty thousand.
One of these men was John Borland.
John Borland was a Cameron Highlander serving with the 51st Highland Division. He never reached Dunkirk but was forced to hold the line further west. . . . As he was marched away to five years of captivity, Mr. Borland spotted a scrap of paper blowing across his path. He has it still. “It was a biblical text, with the words ‘Don’t give up’ scrawled in pencil, probably by the man who’d dropped it. Those words stayed with me through my time in the POW camps.” [Borland was asked,] had he ever given up? The answer was unequivocal: “Never.”
Robert Hall, BBC News UK, May 28, 2010
Let this shine, too.
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Leave a comment about a time in history you’re particularly drawn to for the chance to win a copy of Maggie Bright. (Three winners will be chosen.) US entries only. Winners will be announced during the first week of October on the Crazy4Fiction Facebook page.
