Susan Meissner is a multi-published author, speaker and writing workshop leader with a background in community journalism. Her novels include
A Bridge Across the Ocean and
Secrets of a Charmed Life, a Goodreads Best Historical Fiction finalist for 2015. She is also RITA finalist and Christy Award winner. Meissner is also a writing workshop volunteer for Words Alive, a San Diego non-profit dedicated to helping at-risk youth foster a love for reading and writing.
Recently I asked Meissner about what she was reading. Her reply:
I’m a big fan of historical fiction so most of the books on my bedside table of late have been insightful, impacting, and 
sometimes heart-tugging excursions to the past, including the one I’m reading right now, which is Affiity Konar’s Mischling. It’s a story of Polish twins taken from their mother during Hitler’s regime along with dozens upon dozens other sets of twins and triplets to be experimented upon by Dr. Josef Mengele. That description alone is enough to let you know this is no beach read. The subject matter is wrenching, and yet in Ms. Konar’s expert care, the reader is not left undone. She is a remarkable wordsmith. I’m at the halfway point and am certain this will be a book that will stay with me.
Just prior to this, I read an early review copy of Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate, another book about innocent children maltreated by the adults who are supposed to be their caregivers. Based on true events related to a corrupt Tennessee children’s home in the 1930’s, this book is about young siblings taken from their parents and struggling to stay together against terrible odds. It’s another keep-the-Kleenex-handy book, expertly told. It hits bookstore shelves in June.
Since we’re on the topic of war, the 1930s and children who deserve better than the world the adults around them have created for them, 
I highly recommend My Last Lament by James William Brown, and which releases by Berkley the first week of April. I read an early copy of this one, too, not long ago. Here’s what I said in my endorsement. “James William Brown’s brilliance and artistry as a storyteller woos, fascinates and utterly devastates in My Last Lament. If you loved All the Light We Cannot See, you will devour this novel; a heart-rending World War II story you’ve never heard and won’t soon forget.” Did you know there were Nazi forces in Athens during WW2? I didn’t either. I was captivated by this book.
Visit
Susan Meissner's website.
Coffee with a Canine: Susan Meissner & Bella.
My Book, The Movie: Stars Over Sunset Boulevard.
My Book, The Movie: A Bridge Across the Ocean.
--Marshal Zeringue
Susan Meissner is a multi-published author, speaker and writing workshop leader with a background in community journalism. Her novels include A Bridge Across the Ocean and Secrets of a Charmed Life, a Goodreads Best Historical Fiction finalist for 2015. She is also RITA finalist and Christy Award winner. Meissner is also a writing workshop volunteer for Words Alive, a San Diego non-profit dedicated to helping at-risk youth foster a love for reading and writing.
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