Find out the latest indie author news. For FREE.

ADVERTISEMENT

Formats
Ebook Details
  • 09/2015
  • 978-1784625054 B015SNYARW
  • 297 pages
  • $6.15
Audio Details
  • 12/2016
  • B01N0A6CM1
  • 297 pages
  • $17.46
John Searancke
Author
Prunes for Breakfast: One Man's War Based on a True Story
‘Many years after the deaths of my parents, my aunt handed me a box filled with letters that my father had written to my mother over the period from 1940 to 1945. This was the starting point of a journey for me to rediscover the father I had never really known...’ This is the story of John Searancke’s parents, told mostly from the side of his father, Eddie Searancke, from the time of his calling up in early 1940 to his release from a prisoner of war camp in Germany in 1945, thence his return to England to try to pick up the pieces of his old life. Nothing could ever be quite the same afterwards. The letters take readers through five captivating years, telling of the ups and downs, the plots and counterplots, as Eddie rose through the ranks to end his war as a captain, elevated to that rank in the field as his troops faced the formidable might of the SS Panzers. The letters also reveal where his battle came to an abrupt end, in an orchard surrounded by the enemy and captured after a series of bloody skirmishes as the British army spearheaded its way from the beaches of Normandy. The journey as a prisoner across France and Germany in a truck, with comrades dying each day, may be as hard to read as it is to tell, particularly when a new life and new harsh rules had to be learned and rigidly enforced in a prison camp in northern Germany, the final destination. This is written as part memoir, part fictionalised retelling and partly in letter format; John draws together all sources to recreate the five years of war and hardship that the letters span.
Reviews
Reviewed by Michelle Stanley for Readers' Favorite

Prunes for Breakfast: One Man’s War Based on a True Story is a memoir by John Searancke. This memoir gives readers a heartfelt glimpse into the life of the author’s father, Eddie Searancke, during the war years of 1940-1945. Eddie had led a leisurely life while working in his father’s construction company, but that changed after joining the army. Although he was not an officer, that did not stop Eddie from becoming one by unconventional standards. He assumed the war would be short-lived with acceptable amounts of casualties, but nothing prepared Eddie for the horrors that he experienced, especially after the Germans captured him. Despite the hardships, Eddie managed to keep his wry wits about him while writing letters to his indulged bride, Elizabeth, and his father.

John Searancke did not know his father very well and often heard how the war had changed him. It was only after Eddie died that he began to connect with him through a packet of letters that Eddie had written to his wife. These expressive letters, which are included in the memoir, give insight into Eddie’s daily thoughts and activities while enlisted. Food and basic items were scarce, yet it surprised me to see how Eddie procured them for his family, and how he managed to conduct family business during the war. John Searancke’s writing captures his sentiments as well as his father’s experiences very nicely. Prunes for Breakfast: One Man’s War Based on a True Story is a poignant military memoir that I highly recommend reading.

Formats
Ebook Details
  • 09/2015
  • 978-1784625054 B015SNYARW
  • 297 pages
  • $6.15
Audio Details
  • 12/2016
  • B01N0A6CM1
  • 297 pages
  • $17.46
ADVERTISEMENT

Loading...