LIBERATION ties two worlds together in one stunning novel.  Seventy year old "Mrs. Rundel" is taking the train from New Jersey to Manhattan when she experiences symptoms that may or may not be those of a heart attack.  As the train moves on, the elderly woman reflects back on her childhood.

Adriana Nardi was almost eleven when her mother shut her into a kitchen cabinet.  German soldiers were attempting to overtake the small island of Elba, and Adriana knew that her mother was trying to protect her from the brutalities that soldiers could wage.

Amdu Diop was a seventeen-year-old Senegalese rifleman who believed himself to be a saint.  He could not fire at any living soul, so after coming across some soldiers who had raped and brutalized a young girl, Amdu went AWOL.  Winding up in the Nardi household, Amdu began to breathe new life into Adriana's existence.

As the present day Adriana hangs in the balance of life and death, the young Adriana falls in love for the first time.

LIBERATION is not a romance.  It is a masterfully constructed historical that brings the sights and sounds of WWII to life with stunning detail.  The relationship between Adriana and Amdu is not passionate, it is tender and innocent.  That aspect only helps to show just how delicate the characters are and how realistic the relationships become--WWII has never been pretty.

Joanna Scott's LIBERATION is breathtaking.  The sad truth is that the journey comes to an end far before the reader is ready!