Two sisters take different roads in their work for the French Resistance during World War II. Claire is an active guerrilla fighter while Monique seduces German officers to learn military secrets from bedroom pillows. Love enters in for both as battles rage in their family over the morality of killing vs. sex while, unknown to them all, D-Day rapidly approaches.
How Angels Die is a highly dramatic novel with very strong female protagonists. The story is rife with action, conflict, and intrigue. Through it all, the characters struggle with devotion to family, country, cause, and oneself. The reader is effortlessly drawn along the storyline and feels the impact of the events surrounding the sisters. Compassion for the characters, German as well as French, runs deep and captures the imagination as coastal war-torn France comes alive on the pages.
Brimming with high drama that is punctuated by family humor, How Angels Die lifts the veil on a lesser-known side of the French Resistance. Through the prism of two intrepid women, the novel illuminates how these women employ their formidable assets and fierce love of country to face down a vicious enemy. With page-turning action, unstoppable passion, and historical accuracy, this heart-racing novel is a must-read for sisters, history buffs, and action enthusiasts alike.
More than a war story, How Angels Die compels its readers to face the decision-making processes that bring us to where we are and who we are. It also asks questions of the mind that expose prejudices and the eventual regret that follows.
About David-Michael Harding
David-Michael Harding is a life-long writer whose novel, How Angels Die, received critical acclaim. A former semi-professional football player, his writing is hard hitting and passionate. He holds a master’s degree in education and is an adjunct professor of writing. His respect and admiration of Native American culture inspired this novel. Most of his days are spent writing from the cockpit of his sailboat, Pegasus, somewhere off the Nature Coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Youtube
Interview with David-Michael Harding
1. How did you come up with the title?Both the title and the novel are drawn from recorded conversations with my father and uncles prior to their deaths. All were WWII veterans. One had parachuted into France on D-Day -2 and was picked up by a young French girl on a bicycle – his ‘Angel’.
2. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Increase the reader’s recognition of the many faces of war and its impact – far beyond the flying bullets and blood of the front lines. To remind us of the destruction that war reigns down in lives lost and families destroyed in order that we avoid it at all costs.
3. How much of the book is realistic?
The historical research was painstaking in order to insure accuracy. The stories recounted by my family and interwoven in the book’s pages add a sense of realism difficult to replicate otherwise.
4. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your book?
No.
5. What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Time. Research involved was extremely comprehensive.
6. Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
The toll of war is so very high, it draws into question the futility of armed conflict in the current century and beyond.
7. Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
I credit Rod Serling. He sparked an interest with ‘The Twilight Zone’ and ‘The Night Gallery’ which led me to his writings.
8. Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
John Steinbeck. His works are all about the journey of the story. The writing is straightforward and he doesn’t waste lines. While descriptive, Steinbeck evokes the reader to connect the dots to see and smell via words. His focus is on the characters and driving forward the story.
9. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Thank you! Your response to How Angels Die has been more than I could imagine.
Giveaway!
1 e-book (any format!) of How Angels Die by David-Michael Harding (Open International!)
1 paperback of How Angels Die by David-Michael Harding (Open US only)
1 paperback of How Angels Die by David-Michael Harding (Open US only)
(please use Rafflecopter below)
Are you drawn to WWII because of all your relatives who served? Are you interested in other time periods?
ReplyDeleteInitially yes. I recall sitting beneath a Formica topped kitchen table between those curved chrome legs they used to have, and listening to my father and uncles talk about the war. When my mother or an aunt came into the kitchen, those men would switch to talking about the price of milk, a sick cow, or how the corn looked (they were all dairy farmers). When the person left the kitchen, the conversation went back to the war without missing a beat. Amazing generation - "The Greatest", as Tom Brokaw would say. I am interested in many parts of history, but have a passion for the early 1800's as witnessed by my recent work, Cherokee Talisman, centered on the Cherokee nation prior to the infamous Trail of Tears. I am crafting the sequel for Spring release (I just finished a very good section a few minutes ago!) Thank you for your questions!
ReplyDelete