Come From Away

Finished January 21
Come From Away by Genevieve Graham

This novel takes place during World War II in rural Nova Scotia. The author was inspired by a historical rumour. It was known that there were German submarines operating along the Atlantic coast of North America during the war, and there was a story that some of the men from one of these ships came ashore one evening and attended a local dance. There is no historical face to base this on, but Graham thought "what if..." and this story was born.
At the center of this story are two characters. One is Grace Baker, a young Nova Scotia woman whose three older brothers have all joined the war effort. One in the navy, one in the merchant marine, and one as a infantry man. Grace longs to do something herself, but instead remains at home, and runs a general store for a neighbour who has health issues.
The other character is Rudi Weiss, a young man in the German navy, assigned to a local submarine, and part of a group of young men who were allowed off the ship to attend a dance. At the dance the two meet and are attracted to each other, but go there separate ways.
But circumstances bring them together again, and this becomes a story that shows the human element of war, the power of second chances, and a young woman learning that things aren't always black and white.