It’s not often nowadays for a story to come along that looks at the horror and hardship of the Second World War and present an element of it that’s relatively unknown, but Brian Payton‘s The Wind Is Not A River sounds like it will do just that. There’s been a large body of literature covering every element of WWII and the vast majority of them are centred on what happened deep in battle, not necessarily on an invasion on home soil, which is what makes this book come across as being such an interesting read.
Set for release on the 7th January 2014 in hardback, published by Harper Collins, The World Is Not A River is set in Alaska as the threat from Japan started to loom large for the Americans. With all out war for the USA confirmed against Japan on the 8th December 1941, the day following the surprise attack on Pear Harbour, the Imperial Japanese army continued to search for strategic control of Pacific waters, which led them to the Aleutian Islands off the southern tip of Alaska.
The story is that of an American couple whose lives were changed forever, as many were, as a result of the all consuming craziness of the Second World War. When John Easley heads up to investigate the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands, a story that was censored by the US, he leaves his wife Helen behind with the assumption that it would be a relatively short fact finding visit.
However, when he gets a chance to see the reality of the Japanese occupation of the Islands thanks to a ride he’s given with a US bombing mission, his plans take a turn for the worst as they’re shot down on the occupied island of Attu. Known as the birthplace of the wind it’s a stark environment to try to survive on, while also avoiding capture by the Japanese forces that had overrun it. Lost and alone he faces a bitter fight to stay alive and out of enemy hands.
His wife Helen has her own struggle to deal with as she tries to come to terms with the missing in action status of her husband. However, this leads her to a desperate and determined bid to find him and she sets out with her own version of survival tactics.
While Brian Payton’s The Wind Is Not A River is a love story at its heart, it also sounds like it’s going to be filled with a lot of the spirit that people at the time needed to find deep within them to make it through. It’s also got the makings of being a gripping account of a little known reality of WWII, which could make it one of the year’s must read novels.
It’s 320 pages in hardback release and looks set to have an RRP of £16.99 based on the $26.99 price tag it currently has on the Harper Collins and Amazon US websites.
