Loyalties Review

Navid Tajkhorshid

December 12, 2019

I have been reading Loyalties: A Novel of World War II by Thomas Flemming. It offers a unique blend of storytelling and history, and does so in an information dense way which is able to hold on to the idea of an actual plot while still including a myriad of facts in the text. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about the second world war and is not afraid to get their hands dirty.

The story follows two generals and their wives. General Talbot, an American naval officer, gets captured by Kapitänleutnant Hoffman, who mistook their ship for a British vessel. This stirs some very interesting dynamics between Talbot and Hoffman, since they are on pretty much opposing sides (America hasn't officially declared war) but went to the same schools and have common interests. There is also a lot of tension because among the German crew, there are differing opinions about Hitler and the Nazis. This tension is heightened by the fact that they were able to save/capture one other member of the American crew who was Jewish. 

Meanwhile, Hoffman's wife struggles in the changing climate of Germany, as well as having to raise kids and stay loyal to her husband. She has to deal with differing opinions about Hitler, just like her husband, and goes on a path in which she will eventually have an effect on the war. Talbot's wife, similarly, must raise children on her own and must also deal with the differing opinions on Roosevelt and his pseudo-war. These two wives’ journeys to try to live life normally offer a nice break from the gritty war story and gives the book more flavor. The author purposefully makes these two characters similar in general but does not draw a false picture that the two countries were very similar. They differ in ways that count, such as how they interact with their relatives and what the power dynamic is in the families. The parallels he does draw, however, do act as nice “bridges” between the two seemingly completely different countries. There are also parallels drawn between Hoffman and Talbot, who are similar in many respects. 

It appears that the main job of the author was to shed more light on both sides of the story of WWII. It is no coincidence that he starts the novel with Hoffman’s wife having a nightmare that he may die, implying him as a good character. This detailed look into the politics and the loyalties (lol) on the U.S. and Germany allows for a very interesting holistic view of the war. The author does not stray away from the awful things that were happening in Germany at the time, such as Kristallnacht, but asserts that there was moral ambiguity on both sides, for example criticizing Roosevelt’s handling of the war. The writing of the book is also very heavy and dense. It goes into so much detail but is also very concise and takes a while to completely process. Once, I was reading over it but not actually thinking about the text, and after 5 seconds I was completely lost. This writing allows the author to go into even more detail to create an engaging scene. For example, in one scene, the American ship is being attacked, and the actions of Talbot are so excruciatingly vivid that you cannot help but be riveted. Every one of his thoughts and actions are laid out, and it feels like you are in his shoes, trying to save your officer in a sinking ship. That is something that not many other books have done for me.

The historical aspect of the story is also spot on. The author does not miss a single opportunity to drop a little tidbit of info without slowing down the narration. When I was only 50 pages in, I had a perfect idea of what the dynamics were in the story. There is no explicit backstory, it just jumps into the meat of the plot, and everything the reader needs to know is mentioned by the characters. The book demands a high amount of thinking, but for that initial price you get a gripping book with no fluff and a historical background that would make anyone who reads it an expert on WWII.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who is into history and doesn’t mind a challenging read. This book is like a more advanced version of Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson (Also a great book). It has compelling characters but does not compromise on history to have an engrossing plot.

Oh, and there’s the added bonus of being able to one-up nearly anything that others are reading. (“You’re reading Harry Potter? I’m reading a 700 page book about World War II!”)