This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
Henry Wakefield's War by Richard J Reese is a historical fiction novel set during the Russian Civil War and following an American “doughboy” soldier named Henry Wakefield, sent to fight with the Whites on behalf of the United States to secure political and military interests back home. The novel bounces between points of view of characters with a mostly omniscient vantage point, from Henry and the Russian aristocrat turned camp nurse Anya Krylov, to then President of the United States Woodrow Wilson and Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, and several ancillary characters. Henry and Anya are both forced from their homes, Henry to war and Anya when her family home is burned to the ground. Through a series of tragedies and small blessings, Henry and Anya meet, and after some time meet again, defying the odds stacked against them to find love while hatred burns all around them.
Out of all the characters that Richard J Reese creates in Henry Wakefield's War, I found Anya and her backstory to be the most intriguing. In her early twenties at that time and as the daughter of a count, the change of social order means the end of everything she has ever known. Henry from Iowa isn't really even on an equal footing with a veterinarian Anya fancies first. Love in war is not an uncommon theme but the American man-Russian aristocrat angle is different and interesting. From a purely literary standpoint, the writing style is told in a straightforward fashion, which might not appeal to readers who appreciate more emotional fervor. However, true history aficionados who enjoy fiction that is firmly grounded in authentic detail will delight in what author Reese offers up in this novel. Recommended.
