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Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite
The Sooner You Forget by Christopher Bensinger tells the story of a little-known aspect of World War II. Charlton Buckley, a young man, dreams of escaping his miserable Wisconsin hometown, getting away from his abusive father, and becoming a Major League Baseball player. However, those dreams are shattered when he joins the Air Force and his plane is shot down in combat during World War II. Captured and taken to a German POW camp, Buckley’s nightmare worsens when, despite being Christian, he is mistakenly identified and transported with Jewish Allied soldiers to a covert Nazi labor camp. There, he endures unimaginable cruelty and witnesses the darkest depths of evil. Long after the war ends, Buckley must grapple with his trauma and come to terms with not only the horrors he faced at the hands of his enemies but also the betrayal by his own government. How can a person heal after so much mental and physical trauma? Can Charlton ever get his life back?
Author Christopher Bensinger's powerful story shines a light on a lesser-known atrocity of WWII. The narrative is detailed with the emotional depth of the characters, and driven by Charlton’s transformation from a hopeful young man to a broken adult searching for meaning and peace. The narrative is haunting. It captures the sheer brutality of the camps and how it changed the protagonist. The author vividly depicts the lasting psychological scars of trauma. However, Bensinger's ability to humanize the war’s impact really impressed me. I loved how Charlton is not a hero, but a painfully relatable person who struggles to reconcile the past with the present. All he wanted was to heal, live in peace, and find a rhythm that suited his broken shell of a life. The Sooner You Forget is a deeply moving story about the impact of war and how it can break the spirit of even the best of us. I loved this story, its complexity, and how Charlton was allowed to be himself without compromising the story or the pace. Highly recommended!
