The Bitter Road to Freedom

In a story about the liberation of Europe during WWII, the author places a sad and shocking focus on the suffering of civilians caught among the warring armies. Instead of concentrating on the movement of troops or war strategy, Hitchcock investigates such subjects as hunger, rape, and postwar internment. At first, narrator Mel Foster sounds stilted and emotionless. However, in a short while, his voice moves to the background as the author's appealing knack for prose takes the limelight in a story filled with eloquent word pictures. Foster's French far exceeds his German, which he delivers inconsistently. His reading on the writings of Ernie Pyle, the most famous war correspondent, may be the best part of his performance. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine