Just Another Girl on the Road

January 1, 2020
This book is recommended by BlueInk Review, a fee-based review service devoted exclusively to self-published books. Booklist is happy to partner with BlueInk to bring you the best self-published titles for adults and youth. Stars reflect the decisions of BlueInk reviewers and editors.In this captivating tale set in Nazi-occupied France during WWII, German deserters brutally attack and kill Katrinka Badeau's mother and stepfather, then capture and rape her. She's rescued and recruited as a courier for a multinational resistance team headed by a man on whom she's had a crush since her youth. Meanwhile, Katrinka develops a passionate relationship with the team's radio operator. Tensions mount as Katrinka faces many dangers, including transporting explosive components in the false bottom of a market basket and being interrogated by Gestapo authorities. And, ultimately, Katrinka must choose between the two men. While the narrative progresses mostly chronologically, Kensington also visits Katrinka's past: her childhood spent among nomadic sea people of Burma and with her free-spirited mother. Detailed and varied sexual encounters speak to Katrinka's wild nature, although they tend to distract from the story line. As the war winds down, Kensington offers surprise twists and brings happenings full-circle, moving ahead nearly 40 years to deliver a meditative wrap-up about memories, life's uncertainties, and the desire to follow one's heart.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)