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My Father's Secret War: A Memoir Audiobook
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(3.04) - 429 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
In this moving and compelling memoir about parent and child, father and daughter, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lucinda Franks discovers that the remote, nearly impassive man she grew up with had in fact been a daring spy behind enemy lines in World War II. Sworn to secrecy, he began revealing details of his wartime activities only in the last years of his life as he became afflicted with Alzheimer's. His exploits revealed a man of remarkable bravado—posing as a Nazi guard, slipping behind enemy lines to blow up ammunition dumps, and being flown to one of the first concentration camps liberated by the Allies to report on the atrocities found there.
My Father's Secret War is an intimate account of Franks coming to know her own father after years of estrangement. Looking back at letters he had written her mother in the early days of WWII, Franks glimpses a loving man full of warmth. But after the grimmest assignments of the war his tone shifts, settling into an all-too-familiar distance. Franks learns about him—beyond the alcoholism and adultery—and comes to know the man he once was.
Her story is haunting, and beautifully told, even as the tragedy becomes clear: Franks finally comes to know her father, but only as he is slipping further into his illness. Lucinda Franks understands her father as the disease claims him. My Father's Secret War is a triumph of love over secrets, and a tribute to the power of the connection of family.
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"There are so many tv shows about spies, it was interesting to read a book about someone who really did grow up living with a spy. It reminded me of the movie a few years back with Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie, where Damon becomes a spy, and over the years it completely removes all joy from his life."
— Martha (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Here is one of the most original memoirs of our time-an unsparing double portrait of an elusive and mysterious man and the daughter determined to learn the fullest truth about his life. Richly documented by the author’s research into US military intelligence records and her father’s private correspondence, My Father’s Secret War moves with the dramatic and moral urgency of a Graham Greene novel.”
— Joyce Carol Oates -
“Lucinda Franks’ personal quest to learn more about ‘her father’s secret war’ is a moving suspense story, brilliantly written and suffused with sensitivity and yearning.”
— Elie Wiesel -
"My Father’s Secret War combines the heart-stopping suspense of a great thriller and the heart-melting pathos of a great family saga. It is an entirely new chapter in the complex history of fathers and daughters-and America.”
— Mary Gordon, New York Times bestselling author of Final Payments -
"My Father’s Secret War tells the story of a devoted daughter’s search to understand a father broken and drained by the Second World War—a father who at the same time attracts, repels, and obsesses her. Lucinda Franks’ memoir is a fascinating combination of sensitivity, suspense, and mystery told against the Nazi nightmare.”
— Arthur Schlesinger Jr., historian
My Father's Secret War Listener Reviews
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" Complicated story about WWII and Franks's relationship with her dad. Engrossing and fascinating. Call your dad. "
— Rebekah, 2/14/2014 -
" The book is the author's discovery of who her father really was. At times, it was rather slow moving. There were portions where I felt she forgot that she was a daughter and acted more like a hardheaded journalist by endlessly badgering her elderly father about his classified military missions during WWII. The ending when the author spends time with her father's mistress (and actually LISTENS to what the woman has to say), after Mr. Franks' passing, was very touching and brought tears. In many ways it sounded as if she were describing my father. "
— Evelyn, 2/10/2014 -
" Interesting book. I enjoyed learning about WW II from a different perspective. It was a good good, not only well written, but the author, his daughter, is so very descriptive as she writes. I liked it. "
— Cindy, 1/22/2014 -
" This author is the first woman to win a Pulitzer...I wasn't so impressed by her writing style but her storytelling is great and it helps that she had a great story to tell. It's all about secret spies in WW2. "
— Liz, 1/13/2014 -
" I learned so much from this book. The author tells about her father and the secrets he has kept for years. He was a spy during WWII. As she learns more about her father she goes from resenting him to respecting him. It was a slow read st times but in all I really enjoyed it. "
— Lynndi, 1/10/2014 -
" This book wasn't what I originally thought it was going to be...an accoutn of one woman's father who was a spy in WWII. Instead, it was an insiteful look into what happened to a family because of what her father went through in the war, which ultimately affects her entire family life. "
— Kaitlyn, 1/6/2014 -
" I enjoyed this book. Forgiveness is healing. Knowledge of the past goes along way in helping a loved one to judge a little less harshly and to understand just what a life can endure. "
— Lee, 12/28/2013 -
" This is another book that should have been a magazine article. While the author is prying into her father's life to prove whether or not he was a spy during WWII, there were times I wanted to slap her and tell her to leave her father alone. It went on way too long. "
— Ellen, 12/24/2013 -
" Wonderful, well-written memoir written by a journalist for the NY Times and wife of Robert Morgenthau. "
— Debbie, 12/23/2013 -
" non fiction but good as a women searches for the truth about her father "
— Mikki, 12/3/2013 -
" More on the heavy side, but a pretty interesting true story of a writers search through her fathers secret life as a spy during WWII. A totally disfuctional family, which is difficult to read about(get some counciling already)but atleast I felt like the author got some closure in the end. "
— Jane, 11/6/2013 -
" The author is a piece of work, but very honest. "
— Marilyn, 10/10/2013 -
" A personal story which is a good read for WWII history buffs "
— Rachel, 12/11/2012 -
" A touching portrait of the author's father . . . the book does a good job of illustrating how little we may know about those closest to us. "
— Catherine, 11/10/2012 -
" Interesting look into the life of a WWII unsung hero and his family. Cindy Frank brings you along on her journey to discover who her father really was. This story kept me engaged and caused me to reflect on the relationships I have in my life. "
— Karina, 10/14/2012 -
" Interesting memior--some parts were a bit wordy, but it was interesting to see how WWII affected a soldier years later.... "
— Christine, 8/11/2012 -
" A great story that inspires. "
— John, 5/9/2012 -
" I liked this book. I don't why. Or maybe I do but I don't know how to express it. The relationship this woman has with her father is cool and well, who doesn't like spy books? "
— Lara, 12/1/2011 -
" A memoir by this New York Times writer, Franks explores the history of her Dad's war experience for the first time as he's an old man approaching senility. "
— Laurie, 11/10/2011 -
" I thought this was a very compelling book about a father/daughter relationship and what the daughter finds out about her father at the end of his life as he is diagnosed with Alzheimers. "
— Pat, 2/27/2011 -
" Not only interesting and informative,this memoir is honest and self-aware. L.Franks journeys to find her relationship with her father and finds history in the process. Well written, honestly told, and heart-breaking to know post-traumatic syndrome is not such a new concept for soldiers. "
— Maryann, 2/12/2011 -
" Interesting. I learned a few things about World War II. "
— Eden, 12/1/2010 -
" Interesting book about a daughter's quest for the truth about her Dad's past history and his life motives. "
— Daniel, 7/9/2010 -
" We had a really good discussion on this book at our book club. It was a good read. Most of us felt that Lucinda was awfully pushy getting her father to divulge his secrets, but she is a journalist after all! "
— Kathy, 6/16/2010 -
" I was expecting a little more depth from the father; but it was interesting to see how the author continued to delve into his experiences. "
— Diane, 4/28/2010 -
" I enjoyed this book. Forgiveness is healing. Knowledge of the past goes along way in helping a loved one to judge a little less harshly and to understand just what a life can endure. "
— Lee, 1/14/2010 -
" This is another book that should have been a magazine article. While the author is prying into her father's life to prove whether or not he was a spy during WWII, there were times I wanted to slap her and tell her to leave her father alone. It went on way too long. "
— Ellen, 11/30/2009 -
" Interesting memior--some parts were a bit wordy, but it was interesting to see how WWII affected a soldier years later.... "
— Christine, 9/6/2009
About Lucinda Franks
Lucinda Franks is the author of My Father’s Secret War: A Memoir, Wild Apples: A Novel, and Waiting Out a War: The Exile of John Picciano. She is also a journalist who was on the staff of the New York Times, and has written for the New Yorker, New York magazine, the Daily Beast and other publications. She has two children, five stepchildren, a little puffy white dog, and a couple of cats who come visiting.
About Joyce Bean
Joyce Bean is an accomplished audiobook narrator and director. In addition to having won several AudioFile Earphones Awards, she has been nominated multiple times for the prestigious Audie Award. Equally adept at narrating fiction and nonfiction, and she also narrates audiobooks under the name Jane Brown.