D-DAY GIRLS by Sarah Rose

In 1942, an Allied victory was far from certain. Britain was barely holding its own after a battering in the Blitz and America was only just agreeing to enter the war. Using recently declassified files, diaries, interviews and more, Sarah Rose tells the stories of a handful of unlikely spies who paved the way for the Allied invasion.

A heightened sense of fear

My latest for DVD Netflix focuses on Alfred Hitchcock’s output during the 1940s, a decade fraught by global war. It was a time laced with suspicion, doubt, daring, and misplaced trust. He knew what plagued an audience’s psyche. These stomach-knotting thrillers use the paranoia and instability of World War II to his advantage.

REVIEW: THE BOOKSHOP & others by Penelope Fitzgerald

It’s okay if you haven’t heard of Penelope Fitzgerald. I hadn’t either. I’m an English major who loves British literature and I didn’t even recognize the name, let alone seen any of her stuff. I am not a “cut-and-paster” but I think she needs a little introduction. This is from the book’s author bio. Penelope…