Bliss, Remembered by Frank Deford

There’s something romantic about the World War II era for me, so I’ve read many novels set in that period. This one is certainly romantic, and it has an unusual premise and a twist at the end that adds to the interest. Sydney was an excellent, but untrained swimmer when she began competing at age 18 in 1936. She was so good that she went with the U.S. team to the Olympics in Berlin. She fell in love with a handsome German boy and the complications began. The story and the setting were enough to keep me interested. Deford is a good storyteller, but my criticism of this book is his style. He has Sydney as a 90-something in 2004, dying of cancer, telling her story to her son, Teddy. She’s not sad or weak, but Deford has her speak like something of a “yokel” which I found off-putting. If the reader doesn’t object to this style, or like me can overlook it, the story reveals an interesting look at this time in our history.