A moving World War II account

Some years back, I heard about a book on NPR. NPR is a good source for interesting and intelligent literature and more that once I have gone in search of something recommended on one of the programs. This time it was called Address Unknown by a not-so-famous writer named Katherine Kressman Taylor. The story takes place prior to the start of WWII and it was about the correspondence between two men. It was somewhat reminiscent of 84 Charing Cross Road.

After hearing about the book, I immediately checked the library catalog but they didn't have a copy. I then went to Bookman's, the local used book store, but there wasn't a copy to be had. I looked in a few of the local bookstores but still no sign of Address Unknown. Finally I was forced to go online. Even so, it was tough to find the book. I finally came across it and soon it was in my hands. I was surprised to see that it was really just a tiny little book. Only about, 6 inches by 6 inches, and about 60 pages long, it was like a little gem that could be easily hidden among the multitude of other larger books that littered my night table.

I sat down to read the book and finished it in about two sittings. It was as enjoyable and surprising as I had expected. It was a touching and disturbing story told via a series of letters. I have heard that the story has been presented on the stage by actors reading the letters.I heard this from my friend, Suzanne Taylor.

It's a funny thing about Suzanne. I was driving her home from summer camp a week ago. We were talking about family and she was describing her husband's family. She told me that her mother-in-law had been a writer. Well, this sparked my interest because of my love of writing. She said that her mother-in-law had written one book that received some critical acclaim, but when she mentioned the title of the book, Address Unknown, I was absolutely stunned. It's one thing to find out that someone you know has written a book that you've heard of, but to find out that they wrote a book that you admire, that's a different story. I screamed "No Way!" while I was driving and I think I scared the wits out of Suzanne. She recovered quickly though and told me the story of how a few years back, the publishing company decided to do a brief re-release of the book. So they reprinted the book and began selling copies.

It wasn't until one of her kids noticed the book on a shelf at a bookstore that he said, hey wait a minute. He contacted his mom and asked her if she knew that her book had been reprinted. She didn't so they contacted the publisher. Apparently, the publisher couldn't imagine that the author would still be alive 60 years after the original publication of the book, so they just assumed that she had died. They made arrangements with her for royalties and the book was re-released. It was one of those re-released copies that I got.

Although I never met Katherine Taylor, I feel as though I had, knowing the personal stories that Suzanne shared with me about her life, about how she lived in Gettysburg, PA, how she worked and raised her kids, and about her husband. It seems so strange to know those things about a writer but in some ways, it seems natural to know them about the author of this book. It is a real treasure and one that I hope to reread many times.