I'm excited to participate in another great blog tour! Today, we get a sneak peek at The Road to Liberation, a collection of stories exploring the trials and triumphs of World War II. Marion Kummero, one of the authors included in this anthology, is here to talk about the inspiration for this book.
Welcome, Marion!
~ Samantha
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Inspiration Behind the Anthology
A Guest Post by Marion Kummero
I write WWII fiction because it’s important to remember the past, and especially the ugly times, to prevent us from making the same mistakes again.Through my stories, where I put my main characters deep into a moral dilemma, I want the reader to reflect on pat events and ask themselves, “How would I react in such a situation? What would I do?”
It was soon clear for me, that I wanted to do something meaningful for the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII. When I first conceived the idea of this collection, everywhere in the world, celebrations were planned to commemorate the liberation of concentration camps, prisoner of war camps, and ultimately, entire nations from oppression.
The idea to create a collection of books to not only commemorate the occasion, but also to leave a lasting impression on the readers, way past the moment of the anniversary was born, and it was an easy task to an appropriate theme for our collection: Liberation.
After six years of horrible war, people all across the world were finally liberated. Some from horrible oppression, others from having to fight against their fellow humans. Soldiers on both sides who bore the brunt of violence yearned for an end to the hostilities, but also civilians wished to be liberated from being afraid for family members, or from hunkering down in bunkers during air raids.
We wanted to give a diverse selection of stories about all different kinds of people who all had a different war experience, but undoubtedly all of them were, if not happy, at least relieved, that it was finally over.
The anniversary of Victory Day in Europe on May 8th 2020 was supposed to be a happy occasion with splendid celebrations in many countries, remembering those who survived and those who didn’t.
But the universe had different plans and all public events were cancelled. For us, the six authors who contributed a book to this collection, it’s one more reason to keep going.
We want to spread hope across the world in the form of our stories. Stories, that every person who’s currently at home can read, and can remember the heroes and heroines from the past.
We want to make sure, the sacrifices so many years are not forgotten and the lessons from this dark part of history are kept alive, handed down to the younger generations to keep them fighting for a better world.
After six years of horrible war, people all across the world were finally liberated. Some from horrible oppression, others from having to fight against their fellow humans. Soldiers on both sides who bore the brunt of violence yearned for an end to the hostilities, but also civilians wished to be liberated from being afraid for family members, or from hunkering down in bunkers during air raids.
We wanted to give a diverse selection of stories about all different kinds of people who all had a different war experience, but undoubtedly all of them were, if not happy, at least relieved, that it was finally over.
The anniversary of Victory Day in Europe on May 8th 2020 was supposed to be a happy occasion with splendid celebrations in many countries, remembering those who survived and those who didn’t.
But the universe had different plans and all public events were cancelled. For us, the six authors who contributed a book to this collection, it’s one more reason to keep going.
We want to spread hope across the world in the form of our stories. Stories, that every person who’s currently at home can read, and can remember the heroes and heroines from the past.
We want to make sure, the sacrifices so many years are not forgotten and the lessons from this dark part of history are kept alive, handed down to the younger generations to keep them fighting for a better world.
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The Road to Liberation: Trials and Triumphs of WWII
A Collection by Marion Kummerow, Marina Osipova, Rachel Wesson, JJ Toner, Ellie Midwood, and Chrystyna Lucyk-BergerRiveting stories dedicated to celebrating the end of WWII.
From USA Today, international bestselling and award-winning authors comes a collection filled with courage, betrayal, hardships and, ultimately, victory over some of the most oppressive rulers the world has ever encountered.
By 1944, the Axis powers are fiercely holding on to their quickly shrinking territories.
The stakes are high—on both sides:
The stakes are high—on both sides:
Liberators and oppressors face off in the final battles between good and evil. Only personal bravery and self-sacrifice will tip the scales when the world needs it most.
Read about a small child finding unexpected friends amidst the cruelty of the concentration camps, an Auschwitz survivor working to capture a senior member of the SS, the revolt of a domestic servant hunted by the enemy, a young Jewish girl in a desperate plan to escape the Gestapo, the chaos that confused underground resistance fighters in the Soviet Union, and the difficult lives of a British family made up of displaced children.
2020 marks 75 years since the world celebrated the end of WWII. These books will transport you across countries and continents during the final days, revealing the high price of freedom—and why it is still so necessary to “never forget”.
Stolen Childhood by Marion Kummerow
The Aftermath by Ellie Midwood
When's Mummy Coming? by Rachel Wesson
Too Many Wolves in the Local Woods by Marina Osipova
Liberation Berlin by JJ Toner
Magda’s Mark by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger
Read about a small child finding unexpected friends amidst the cruelty of the concentration camps, an Auschwitz survivor working to capture a senior member of the SS, the revolt of a domestic servant hunted by the enemy, a young Jewish girl in a desperate plan to escape the Gestapo, the chaos that confused underground resistance fighters in the Soviet Union, and the difficult lives of a British family made up of displaced children.
2020 marks 75 years since the world celebrated the end of WWII. These books will transport you across countries and continents during the final days, revealing the high price of freedom—and why it is still so necessary to “never forget”.
Stolen Childhood by Marion Kummerow
The Aftermath by Ellie Midwood
When's Mummy Coming? by Rachel Wesson
Too Many Wolves in the Local Woods by Marina Osipova
Liberation Berlin by JJ Toner
Magda’s Mark by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger
The Road to Liberation is available at
Amazon US, Amazon UK, and Amazon CA.
Meet the Authors
Marion Kummerow was born and raised in Germany, before she set out to "discover the world" and lived in various countries. In 1999 she returned to Germany and settled down in Munich where she's now living with her family.
After dipping her toes with non-fiction books, she finally tackled the project dear to her heart. UNRELENTING is the story about her grandparents, who belonged to the German resistance and fought against the Nazi regime. It's a book about resilience, love and the courage to stand up and do the right thing.
Marina Osipova was born in East Germany into a military family and grew up in Russia where she graduated from the Moscow State Institute of History and Archives. She also has a diploma as a German language translator from the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Languages. In Russia, she worked first in a scientific-technical institute as a translator then in a Government Ministry in the office of international relations, later for some Austrian firms. For seventeen years, she lived in the United States where she worked in a law firm. Eventually, she found her home in Austria. She is an award-winning author and a member of the Historical Novel Society.
Rachel Wesson is Irish born and bred. Drawn to reading from an early age, she started writing for publication a few years back. When she is not writing, Rachel likes to spend her time reading and playing with her three kids. Living in Dublin there are plenty of things to do, although the cowboys and Indians of her books rarely make an appearance. To chat with Rachel connect with her on Facebook. To check out her newest releases sign up to her mailing list.
JJ Toner: My background is in Mathematics and computing, but I have been writing full time since 2005. I write short stories and novels. My novels include the bestselling WW2 spy story The Black Orchestra, and its three sequels, The Wings of the Eagle, A Postcard from Hamburg, and The Gingerbread Spy.
Many of my short stories have been published in mainstream magazines. Check out EGGS and Other Stories - a collection of satirical SF stories. I was born in a cabbage patch in Ireland, and I still live here with my first wife, although a significant part of our extended family lives in Australia.
Ellie Midwood is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning historical fiction author. She owes her interest in the history of the Second World War to her grandfather, Junior Sergeant in the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the First Belorussian Front, who began telling her about his experiences on the frontline when she was a young girl. Growing up, her interest in history only deepened and transformed from reading about the war to writing about it. After obtaining her BA in Linguistics, Ellie decided to make writing her full-time career and began working on her first full-length historical novel, The Girl from Berlin. Ellie is continuously enriching her library with new research material and feeds her passion for WWII and Holocaust history by collecting rare memorabilia and documents.
In her free time, Ellie is a health-obsessed yoga enthusiast, neat freak, adventurer, Nazi Germany history expert, polyglot, philosopher, a proud Jew, and a doggie mama. Ellie lives in New York with her fiancé and their Chihuahua named Shark Bait.
Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger was born in Minnesota in 1969 and grew up in the culture-rich neighborhood of "Nordeast" Minneapolis. She started her writing career with short stories, travel narratives, worked as a journalist and then as a managing editor for a magazine publisher before jumping the editor's desk and pursuing her dreams of writing and traveling. In 2000, she moved to western Austria and established her own communications training company. In 2005, she self-published a historical narrative based on her relatives' personal histories and experiences in Ukraine during WWII. She has won several awards for her short stories and now primarily writes historical fiction. During a trip into northern Italy over the Reschen Pass, she stood on the edge of Reschen Lake and desperately wanted to understand how a 15th-century church tower ends up sticking out of the water. What stories were lying beneath? Some eight years later, she launched the "Reschen Valley" series with five books and a novella releasing between 2018 and 2021. For more on Chrystyna, dive in at inktreks.com.
After dipping her toes with non-fiction books, she finally tackled the project dear to her heart. UNRELENTING is the story about her grandparents, who belonged to the German resistance and fought against the Nazi regime. It's a book about resilience, love and the courage to stand up and do the right thing.
Marina Osipova was born in East Germany into a military family and grew up in Russia where she graduated from the Moscow State Institute of History and Archives. She also has a diploma as a German language translator from the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Languages. In Russia, she worked first in a scientific-technical institute as a translator then in a Government Ministry in the office of international relations, later for some Austrian firms. For seventeen years, she lived in the United States where she worked in a law firm. Eventually, she found her home in Austria. She is an award-winning author and a member of the Historical Novel Society.
Rachel Wesson is Irish born and bred. Drawn to reading from an early age, she started writing for publication a few years back. When she is not writing, Rachel likes to spend her time reading and playing with her three kids. Living in Dublin there are plenty of things to do, although the cowboys and Indians of her books rarely make an appearance. To chat with Rachel connect with her on Facebook. To check out her newest releases sign up to her mailing list.
JJ Toner: My background is in Mathematics and computing, but I have been writing full time since 2005. I write short stories and novels. My novels include the bestselling WW2 spy story The Black Orchestra, and its three sequels, The Wings of the Eagle, A Postcard from Hamburg, and The Gingerbread Spy.
Many of my short stories have been published in mainstream magazines. Check out EGGS and Other Stories - a collection of satirical SF stories. I was born in a cabbage patch in Ireland, and I still live here with my first wife, although a significant part of our extended family lives in Australia.
Ellie Midwood is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning historical fiction author. She owes her interest in the history of the Second World War to her grandfather, Junior Sergeant in the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the First Belorussian Front, who began telling her about his experiences on the frontline when she was a young girl. Growing up, her interest in history only deepened and transformed from reading about the war to writing about it. After obtaining her BA in Linguistics, Ellie decided to make writing her full-time career and began working on her first full-length historical novel, The Girl from Berlin. Ellie is continuously enriching her library with new research material and feeds her passion for WWII and Holocaust history by collecting rare memorabilia and documents.
In her free time, Ellie is a health-obsessed yoga enthusiast, neat freak, adventurer, Nazi Germany history expert, polyglot, philosopher, a proud Jew, and a doggie mama. Ellie lives in New York with her fiancé and their Chihuahua named Shark Bait.
Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger was born in Minnesota in 1969 and grew up in the culture-rich neighborhood of "Nordeast" Minneapolis. She started her writing career with short stories, travel narratives, worked as a journalist and then as a managing editor for a magazine publisher before jumping the editor's desk and pursuing her dreams of writing and traveling. In 2000, she moved to western Austria and established her own communications training company. In 2005, she self-published a historical narrative based on her relatives' personal histories and experiences in Ukraine during WWII. She has won several awards for her short stories and now primarily writes historical fiction. During a trip into northern Italy over the Reschen Pass, she stood on the edge of Reschen Lake and desperately wanted to understand how a 15th-century church tower ends up sticking out of the water. What stories were lying beneath? Some eight years later, she launched the "Reschen Valley" series with five books and a novella releasing between 2018 and 2021. For more on Chrystyna, dive in at inktreks.com.
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