In Lucy Sana's newest novel, "The Cherry Harvest," she outlines a memorable coming-of-age story which explores a hidden side of the home front during World War II, when German POWs were put to work in a Wisconsin farm community. In the novel, the war has taken a toll on the Christiansen family. With food rationed and money scarce, the protagonist Charlotte, struggles to keep her family well fed. When their upcoming cherry harvest is threatened, strong-willed Charlotte helps persuade local authorities to allow German war prisoners from a nearby camp to pick the fruit.
Sana wrote the story after a long, historical investigation on German POWs, and their involvement in American agriculture during the second world war. Lucy Sana joins us today on the program, and we also hear about a German POW in Tremonton, UT, who helped on the family farm of Jean Thackeray, a Logan resident who recorded her memory of him at the StoryCorps Booth in Logan, in 2008.
