Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Echoes of Us by Joy Jordan-Lake

Book Description

In the midst of World War II, a Tennessee farm boy, a Jewish Cambridge student, and a German POW forge a connection that endures—against all odds.

But now everything that Will Dobbins, Dov Silverberg, and Hans Hessler fought for is at risk as their descendants clash for control of the corporation they founded together. In an attempt to remake its tattered corporate image, the firm hires event planner Hadley Jacks and her sister Kitzie to organize a reunion for the families on St. Simons Island, Georgia, the place that changed all three men’s lives forever.

As Hadley and her sister delve into the friends’ past, they uncover the life of the courageous young woman who links them all together…and the old wounds that could tear everything apart.

Told in dual timelines spanning World War II and the present, Echoes of Us follows the ripple effects of war, the bonds that outlast it, and the hope that ultimately carries us forward.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Joannie’s disappearance and a mysterious older woman who lives on the Island during the present day makes the story suspenseful.

It seems there is an unlikely friendship between an English Jewish instructor, Dov, a Tennessee farm boy, Will, and a German submarine POW, Hans, who deserted.

In the present day, 80 years later, everything that Will Dobbins, Dov Silverberg, and Hans Hessler fought for is at risk as their descendants’ clash for control of the corporation they founded together. To remake its tattered corporate image, the firm hires event planner Hadley Jacks and her sister Kitzie to organize a reunion for the families on St. Simons Island, Georgia, the place that changed all three men’s lives forever. As Hadley and her sister delve into the friends’ past, they uncover the life of the courageous young woman, Joanie, who links them all together.

It is the story of love, courage, friendship, and resilience set on St. Simon’s Island within the backdrop of WWII. The mystery is center stage and very compelling. The plot twists and turns in unexpected ways, leading to an ending that is as surprising as it is satisfying. 

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the setting?

Joy Jordan-Lake: My family has been connected to where the story takes place, St. Simon’s Island off the coast of Georgia, which was my dad’s favorite place in the world.  I knew a lot of the history of the Island, but nothing about the WWII history until after they built the Homefront WWII Museum. It is incredibly well researched and allows viewers to see what it was like to be on an aircraft carrier, working on the radar station, a fighter pilot, or someone at home. 

EC:  How did you realize that there were German submarines on America’s East Coast?

JJL: When I first walked into the museum, I saw the story of someone killed on the East Coast by a German submarine. In 1942 a German sub was lurking off the coast of St. Simon’s Island and ended up sinking a couple of ships and killing a bunch of people. This is where the novel starts. Some of the characters are based on actual people. All the fictional characters are based on actual people and actual events. 

EC: How would you describe Joanie?

JJL: Quick-witted, fiery, courageous, and has guilt at times. She became a WASP, Women Air Force Service Pilot. Joanie has the name of one of my cousins that grew up on the Island.

EC:  What did the WASPs do during the war?

JJL:  They flied planes for their country. Joanie is based on a compilation of the WASP women. They are brave women. They ferried planes here in the US. They flew every single type of plane used during WWII.  They had to fly with unbelievable conditions: very little rest, really hard conditions, and unable to cleanse themselves. It was anything but glamorous. In the early days they came from money and learned to fly, while others were taught by their father, or a brother. They had a love of flying. Some were fashion models, farm girls, schoolteachers, and so on.

EC:  How did Joanie’s relationship with her twin brother, Sam, affect her?

JJL: He is someone Joanie can connect with and share her feelings about the mental and emotional loss of her father just as my father who died of Alzheimer’s. 

EC:  How would you describe Dov?

JJL:  He is the Jewish character. He has integrity, regrets not being in combat, and is very tender.  He is a compilation of characters. He is partly based on a real person who taught at the radar training school on the Island. I interviewed someone who helps to run the museum.  She commented that there was an instructor at the radar training school who was upset that he was here teaching while those he taught would be under terrible dangers and stress.  They had to decide if the plane approaching was a friendly or enemy that needs to be shot down. In the actual person’s letters, he was contemplating going back into the fighting arena. Dov represents this ethical struggle.  The allies decided to have their very best pilots become instructors. He was made British because there was a Brit who was sent to the Island by the English to train Americans.

EC:  How would you describe the German POW, Hans?

JJL:  He was drafted into the Nazi Navy. He chose to desert. I wanted to show how Dov and Hans were suspicious of each other, wary of each other, and even had hatred. He is partly based on the Captain of a German U-Boat that was on the coast of the Island who did not desert. I did the research on what would happen if someone deserted from the German military.

EC:  How would you describe William, the Merchant Marine?

JJL: I grew up in the mountains of East Tennessee so I made him a Tennessee farm boy.  He quotes Shakespeare and has an artistic soul. He is brilliant.  He becomes a friend with Joanie and Dov.

EC: Next book?

JJL: It is set in the North of Italy.  It has some flashbacks to 1969 but is set mostly during present day. The plot has the Mafia involved in a theft.  The working title is Outrageous Fortune.

THANK YOU!!

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