MWSA Book Review

My Father's Secret War

Author: Lucinda Franks

Publisher:  Miramax Books

Reviewer: Rob Ballister--MWSA Board Member

A woman searches for the man her father once was.

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Lucinda Franks relates the heart wrenching story of her search for her father's past. 

Tom Franks was a young, outgoing, affectionate man when he entered the US Navy to help win World War II.  Though he returned physically uninjured, he was never the same man again.  He was reclusive, cold towards his wife, and a heavy drinker.  Growing up with him, though there were high points, was not a happy childhood experience for the author and her sister, Penny.  After the death of her mother, Lucinda revives the relationship with her father, and through patience learns of some of his war experiences, many of which don't match up at all with his official file.  Lucinda is shocked to learn that her father was a covert operative, a real life spy, who participated in clandestine operations all over Europe and the Pacific Theater as part of a little known program called Argus.  He witnessed first hand the suffering in the death camps, and at one point had to kill a fellow operative, and these experiences forever changed him.

Through the journey to learn about his past, Lucinda befriends her father's mistress, and many of his fellow servicemembers, all of whom were by that time in their eighties.  She learns about the man he once was, and through that is able to recognize some of those attributes in the man he became later in life.

The story is well written, and moves well, with a heavy dose of emotion along with the facts.  Though a memoir and not a history lesson, any history buff will learn a bit about clandestine operations in World War II.  Further, it is a must read for those with an interest in understanding how combat stress affects the family dynamic.