A German POW, a Black Nurse, and an Unlikely Romance

The Friends of the Bronxville Public Library (FOBPL) is encouraging book clubs to read “Enemies in Love: A German POW, a Black Nurse, and an Unlikely Romance” by Alexis Clark, in preparation for a special conversation with the author that will take place on the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018 in the Library’s Yeager Room. Clark will be interviewed by Bronxville’s Sissel McCarthy, Distinguished Lecturer and Director of the Journalism Program, Hunter College, and the audience will participate in a book discussion.

“Twenty-five years before Loving v. Virginia, an African American nurse named Elinor Powell and a soldier in Hitler’s army, Frederick Albert, fell madly in love against all odds in Jim-Crow Arizona. Clark illuminates a whole corner of unknown World War II history in a U.S. prisoner of war camp and postwar American suburbs, full of expected racism and intolerance— sweetened by unexpected love, unusual pockets of racial harmony, and genuine romance,” said Walter Isaacson, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of “Leonardo da Vinci.”

“Enemies in Love” follows their story as they have a secret affair and struggle to stay together in the face of tumultuous racial, geographical, and legal divisions every step of the way. Clark shares how Elinor and Frederick are separated after the war while Elinor is pregnant, reunited and married in the U.S., nearly divorced when they moved to Germany, struggled to find schools and insurance for their interracial family, and finally settle in a rare interracial community in Connecticut with their two sons, Stephen and Chris.

Previously an editor at Town & Country magazine, Clark is a freelance journalist who has written for the New York Times, Yahoo, The Root, Condé Nast Traveler, and other publications. An alumna of Spelman College, Clark holds master’s degrees from the University of Virginia and Columbia Journalism School, where she’s currently an adjunct professor.

The author Q & A will be followed by a reception. Books will be available for sale by Womrath. The event on Nov. 13, 2018 is free and open to the public, but registration is required. To register, click here.

To register for the following upcoming author events, email fobpl10708@gmail.com:
Oct. 25: Christian Klose, author of Frack This.
Oct. 30: Carola Lovering, author of Tell Me Lies.
Nov. 1: Dayna Kurtz, author of Mother Matters.