Under Two Flags: A Novel of World War I

By Janis Robinson Daly

When dreams collide with war, survival becomes the ultimate performance.

In October 1916, eighteen-year-old Josephine Therese Marzynski leaves Boston for Berlin to pursue her dream of studying opera at Germany's most prestigious music conservatory. Living with family friends and immersing herself in German culture, she finds unexpected beauty and friendship in the heart of enemy territory.

But when America enters the Great War in April 1917, Josephine's world transforms overnight-from welcomed student to enemy of the state. Trapped in Berlin as rationing tightens and suspicion mounts, Josephine must navigate daily police check-ins, bureaucratic interrogations, and the constant threat of internment. Her survival depends on German friends who risk their own safety to protect her, while she struggles with divided loyalties between her American identity and the people who have become her chosen family.

Based on the true story from Josephine's memoir and set against the backdrop of a city slowly starving under the weight of war, Under Two Flags is a gripping tale of resilience, moral complexity, and the transformative power of music in humanity's darkest hours. As Josephine fights to secure passage home, she confronts impossible choices that will test everything she believes about loyalty, survival, and the true meaning of patriotism.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1685137326
• ISBN13: 9781685137328
• Release Date: March 2026
• Publisher: Black Rose Writing
• Length: 290 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Will War Spoil Her Dreams?

The historical fiction story of Josephine Marzynsk, who is forging her path to become an opera star, her dream, her mother’s dream. This 18-year-old American traveled to Berlin during WWI to study Opera at the esteemed Klindworth-Scharwenka Konservatorium der Musik. Here, she encounters the kindness and bigotry of the German people. As the war escalates, Josephine soon finds dread, suspicion, and hardship being imposed on everyone in the country. Especially her as an American. Josephine doesn’t anticipate the sobering truth of life during wartime with food rations and relentless propaganda. But through the help of those who love her and her own resilience, well, let’s see how life turns out for Josephine. An unusual writing style, as Josephine speaks directly to the reader at the beginning of different sections of the book. This may seem unsettling at first, but it is just another way of communicating the story and ends up quite enjoyable. Thank you to the author and to Librarything.com for a copy of this book.