Under Two Flags: A Novel of World War I

By Janis Robinson Daly

Book Overview

She sewed her country's flag into her skirt hem and sailed straight into enemy territory.

Josephine is a daughter of Jewish immigrants with a mezzo-soprano dream and nowhere left to go. When a letter arrives offering her a chance to study at a prestigious Berlin conservatory, she does not hesitate. She crosses a U-boat-haunted Atlantic and steps into a city bristling with ration cards, propaganda, and suspicion.

But war has a way of closing in. As an American in wartime Germany, every word she speaks is a risk, every friendship a potential liability, and every day a test of how much she is willing to endure.

When America enters the war, the walls tighten further. Police checkpoints. Handcuffs. A clock ticking toward a ship she may never be allowed to board.

Getting in was an act of courage. Getting out may cost her everything.

Fans of Kristin Hannah and Kate Quinn will recognize the spirit here, the story of a bold young woman who performed her way through one of history's most dangerous stages, note by agonizing note.

If you love emotionally resonant stories of survival and the unyielding courage of women who refuse to be silenced, this is your next great read.

• 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.