Enemies in Love

April 2, 2018
In this engaging yet unfulfilling narrative expanded from a New York Times article, journalist Clark narrates the almost inconceivable romance between Elinor Powell, an African-American army nurse, and Frederick Albert, the German prisoner of war she met during World War II. Where this book shines is in its stark depiction of racism in pre- and post-war America. Elinor, who finished near the top of her nursing school class, comes face to face with racial prejudice in the South, a sharp contrast to her privileged Northern upbringing. While serving in Arizona, she meets Frederick, a jazz-loving painter who, though a soldier and a member of the Hitler Youth, “was never indoctrinated into Hitler’s racist system.” Clark excels at placing this unlikely interracial romance in context as a shocking rarity, but her depiction of Elinor and Frederick’s relationship feels lacking—undoubtedly due to their “private, even reticent” natures and Clark’s inability to access firsthand material. Interviews and research paint a picture of a couple stoically coping with racism, financial difficulty, and even infidelity, but they’re depicted only on a surface level. The book founders as a portrait of a marriage, but it has plenty to say about race relations and cultural change in mid-20th-century America. Agent: Howard Yoon, Ross Yoon Agency.