Elephant Run, by Roland Smith
When the nightly London bombings destroy Nick’s apartment, his mother sends him to safety in Burma. Little does she know that in a matter of days the Japanese will overrun that Southeast Asian nation, taking control of the Freestone timber plantation, sending his father to a POW camp, and taking Nick hostage. Nick endures ten months of forced servitude and captivity before escaping into the jungle in a desperate bid to free his father.
In Elephant Run, Roland Smith vividly brings World War II to life. He describes the horror and inhumanity of war in all its complexity. Characters are richly drawn and fully developed. I enjoyed reading a World War II novel where not all the Japanese are reduced to stereotypes.
