The Last Telegram: A Novel of What Saves Us by Liz Trenow

Cover Design by Krista Joy Johnson / Sourcebooks

             There are so many books about World War II.  No two people experienced it exactly the same way, leading to an uncountable number of stories able to come to the page.  Because of this, whether the book is fiction or non-fiction, the story itself is different.  Reading about a silk mill during the war, was definitely a new one for me.      

                All Lily Verner wants to do is go to Switzerland and live her new adult life.  That is the plan until the threat of war puts a stop to it.  Now a very unhappy Lily is forced to stay in England and work at her family’s silk mill.

                Lily would like to work in the office.  Her father says no.  She must work on the shop floor to learn the business before she can work anywhere else.  This is something Lily is very reluctant to do, but she does it.  Before too long, Lily finds she actually enjoys working in the shop; working with others to create different silk fabrics.

                The two people Lily works most closely with are Gwen and Stefan.  Gwen is the woman who shows Lily the ways of the mill.  Stefan is a boy sent from Germany to England for his protection. 

Stefan got the job at the mill after Lily’s brother, John, learned there are children from Germany who were abandoned once they reached England; their sponsors no longer able or willing to care for them.  Wanting to help, Lily and John (mostly Lily), convince their father to take on boys themselves.  He agrees to do this as long as they are able to work in the mill.  This is how Stefan and two other boys, Kurt and Walter, come to work with the family.

All the boys are teenagers and old enough to work.  Or at least that is what their papers say.  Stefan is not a teenager.  He is older.  If it is discovered Stefan lied on his documents, he could be in big trouble, and possibly sent back to Germany.

Once Lily finds this out, she agrees to keep Stefan’s secret.  Still, this does not keep Stefan and the other boys from being rounded up and sent to Australia.  None of them go by choice, and Stefan is the only one to come back and fight for England.

By the time Stefan returns to join the military, he and Lily have long been in love.  Before Stefan goes away again, this time for his military service, they get married.

Also, by this time, Lily is running the business.  Her father has died, leaving the mill in her and Gwen’s hands.  Now they are making parachute silk for the war.  The pressure to produce is strong, leading Lily to make a decision she regrets for the rest of her life.

Even though this book is about 400 pages long, it does not take long to read.  Or at least it doesn’t feel that way because the story moves so quickly.  A lot happens in the story.  Some of the things can be predicted, but it’s still a thrill to see how exactly everything in the story ends up.