Elise Sontag, born in Davenport Iowa, is the daughter of German immigrants. In 1943, she is a fledgling teenager when her world is turned upside down as her father, under suspicion of being a Nazi sympathizer is arrested and taken away. With her father’s assets frozen and her mother unable to provide stability for herself and her two children, they are forced out of their home, and months later sent to an internment camp in Crystal City Texas, where they are reunited with Elise’s father. While there, Elise meets and is befriended by Mariko Inoue, a daughter of Japanese immigrants whose family is also detained at the facility. Together they spend the remainder of 1943 and all of 1944 in each other’s company, attending school at the camp, suffering the heat and hardships of their confinement, co-writing the story of Calista, a character created by Mariko, and dreaming about a future they will begin together in New York City, where Mariko will become a theater critic or reporter, and Elise will discover who she is meant to become. In early 1945 the two are separated permanently when Elise’s family is repatriated to Pforzheim Germany. Through the years that follow, Elise experiences the terror and devastation of living in a war zone. She has limited correspondence with Mariko and eventually their letters to each other end. Although Elise’s girlish dreams of the adventure she would have with Mariko in New York City die, her friend’s inspiration that she discover who she is lead her to take advantage of a window of opportunity to leave Germany and return to the United States, where she finds her future.

This book successfully imparts the value of family, though all of the families in the novel have serious flaws. Elise’s parents fail to see the impact their choices will make on their children’s lives, Mariko’s parents attempt to control their children, which drives them away, and the Doves exist in shallow naivety. In spite of this, it is the love these family members have for each other that propel them forward.

Although I thought this was a wonderful read, I do have a few criticisms to share. I’ll start with the title, The Last Year of the War, which would be 1945. I’m confused about why she chose this phrase when the premise of the novel is the strength of the friendship Elise built with Mariko during the years 1943-1944. I would like to have seen the depth of their bond further developed in the story by revealing more of their interaction while in Crystal City. This would have given more warmth and richness to the story, and also given credence to Elise traveling to see her after having been separated for so many years. Also, I don’t understand why Elise would knowingly fail to tell Pamela and Teddy about her travel plans and insist on making a solo journey to see her friend given her current difficulties. As the daughter of an aging mother who doesn’t think as clearly as she once did, I found this particularly troubling. I was saddened that Mariko apparently never pursued her dream of writing to any extent when it was a gift that was given to her. I disliked the notion that Elise reconnects with Mariko at the last possible moment. I suppose one could assume that Mariko was waiting for her to come before she surrenders herself to death, but still that seems a bit too contrived.

On the plus side, Elise is wonderful character, who learns to endure and thrive. I loved that Elise Dove devoted her adult life to projects to help others and taught her niece and nephew the value of caring for others. I thought it was very creative for Susan Meissner to have Elise nickname her Alzheimer’s disease after a thief from her childhood, Agnes Finster, because it steals her memories away. I appreciate that there are no loose ends left at the end.

My favorite quote from the novel is p. 234 “I was just beginning to understand that was a person’s choice that defined his or her identity and not the other way around.”