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The Jersey Brothers
A Missing Naval Officer in the Pacific and His Family's Quest to Bring Him Home
Table of Contents
About The Book
They are three brothers, all Navy men, who end up coincidentally and extraordinarily at the epicenter of three of the war’s most crucial moments. Bill, a naval intelligence officer, is tapped by FDR to set up and run his secret map room in the White House basement. Benny is the gunnery and antiaircraft officer on USS Enterprise, one of the few ships to escape Pearl Harbor and, by the end of 1942, the only aircraft carrier left in the Pacific to defend against the Japanese. Barton, the youngest, gets a plum commission in the Navy Supply Corps because his mother wants him out of harm’s way. But this protection plan backfires when Barton is sent to Manila and listed as wounded and missing after a Japanese attack. Now it is up to Bill and Benny to find and rescue him…
Based on a decade of research drawn from archives around the world, interviews with fellow shipmates and POWs, and half-forgotten letters stashed away in attics, The Jersey Brothers is “a captivating tour-de-force” (San Antonio Express-News) that whisks readers from America’s front porches to Roosevelt’s White House to the battlefronts of the Pacific. But at its heart The Jersey Brothers is a family story, written by one of its own in intimate, novelistic detail. It is a remarkable tale of agony and triumph; of an ordinary young man who shows extraordinary courage as the enemy does everything short of killing him; and of brotherly love tested under the tortures of war.
“The Jersey Brothers shines in singularity. A blend of history, family saga and family questions, Freeman’s book [is] a winning and moving success, and adds an authoritative entry to the… vast canon of war literature” (Richmond Times Dispatch).
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 9, 2017)
- Length: 608 pages
- ISBN13: 9781501104176
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Raves and Reviews
“Highly dramatic history. [Mott’s] book is liable to break the hearts of Unbroken fans, and it’s all true.”
– The New York Times
“A masterpiece of storytelling, infused with heroism and adventure. This moving portrait of three brothers is a brilliantly researched and written history of America’s wartime role in the Pacific.”
– Lynne Olson, New York Times bestselling author of Those Angry Days
“An evocative real-life tale of agony and triumph about brotherly love and a young American who discovers his personal courage amidst the tortures of war. Freeman had me rooting for these Jersey boys on every page.”
– James Bradley, New York Times bestselling author of Flags of Our Fathers
“Better than fiction because it is real.... The Jersey Brothers demonstrates that a well-told story is just that, whatever its genre.”
– New York Journal of Books
“A gripping, deeply moving saga of an American family whose experiences cast a new light on one of the most harrowing and heroic periods in American history. In their devotion to each other and to their country, these three brothers inspire us with courage, intelligence, and exceptional resilience.”
– Sally Bedell Smith, New York Times bestselling author of Elizabeth the Queen
“The Jersey Brothers shines in singularity. A blend of history, family saga and family questions, [Freeman’s] first book proves to be a winning and moving success.... A decade in the making, The Jersey Brothers adds an authoritative entry to the vast canon of war literature, one that elicits cheers, tears and a few jeers.... Freeman’s dogged investigative skills, the truth they reveal and her ability to render it with grace combine to make her book — a gripping story of courage and carnage, heroism and horror, devotion and death — unforgettable.”
– Richmond Times-Dispatch
“A captivating tour-de-force that immediately stands tall with the best of other World War II combat literature.... Freeman weaves together a story that will tug at the emotions of anyone who has ever known someone who has worn our nation’s uniform in peacetime or at war.”
– San Antonio Express-News
“In her moving new epic The Jersey Brothers, Sally Mott Freeman captures a story of love, devotion and perseverance shared by three inspiring siblings caught in the epicenter of some of the war’s most crucial actions… A rare look into the deepest personal emotions of a family of America’s Greatest Generation.”
– The Dallas Morning News
“The Jersey Brothers captures the real-life story of three brothers whose bond to family and love for country take them to extraordinary lengths at one of the most pivotal points in American history. From the decks of the USS Enterprise to the depths of the Japanese prison camps, Sally Mott Freeman takes readers on an epic journey in this remarkable tribute to the Greatest Generation.”
– Senator John McCain, New York Times bestselling author of Thirteen Soldiers
“A terrific book that I was just totally captivated by.”
– Hillary Rodham Clinton
“A great summer read by a splendid writer.... The characters are vividly drawn, the action riveting, and the suspense almost overwhelming.”
– Karl Rove, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff
“A searing story of courage, love, and family. The Jersey Brothers is impressively broad in scope—from Roosevelt’s White House to the great battles of the Pacific to prisoner of war camps deep in the Philippine jungle—and brimming with endlessly fascinating details that only real soldiers could know.”
– Jay Winik, New York Times bestselling author of 1944
“Do we need another book about WWII? If it is as engaging as The Jersey Brothers, the answer is a resounding yes.... The Jersey Brothers is an important addition to the historical record; it's also a spellbinding cliffhanger.”
– New Jersey Monthly
“Richly informed by Freeman’s deep research, The Jersey Brothers is a powerfully evocative story of three brothers and their remarkable love, courage, and adventure during a decisive moment in World War II.”
– Don Katz, founder and CEO of Audible and author of Home Fires: An Intimate Portrait of One Middle-Class Family in Postwar America
“An obvious labor of love.... A touching, suspenseful and deeply troubling story of one family’s patriotic devotion and betrayal.... Meticulously researched and compelling history.”
– Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Freeman’s riveting account reads like fiction, and proves that the well of compelling war narratives has nowhere near run dry.”
– Business Insider
“Author Sally Mott Freeman takes an intimately human approach to this war story, adding a meaningful and memorable chapter to our understanding of the Greatest Generation.”
– The Amazon Book Review (Best Book of the Month)
“A riveting war story. But it is a family story as well, its gripping moments in time meticulously assembled by Freeman.”
– Bergen Record
“Too exciting to be quite believable as fiction; luckily, it’s entirely true.... Deeply researched, intelligently judged, vividly presented.... And at its heart [The Jersey Brothers is] a serious, indeed deeply moving, family novel: you’ll remember the mother of these guys as vividly as the brothers themselves.”
– Sullivan County Democrat
“Freeman proves to be a strongly motivated researcher, who poignantly conveys a sorrowful experience encountered by thousands of American families in WWII.”
– Booklist
“A touching story.... Provides insights into Japanese treatment of POWs and the daily life of these prisoners.... Recommended for readers looking for personal accounts of World War II.”
– Library Journal
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