The Letter Carrier


Christian - Historical Fiction
340 Pages
Reviewed on 09/06/2023
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Laurie (L.C.) Lewis met Michelle Naget while visiting an assisted living center. As soon as Laurie heard Michelle's French accent she knew Michelle had a story to tell. A sweet friendship developed over three years of interviews to reveal the Nagets' harrowing story. It is a true life tale of capture and servitude, a story of courage, hope, and faith, as the Nagets spent four years living with the very men who held the power of life and death over.

The Letter Carrier is Laurie’s fourteenth published novel. She writes her women’s fiction and romance novels as Laurie Lewis, and her historical fiction novels as L.C. Lewis.

Laurie's "The Letter Carrier" won the 2023 Readers Favorite Gold Medal for Inspirational Fiction, and dual Whitney Awards in 2023, winning the award for "Best General Fiction/Historical," and "Novel of the Year." She's also a RONE Award Winner, a New Apple Literary Award winner, a BRAGG Medallion honoree, and she was twice named a Whitney Awards and USA Best Books Awards finalist.

Laurie loves to hear from readers, and she invites you to join her VIP Readers’ Club or contact her at any of these locations:

Website www.laurielclewis.com
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    Book Review

Reviewed by Shrabastee Chakraborty for Readers' Favorite

Eleven-year-old Michelle Naget led a contented life with her family, basking in her profound faith in God. However, everything changed one fateful morning in June 1940, when the mass exodus of French refugees began. Soon afterward, the Nazis invaded the village of Braquis, setting up their headquarters in the Naget family home. With her eldest brother held captive by the Germans and another brother mortally wounded while aiding the French Resistance, Michelle and her parents tried their utmost to placate the Nazi soldiers occupying their home. Michelle became the Post, Telephone, and Telegraph officer, transporting letters, food, and medicine for the entire village. Yet, cycling through German camps each day was not safe for a girl on the cusp of adulthood. Would her faith carry her through the brutality of war? The Letter Carrier, a historical novel by L. C. Lewis, recounts Michelle’s story.

The Letter Carrier was a gut-wrenching read in which L. C. Lewis showed war’s ugly face unflinchingly. She also highlighted that the mindless violence and massive death toll were not the only consequences of war. There could be no way to repair the emotional scars it left, nor could anyone bring back the lost innocence of a childhood fraught with endless worry. I often found myself shaking, unable to hold back my tears. If reading the book could elicit such visceral reactions, I shuddered to think about what Michelle and her family endured. Lewis's writing made me feel constant fear and apprehension, where any little misstep could be disastrous. The entire book resembled a giant bated breath or a skipped heartbeat until the last quarter when I dared to hope, although it was fragile. While reading, I became a part of the Naget family, sharing every heartbreak and reveling in their family reunions. Michelle, our little letter carrier, commanded my respect as she braved her daily tasks even when the world around her crumbled. Her unwavering faith in God kept her strong in those trying times. I recommend this story to readers who appreciate books based on true WWII stories. Lewis deserves my sincere thanks for recording Michelle’s account because, as she rightly mentioned in the epilogue, this story needed to be shared.

Bernadette Longu

In The Letter Carrier by L.C. Lewis, the author has taken a subject that is very controversial both in history and in the present day. Everyone has their own opinion about World War II and the atrocities that took place, not only in the concentration camps but in the villages and towns that were occupied by both the German army first and then the Americans and British. L.C. Lewis has taken a family in the village of Braquis and written a beautiful book about their lives during World War II and the occupation by first the Germans and then the Americans. The main characters are Michelle Naget who marries and becomes Roger, her mother Yvonne, and stepfather Joseph, and brothers Jacques, Armand, and Gilbert.

L.C. Lewis has written this family's story of what they endured with the utmost grace, love, honesty, joy, fear, and hope. From the first page to the last page, the reader will find themself riveted, wanting to see what happens and hoping that the family can be spared some of the atrocities that occurred. Michelle is the only girl in the family and has to take over a job that her brother does, hence the title, The Letter Carrier. To truly understand what the family went through, this book is a must-read and a wonderful book for youngsters today to read and gain an insight into how cruel humans can be when they have a little power. I really enjoyed reading this book and found it hard to put down. The Letter Carrier is a moving story and well worth a read. Much appreciated.

ALEX NDIRANGU

The Letter Carrier by L.C. Lewis is a beautifully crafted story featuring real events as narrated by Michelle Naget Rogers, who was only 11 years old when France was captured by the Nazis during WWII. At the beginning of the story, Michelle and her family flee to safety from German troops. When they return home, however, they discover that the troops have taken it over. They then force her family to serve and live under the same roof as the enemy for four years, causing their neighbors to question Michelle's family's loyalty to their country. Despite the terror and sorrow that surrounds her when Nazis invaded her country, village, or even home, Michelle finds inner peace through her faith in God and great optimism for the future.

Foremost, I want to thank Michelle for her bravery in the battle and for choosing to share her story with us in The Letter Carrier. I also applaud L.C. Lewis for handling this piece of work masterfully and avoiding even one dull scene. This is a drama that captivated me from beginning to end. The book's ability to go beyond the Nazi occupation and provide the reader with a fascinating look at life when the war was still raging was my favorite aspect of it. This book's lessons are also invaluable. Young adults can benefit from the many wise insights that exhort them to pay attention to the mistakes made by others in the past, as well as the difficult circumstances they caused, to prevent a repetition.