A Shadow Upon His Soul: A Gripping Story of Survival and Forbidden Love in WW2 London

The Nazis have invaded Denmark. Blond, blue-eyed Karl Nielsen is a perfect target. Seventeen-year-old Karl's future doesn't look good in April 1940 Denmark. German soldiers are raiding farms in the countryside just like his family's to draft those that look like him. His father can't bear the thought of his son in Hitler's army and swiftly ships him off to England to escape forced selection. He may never see his family again. Across the North Sea, Karl is shattered as he steps off a boat in an unfamiliar land, spending his nights sleeping on benches. Aware of the atrocities overseas, Robert and Margaret Hopkins step in and offer him not only a place to sleep, but the warm embrace of a family. As the threat of the war looms large everywhere, Karl forms an intense attachment and attraction to George, the Hopkins' nephew, who is in mourning the death of his own partner in the war. Karl is startled and confused by his feelings. But he knows them to be true. Karl and George must keep their entanglements secret, as they both overcome the intense grief of their losses and the judgment of society. Their clandestine relationship may not survive conservative propaganda of the times, or the war, which takes no prisoners. A powerful and important queer, coming-of-age novel set in World War II England, this is an irresistible read for young adult historical fiction lovers, and anyone with a heart