Review of The Soldier's Return by Laura Libricz

The Soldier’s Return by Laura Libricz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Soldier’s Return by Laura Libricz is a devastating historical novel that takes place in Germany during the Thirty Years’ War.

Main character, Katarina, is a servant in love with her master. Katarina also takes care of a young orphan girl who becomes the center of the story.

Her master’s compound lies in an area that is often pillaged by soldiers on their way to fighting. Anything of value is stolen or destroyed, including the women's’ virtues as they are subject to beatings and rapes. Katarina’s master is unable to protect her and ultimately thrusts her out of the main home when his wife, her servants, and their children arrive to stay. Katarina is then subject to further abuse at the hands of her master’s wife and servants. She goes to stay at a neighboring compound and the story of her young charge develops.

Libricz intertwines fact with fiction, giving the reader a true taste of the atrocities endured by civilians during the Thirty Years’ War. The sign of a good story is one in which the author evokes strong emotions in the reader, and this book did just that.




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