Bliss, Remembered

Book excerpt: An “entertaining and thought provoking” WWII-era novel of love, war, and sports, told with “a superb sense of character and period” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, American swimmer Sydney Stringfellow finds herself falling in love with Horst Gerhardt, a dashing young German. When the rising tide of global conflict tears them apart, Sydney returns to America, where she finds love again—in the arms of Jimmy Branch, an American man who takes her hand in marriage before shipping off to fight in World War II. And that is when Horst reappears in Sydney’s life, drawing her into a dilemma of passion, betrayal, and espionage. With Bliss, Remembered, the celebrated Frank Deford has produced “a work of enthralling historical fiction” that ranks with the best of his novels, including Everybody’s All American, which Sports Illustrated ranked as one of the twenty-five best sports books of all time (Library Journal, starred review).