Publisher's Synopsis
Nightingales return to Berlin in the spring of 1945 to nest and raise their young. They find a city reduced to rubble by the Russian Army leaving them no place to go. Rudy, a boy disabled by polio as an infant, is condemned to be kitchen help in Adolf Hitler's Berlin bunker during the last eleven days of World War II. With Karoline, a servant girl, he prepares food and cleans the bunker for Hitler and the Nazis. The Russian Army has broken through Berlin's defenses and the end is near. Rudy's fear grows when he sees the women beaten and raped by the Russians come into the emergency aid station under the New Reich Chancellery. He worries about what will happen to Karoline when the Russians come. Rudy starts to doubt Hitler is the great Leader of the Fatherland everyone believes him to be. His admiration for Hitler turns to hatred when he learns of the atrocities perpetrated at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. Doctor Goebbels, the Propaganda Minister, arrives in the bunker with his wife and six children. Rudy befriends Helga the oldest girl. Rumors spread, Dr. Goebbels and his wife plan to commit suicide with Adolf Hitler. Rudy is scared. What will happen to the children? He makes plans to escape the bunker and the Russians with Karoline and the children but is blocked at every turn by unforeseen events. Rudy seeks guidance from Hannes an old mechanic in the bunkers machine room. Hannes tells him he's just a boy and is not responsible for the Goebbels children or the fate of Karoline when the Russians come. The Russians bombard Berlin with artillery and tank fire leaving the city in ruins. The insanity of the Nazis takes over the bunker. Murder and suicide become normal. Rudy and Karoline grow closer and together struggle to survive the collapse of the Third Reich. The Russians are mounting a final assault. Rudy panics. Is it too late to escape? What will happen to the children and Karoline? Will his worst fears come true? Will the children die? Will he be killed and Karoline raped? When the nightingale sings will Rudy find the courage to never give up? Author Bio: John Ashton Williams started serious writing in 1994 at the Mississippi Valley Writers Conference sponsored by David Collins a teacher and well-known children's author. He has written numerous short stories and received awards at the above conference. WHEN THE NIGHTINGALE SINGS is his second novel. His first novel, a historical adventure, will be revised and also made available as an e-book. Keywords: Teen, Juvenile, Fiction, Historical, Hitler, Nazi, Survival, World War II, Holocaust, Friendship
