5-Star Review of “Margaret’s War”

Amazon.com review of Margaret’s War
James Rowan

A pitch-perfect, superbly crafted story

This is the best novel about Wisconsin I have ever read, and I have lived in Wisconsin for more than 50 years. The story is set in a rural Wisconsin town during World War II, so it covers life in a setting in which I have not lived and is framed by events about which I personally know nothing. Until now. So reading this book has been a genuine learning experience brought to life by a big cast of wonderfully-drawn characters whom Stokes sets in motion in ways you will not soon forget. I will not give away the book’s creative architecture, multiple mysteries, and certainly not the many-layered ending, but I will guarantee that you will not easily put the book down until you’ve turned the last page and begin processing the story’s multiple messages, some small, others profound, and all both historical and contemporary. Bill Stokes is well-known in our state for his decades of authentic, powerful Midwestern writing and spot-on outdoors daily newspaper journalism. Now he can add first-rate novelist to an already unparalleled resume.