What is Ronald H. Balson reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Ronald H. Balson, author of  Once We Were Brothers.

His entry begins:

I just finished an extraordinary non-fiction account of the history of Jerusalem. Simon Sebag Montefiore’s national bestseller, Jerusalem, the Biography, has everything you’d ever want to know about Jerusalem, its people, its religions, its culture and its influence upon the rest of the world. Beautifully written, not the least bit dry, Jerusalem is chock full of interesting anecdotes about the region’s founders, builders, movers and shakers.

Jerusalem is 650 annotated pages, so it might take you a while. But it’s well worth it, even if you can’t remember one Caliph from another. Montefiore conveys a three thousand year timeline in such a captivating fashion that you come away with an appreciation for the land, the competing philosophies and the people who...[read on]

About Once We Were Brothers, from the publisher:

The gripping tale about two boys, once as close as brothers, who find themselves on opposite sides of the Holocaust.

Elliot Rosenzweig, a respected civic leader and wealthy philanthropist, is attending a fundraiser when he is suddenly accosted and accused of being a former Nazi SS officer named Otto Piatek, the Butcher of Zamosc. Although the charges are denounced as preposterous, his accuser is convinced he is right and engages attorney Catherine Lockhart to bring Rosenzweig to justice. Solomon persuades attorney Catherine Lockhart to take his case, revealing that the true Piatek was abandoned as a child and raised by Solomon's own family only to betray them during the Nazi occupation. But has Solomon accused the right man?

Once We Were Brothers is Ronald H. Balson's compelling tale of two boys and a family who struggle to survive in war-torn Poland, and a young love that struggles to endure the unspeakable cruelty of the Holocaust. Two lives, two worlds, and sixty years converge in an explosive race to redemption that makes for a moving and powerful tale of love, survival, and ultimately the triumph of the human spirit.

Learn more about the book and author at the official Once We Were Brothers website and Ronald H. Balson's Facebook page. 

My Book, The Movie: Once We Were Brothers.

The Page 69 Test: Once We Were Brothers.

Writers Read: Ronald H. Balson.

--Marshal Zeringue