“An Enemy Like Me” by Teri M. Brown

An Enemy Like Me

Teri M Brown 
Atmosphere Press 2023
978-1639885459
Reviewed by Leigh Kimberly Zoby for Reader Views (May 2023)

Teri M. Brown’s novel “An Enemy Like Me” is a work of historical fiction. It follows the life of Jakob Mueller, also known as Jacob Miller, an American-born son of German immigrants, and his family from the onset of World War II to modern-day. The story unfolds from three characters’ perspectives, Jacob, a soldier, husband, and father, Bonnie, his wife, and their child William. Each character gives the reader a glimpse into their thoughts and emotions about the war, their love for one another, and their pride in their country. 

The scars of war are far-reaching in this tale, emphasizing the sacrifices, fear, and insecurity each of Jacob’s family members feels. Despite being American born, many of Jacobs’s friends and co-workers in the dominant German neighborhood of North Canton become imprisoned as Nazi sympathizers. Jacob, fearing the same reality will befall his family, decides to join the military to protect his wife and child and prove his loyalty to America. After deployment, the constant worry and endless news reports cause Jacob’s wife, Bonnie, to suffer a nervous breakdown. William, their son, longs for his father while battling the loneliness of holding in his emotions to be strong for his mother. Jacob struggles with the inhumanity of war and the realization that the enemy soldiers also have a family they are fighting for. These emotional traumas later define the differences in who they were and who they became as the family struggles to rebuild their lives post-war. 

Author Teri M. Brown masterfully spins to life a war-time love story that will set the reader’s heart racing not over scenes of passion, but of faithfulness, resolve, and understanding. The character development is in-depth, building a foundation for a relationship the reader will become invested in and root for through thick and thin. This is not your everyday WWII historical fiction but an incredible story about the emotions and their effect on the families awaiting their soldier’s return, and adjustment thereafter. “An Enemy Like Me” brings all the reader’s emotions to light. I laughed, cried, cheered, dwelled, and fretted with worry, only to cry again.  If there was ever a book that made me want to hug and then thank a soldier it was this one. Bravo Ms. Brown, Bravo.