MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Free (Kindle KDP) The Kommandant's Mistress by Sherri Szeman [WWII Historical Drama]

ATDrake · 04-17-2012, 05:35 AM

Something different as a change in the KDP exclusive-or-else-but-you-get-5-days-free-out-of-90-in-which-to-dump-your-book-in-where-it-will-be-overlooked-amidst-all-the-other-dumped-books slushpile.

Today's feature is a former NY Times bestseller (admittedly a distinction not that hard to reach since Star Wars tie-in novels regularly make it). More to the point, it's an historical literary drama which has not only won a niche literary fiction award, but has also been minorly discussed in literary and academic journals, in part due to its subject matter.

We also have some sfnal shorts by reasonably prominent established writers and a nifty annotated Twilight Zone episode script and another interesting backlist historical drama.

The Kommandant's Mistress by Alexandria Constantinova Szeman was originally published in 1993 by HarperCollins under the pseudonym "Sherri Szeman" apparently because her editor said the author's actual name "wouldn't fit on the cover of a book".

This is an historical literary drama set during the Holocaust and according to the author, has won the "University of Rochester's Janet Heidinger Kafka Award for "the outstanding book of prose fiction written by an American woman" (1994)" and been translated into 10 languages.

The blurb for this quotes praise from prominent newspapers, and there are favourable reviews from the Library Journal and Booklist attached to the original hardcover edition. Plus apparently it made the NY Times bestseller list on September 3rd, 1993 according to their website, though I can't parse where it placed since their article is horribly formatted.

Anyway, the author now offers it in a revised and expanded 20th Anniversary edition with commentary and extras.

Free for who knows how long with DRM @ Amazon main UK DE ES FR IT

Description
Powerful and provocative, haunting and disturbing, lyrical yet profoundly unsettling, The Kommandant's Mistress portrays the complex power struggle between the Kommandant of a Nazi Concentration Camp and the Jewish inmate he forces to become his "mistress".

In this mesmerizing depiction of sexual subjugation, in which the conventional labels of "torturer" and "victim" obscure the unexpected realities of those positions, a young woman must survive the horrors of her daily servitude inside the Kommandant's office while struggling with the moral obligation to aid others in the Camp. Aware of virtually every secret of the Kommandant's professional and personal life, the woman bears witness to the grotesque reality of the camp even as she memorizes the intimate details of a man fighting his own tortured existence.

After the war, their "relationship" in the Camp proves inescapable, as the past they share pursues them both, culminating in an encounter that is as shocking and disturbing as it is inevitable.

This Revised & Expanded, 20th Anniversary Edition contains new material: the author's original "story" and "poem" which formed the inspiration for the book; a Chapter-by-Chapter Scene Index; Discussion Questions for teachers, students, and book groups; and a preface which reveals the writing and original publishing history of the novel as well as an explanation of the author's name-change.

Preliminaries from the slushpile, which is still settling. Subject to change if someone decides their book's been mistakenly freebied and yanks it early or only set it to 12 hours, so caveat 1-clicker.

Two late sf/fantasy additions to yesterday's thread to start with:

ISFDBed Star Wars tie-in writer Dave Wolverton writing as David Farland offers a fantasy short: Siren Song at Midnight

Previously-title-featured ISFDBed Philip K. Dick award-nominee William Barton returns with an apparently satirical future commercial society sf tale: Cast a Cold Eye (Novelette)

Paul Chitlik and Jeremy Bertrand Finch offer their a specially commented and enhanced with behind-the-scenes pictures version of their screenplay for an episode of the 1980s revival of the popular TV show: The Twilight Zone: "Room 2426" (TV script)

Pocket Books-published Peter Michael Rosenberg returns with a literary fantasy adventure quest short: The Fig Tree - a fable

Ryne Douglas Peterson returns with 1995-William Morrow agents vs terrorism political thriller: Capitol Punishment (An Art Jefferson Thriller)

Mary Ann Sullivan offers her 1985 YA drama set amidst the Northern Ireland conflict, which she says in the blurb was named as "a Notable 1984 Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies by the National Council of Social Studies": Child of War

Linda Pendleton, widow of Don Pendleton of Mack Bolan Executioner action/adventure fame, returns to offer the self-explanatory: Shattered Lens, Catherine Winter, Private Investigator (Catherine Winter Series)

Minor ISFDBed Jordan Krall returns to offer the self-explanatory: Squid Kills! ((Bizarro Crime Fiction))

Ellora's Cave-published Michelle M. Pillow returns with an sfnal alternate reality-crossover f/m erotic romance: Fighting Lady Jayne (Divinity Warriors)

ISFDBed David Bain returns with a supernatural story that original appeared in Terminal Frights magazine (may be a repeat): Vigil

Sourcebooks-published Lisa Renee Jones returns with the start of her paranormal romance series and helpfully points out that one of her official Sourcebooks releases is temporarily on sale for 99 cents across multiple venues and you should get it while you can: Hot Vampire Kiss (Vampire Wardens 1)

Bob Mayer writing as Robert Doherty returns with another one of his conspiracy/apocalyptic techno-thrillers, originally out from Berkley in 2001: ATLANTIS: DEVIL'S SEA

Minor ISFDBed Marilyn Peake returns with a post-apocalyptic short story: Trail of Bones and Excrement

Adams Media-published Derringer award-winner Stephen D. Rogers offers a collection of short solvable brainteasers: Three-Minute Mysteries 3

ISFDBed Tintin movie tie-in writer Alex Irvine offers another short story: The Truth About Ninjas (The Dream Curator and Other Stories)

Another one of these graphic novels for your collection of such: FUNHOUSE OF HORRORS (APP BOOK) (JAZAN WILD'S FUNHOUSE OF HORRORS)

Award-winning South African expat playwright Ian Fraser returns with the theatre script for one of his plays: Charles Manson

Happy reading, if indeed you manage to spot something you think you might like.

04-17-2012, 05:35 AM	#1
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Free (Kindle KDP) The Kommandant's Mistress by Sherri Szeman [WWII Historical Drama] Something different as a change in the KDP exclusive-or-else-but-you-get-5-days-free-out-of-90-in-which-to-dump-your-book-in-where-it-will-be-overlooked-amidst-all-the-other-dumped-books slushpile. Today's feature is a former NY Times bestseller (admittedly a distinction not that hard to reach since Star Wars tie-in novels regularly make it). More to the point, it's an historical literary drama which has not only won a niche literary fiction award, but has also been minorly discussed in literary and academic journals, in part due to its subject matter. We also have some sfnal shorts by reasonably prominent established writers and a nifty annotated Twilight Zone episode script and another interesting backlist historical drama. The Kommandant's Mistress by Alexandria Constantinova Szeman was originally published in 1993 by HarperCollins under the pseudonym "Sherri Szeman" apparently because her editor said the author's actual name "wouldn't fit on the cover of a book". This is an historical literary drama set during the Holocaust and according to the author, has won the "University of Rochester's Janet Heidinger Kafka Award for "the outstanding book of prose fiction written by an American woman" (1994)" and been translated into 10 languages. The blurb for this quotes praise from prominent newspapers, and there are favourable reviews from the Library Journal and Booklist attached to the original hardcover edition. Plus apparently it made the NY Times bestseller list on September 3rd, 1993 according to their website, though I can't parse where it placed since their article is horribly formatted. Anyway, the author now offers it in a revised and expanded 20th Anniversary edition with commentary and extras. Free for who knows how long with DRM @ Amazon main UK DE ES FR IT Description Powerful and provocative, haunting and disturbing, lyrical yet profoundly unsettling, The Kommandant's Mistress portrays the complex power struggle between the Kommandant of a Nazi Concentration Camp and the Jewish inmate he forces to become his "mistress". In this mesmerizing depiction of sexual subjugation, in which the conventional labels of "torturer" and "victim" obscure the unexpected realities of those positions, a young woman must survive the horrors of her daily servitude inside the Kommandant's office while struggling with the moral obligation to aid others in the Camp. Aware of virtually every secret of the Kommandant's professional and personal life, the woman bears witness to the grotesque reality of the camp even as she memorizes the intimate details of a man fighting his own tortured existence. After the war, their "relationship" in the Camp proves inescapable, as the past they share pursues them both, culminating in an encounter that is as shocking and disturbing as it is inevitable. This Revised & Expanded, 20th Anniversary Edition contains new material: the author's original "story" and "poem" which formed the inspiration for the book; a Chapter-by-Chapter Scene Index; Discussion Questions for teachers, students, and book groups; and a preface which reveals the writing and original publishing history of the novel as well as an explanation of the author's name-change. Preliminaries from the slushpile, which is still settling. Subject to change if someone decides their book's been mistakenly freebied and yanks it early or only set it to 12 hours, so caveat 1-clicker. Two late sf/fantasy additions to yesterday's thread to start with: ISFDBed Star Wars tie-in writer Dave Wolverton writing as David Farland offers a fantasy short: Siren Song at Midnight Previously-title-featured ISFDBed Philip K. Dick award-nominee William Barton returns with an apparently satirical future commercial society sf tale: Cast a Cold Eye (Novelette) Paul Chitlik and Jeremy Bertrand Finch offer their a specially commented and enhanced with behind-the-scenes pictures version of their screenplay for an episode of the 1980s revival of the popular TV show: The Twilight Zone: "Room 2426" (TV script) Pocket Books-published Peter Michael Rosenberg returns with a literary fantasy adventure quest short: The Fig Tree - a fable Ryne Douglas Peterson returns with 1995-William Morrow agents vs terrorism political thriller: Capitol Punishment (An Art Jefferson Thriller) Mary Ann Sullivan offers her 1985 YA drama set amidst the Northern Ireland conflict, which she says in the blurb was named as "a Notable 1984 Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies by the National Council of Social Studies": Child of War Linda Pendleton, widow of Don Pendleton of Mack Bolan Executioner action/adventure fame, returns to offer the self-explanatory: Shattered Lens, Catherine Winter, Private Investigator (Catherine Winter Series) Minor ISFDBed Jordan Krall returns to offer the self-explanatory: Squid Kills! ((Bizarro Crime Fiction)) Ellora's Cave-published Michelle M. Pillow returns with an sfnal alternate reality-crossover f/m erotic romance: Fighting Lady Jayne (Divinity Warriors) ISFDBed David Bain returns with a supernatural story that original appeared in Terminal Frights magazine (may be a repeat): Vigil Sourcebooks-published Lisa Renee Jones returns with the start of her paranormal romance series and helpfully points out that one of her official Sourcebooks releases is temporarily on sale for 99 cents across multiple venues and you should get it while you can: Hot Vampire Kiss (Vampire Wardens 1) Bob Mayer writing as Robert Doherty returns with another one of his conspiracy/apocalyptic techno-thrillers, originally out from Berkley in 2001: ATLANTIS: DEVIL'S SEA Minor ISFDBed Marilyn Peake returns with a post-apocalyptic short story: Trail of Bones and Excrement Adams Media-published Derringer award-winner Stephen D. Rogers offers a collection of short solvable brainteasers: Three-Minute Mysteries 3 ISFDBed Tintin movie tie-in writer Alex Irvine offers another short story: The Truth About Ninjas (The Dream Curator and Other Stories) Another one of these graphic novels for your collection of such: FUNHOUSE OF HORRORS (APP BOOK) (JAZAN WILD'S FUNHOUSE OF HORRORS) Award-winning South African expat playwright Ian Fraser returns with the theatre script for one of his plays: Charles Manson Happy reading, if indeed you manage to spot something you think you might like.