Vienna, 1941
Monika Graf, the wife of a wealthy Austrian military commander, steals two Jewish girls from the Nazis—a crime often punishable by death. With soldiers in rapid pursuit, a homeless Jew named Janik, a mysterious man who lurks in the shadows, helps her escape.
Unable to have children of her own, she finds a new purpose in life—rescuing Jewish children from the horrendous Nazi regime. She asks the Swiss for help, trading military secrets she gleans from her husband for the lives of Jewish children. With Janik’s continued support, she also enlists Father Christoff, a priest at St. Stephen's Cathedral coping with unexpected emotions and doubting his commitment to God. Monika quickly forms bonds that can’t be broken, feelings exposed she never knew existed.
Relentlessly pursued by Gestapo Captain Gustav Kramer, Monika combats continuing risk to her clandestine operation. When her husband, a rabid Nazi, returns from the battlefield severely wounded, she gets caught in a cage that she can’t crawl out of.
Wrought with danger, riddled with romance, Another Soul Saved shows humanity at both its best and worst in a classic struggle of good versus evil.
By John Anthony Miller
An author’s goal in writing a novel is to create an imaginary world with make-believe characters that keep the reader immersed in the story. When writing historical fiction, the story is usually grounded in fact—actual places, events, or historical accounts. To keep the reader fully engaged, the author needs to mimic the every-day life of people who lived during that time. Details lend credibility to the narrative, and details require research.
Another Soul Saved is my nineteenth published novel, and I typically approach each one from the same perspective. Usually, I start by choosing a location and time period, or a world event that drives the plot. Once I have the basic concept underway, I start the research.
I begin with the names of the characters. Another Soul Saved is set in Vienna, Austria, in the early days of WWII. Assuming the characters are around thirty years old, and the book takes place in 1941, I searched online for popular Austrian baby names in 1910 – the year around when the characters would have been born. I use a legal pad and make three columns: female names, male names, and surnames. Then I match them based on my image of the character. I actually spend a lot of time on names because I want them to flow, especially for the main characters.
Next, I researched the city of Vienna, where the book takes place. I have been to Austria, but not the neighbourhood where the book is set, so I used Google Earth—it has a dropdown feature where you can actually “walk the streets.” It helps me describe buildings and use actual street names. Since some of the book takes place in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, I had to find the floor plans, including those of burial crypts in the basements, which are used in the novel to hide escaping Jews.
To create the right atmosphere, I had to understand the city of Vienna as it existed in 1941. Ninety-nine percent of the residents supported the policies of Adolf Hitler, but my novel uses the voice of the one percent who didn’t—those risking their lives to save others, knowing that friends, neighbors, and even family members could betray them. I had to create the underlying tension so the reader felt the same fear that the main characters lived with. I read books about the Austrian Resistance movement and the nation’s policies and treatment of the Jewish population, so I understood what their lives were like.
Another Soul Saved tells the story of Monika Graf, a wealthy woman who risks everything to rescue Jewish children, with no recognition or reward, betraying both her country and her husband. Unable to have children of her own, she impulsively rescues two Jewish children from the Nazis, which starts a whole underground movement. To realistically portray the process, I had to research real-life events. How did Jewish children escape the Nazi regime in Austria? A limited number were permitted to emigrate. What process was followed to get them out of the country? Many more children posed as Catholics, sheltered by the church in orphanages, convents, and seminaries. How was this accomplished? Other children were hidden on farms where it was easy to blend in with the farmer’s family, with much less exposure to soldiers or citizens who supported them.
Topics specific to the novel that I had to research included train travel, a nearby concentration camp, the workings of St. Stephen’s Cathedral—how many priests and what duties were they assigned, food rationing, the Gestapo presence in Vienna—headquarters and processes, and a timeline for the Jews in Vienna.
And lastly, I conducted research common to any historical novel: clothing worn during the time period, women’s hairstyles, local foods, and popular automobiles.
My goal as an author is to blend the different levels of research into a world the reader doesn’t want to leave.
John Anthony Miller writes all things historical—thrillers, mysteries, and romance. He sets his novels in exotic locations spanning all eras of space and time, with complex characters forced to face inner conflicts—fighting demons both real and imagined. He’s published twenty novels and ghostwritten several others, including Another Soul Saved. He lives in southern New Jersey.
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