Story
Content Considerations
- Psychological trauma
- Referenced child abuse
- War violence and moral complicity
- Manipulation and coercive relationships
- Period-accurate homophobia, racism, and antisemitism
July 1943, west of Palermo. Operation Husky is well underway. American forces pull Friedrich Ziegler, a decorated German officer, from a shelled crater. His Soldbuch is torn. His shoulder boards say Hauptmann. His medals say Eastern Front, close combat, wounds, survival.
The man himself says almost nothing.
Captain Harrington runs a rear-echelon support camp that's seen better days and worse coffee. Dr. Robert Caldwell knows a head injury when he sees one—but this one doesn't add up. Lt. Daniels in S-2 sees a high-value source and a chance to bring the war one step closer to ending. Captain Quill in the Provost Marshal's office sees a security risk being coddled by men who've forgotten what uniform the prisoner wears. Thus, Harrington's delicate balancing act begins.
They all think they're helping. That's the problem. Good intentions don't make clean hands. Especially when eyes are clouded by past regrets.
Winter is a Circle is a WWII historical fiction novel about trauma, exploitation, and the impossible ethics of care in wartime.