Only Breath & Shadow (Paperback)

Only Breath & Shadow is about rescuing Jewish children from Vienna in the 1930s. It includes real events woven into a fiction and tells the story of a blind man and an American cabaret singer who seek to rescue four Jewish children. It also contains the true-life story of Gil and Eleanor Kraus, who travelled to Vienna in 1939 and brought fifty Jewish children back to America.
Christian Drewe a man blinded at the Somme sees the moral decay that Nazism brings to Vienna more clearly than the sighted world around him.
At the start of the novel Christian Drewe is a man without purpose, believing that his blindness defines him. But when the Nazis march into Austria, everything changes. When his Jewish friends are arrested and sent to the camps, their four children are left behind with no one to protect them.
Christian is their only hope.
In a city crawling with informants and watched by the Gestapo, he must do the impossible: hide the children, outwit a ruthless Nazi officer, and plan an escape from a world closing in around them, all without sight.
As danger tightens and time runs out, Christian is forced to confront a question he can no longer avoid:
How much can one man risk to save innocent lives?
Only Breath & Shadow is a powerful and deeply human story of courage in the face of unimaginable darkness.
Perfect for readers of All the Light We Cannot See, The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Nightingale, this unforgettable novel explores sacrifice, love, and the strength to act when it matters most.

Key Words & Themes:

• Kindertransport & Holocaust Rescue: Captures the urgency of the 1930s refugee crisis and individual action against global indifference.
• Disability in Historical Fiction - A Blind Protagonist: A rare, immersive portrayal of visual impairment during wartime.
• Suspense & Resistance: Features intense interrogation scenes, psychological games, and a true mission to save innocent lives.
• Vienna Coffeehouse Culture of the 1930s: Richly detailed setting of the Inner Stadt before and after the Nazi occupation.
• Oppression against Minorities: Tells the story of Paul O'Montis, the famous gay Jewish cabaret artist who mocked the Nazis, and Gil and Eleanor Kraus who came from Philadelphia in America and rescued 50 Jewish children

Only Breath & Shadow is a sweeping tale of moral clarity in an era of darkness, providing a dramatic conclusion to the Castle Drogo family saga while standing alone as a profound exploration of sacrifice and love.