It is my pleasure to be spotlighting Sue Klauber’s new historical novel Cobalt today. Cobalt by Sue Klauber was released September 12th 2024 and is published by Troika Books.

This is the follow-up story to Zinc about three Jewish siblings John, George and Eva who continue to play different roles to help the war effort in WW2.

As with Zinc, Cobalt would be ideal as a class text to support a study of on WWII. It provides an insightful reflection of what life was like for the Jews during WWII, which could be used to trigger discussions on the events and inspire empathy. Historical fiction at its best.

Blurb

George trains in Scotland for his SOE mission to Poland to help the fighters in the Secret Army.

After his work at Bletchley Park, John is now stationed in Cairo in Egypt working on plans to deceive Field Marshall Rommel about the location of the impending battle, while sister Eva in Hungary is finding life for anyone Jewish getting harder and harder as the Nazis harden their grip over the country. Will the siblings ever manage to get together? They share so many memories, but war keeps them apart.

Based on the extraordinary real-life experiences of Sue Klauber’s father (Coding at Bletchley Park), uncle (SOE in Europe) and aunt (Resistance), she wrote Zinc and now Cobalt  to illustrate the courage of her Jewish family.

Extract

As part of my spotlight post I have been lucky enough to include an extract from the novel.

You can discover more about the writing of Cobalt here: Sue Klauber takes us behind the scenes of Cobalt, the much-anticipated sequel to Zinc.

About the Author

Sue is an experienced fundraiser and former media educator. She has produced films made by refugee children from Columbia, Kurdistan, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Armenia and Romania, worked as a fundraiser in arts and social care charities and is now the Trusts and Foundation Lead for a charity where she monitors grants across areas of residential care, community centres, physical disability and Holocaust survivors’ services.

Sue’s exciting middle-grade novels, set in the Second World War, are based on the extraordinary real-life experiences of her father, uncle and aunt.

They showcase the active and courageous participation of her North London Jewish family in the wartime struggle against tyranny.

To read my interview with Sue Klauber about the writing of Zinc take a look at: Special Guest Q & A with Sue Klauber.

You can also read a review of the first book in the series here: Book Review: Zinc by Sue Klauber

You can follow Sue on Instagram @Sueklauber and X @sue_klauber

Sue is available for author events in a variety of contexts, such as schools, libraries and community groups. Find out more, including contact details to discuss an event, in this flyer: Zinc by Sue Klauber: author events.

You can buy copies of Cobalt by Sue Klauber from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org which supports local, independent bookshops.