The capture
Billie was captured on September 20 while attempting to take a village on a hill, with men falling around him.
Case file · AVPH–01
Based on
family history
family history
Book clubs & classrooms
History leaves
unfinished business.
A companion for readers ready to follow Billie Hoof’s road through captivity—and examine what happens when a family’s history survives only in fragments.
Adult book clubs Grades 11–12 · College
Choose your room
One story. Two ways in.
Switch paths at any time. The history stays the same; the questions change with the room.
60–90 minutes
A conversation with room to wander.
Begin with memory and family history, move into Billie and David’s parallel journeys, then open the full-book questions when everyone is ready.
- 01ArrivalWhat did the book leave you thinking about?
- 02EvidenceExplore the route and fact-versus-fiction file.
- 03ConversationUse Discussion Room prompts one at a time.
Billie’s road home
Seven stops. Ten months. One surviving thread.
Select a stop to trace the route that grew from Billie Hoof’s own wartime account.
Stop 01 / 07
September 1944
Lorraine
CapturedBillie is captured during the Lorraine Campaign after trying to move ammunition toward a village on a hill.
The truth file
What happened.
What the novel imagined.
Craig’s author’s note draws an unusually clear line between family history and invention. Open either side of the file.
The boxcar
He spent three days and four nights standing in a crowded railcar with almost no food or water.
Psalm 46
A fellow prisoner gave Billie the psalm during the journey. It remained his favorite for the rest of his life.
The deer
Starving prisoners found a freshly dead deer, hid the meat under their coats, and were spared when an inspector lifted the pot lid and walked on.
The Bible
Billie lost his Bible when he was captured. Someone found it and mailed it home, leaving his family unsure whether he was alive.
The welcome
His ship entered New York Harbor beneath a great arch of golden letters reading WELCOME HOME.
“I have done it because the alternative was to let a young Army private from Yazoo County, Mississippi disappear entirely into that St. Louis fire.”
Craig A. Hart · Author’s Note
Discussion Room
One question.
No rush.
Put this page on a shared screen and give each question the space it deserves.
Spoiler-free discussion
Prompt 01
What does the novel suggest can survive when the official record does not?
Historical field notes
Six doors into the research.
Use these as conversation starters, research-launch points, or context before reading.
Ready for the room
Take the conversation with you.
Each resource is designed to work on paper, on a shared screen, or alongside the interactive companion.
Bring the author into the room
Continue the conversation with Craig.
Invite Craig for a book-club conversation, classroom visit, historical-fiction discussion, or program about turning family fragments into a novel.
Ask about a visit