Winner of the 2012 Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize
Shortlisted for the 2012 Edmonton Public Library Alberta Readers' Choice Award

In 1941, a young man imagines thrilling battles and heroic acts when he lies about his age and joins the army. Assigned to the Winnipeg Grenadiers, part of the Canadian army in Hong Kong, Freddy McKee becomes a prisoner of war six weeks after arriving in Hong Kong.

Five years pass and Freddy finally returns home from the war, but three women—Joanna Keegan, her daughter Hope, and the beautiful and mysterious Su Li—feel echoes of Freddy’s ordeal in each of their lives. For Freddy, the memory of war is a heavier burden than the weapon he once carried. Freddy must fight to survive in a world that has left him behind.

Judy Schultz is a nationally renowned travel and food writer, the author of ten books, and the winner of numerous awards. Her publications include Looking For China: Travels on a Silk Road, Mamie's Children: Three Generations of Prairie Women, Nibbles and Feasts, and Jean Pare: Appetite for Life. She also co-authored The Food Lover's Guide to Alberta, Volumes 1 and 2. Judy divides her time between Alberta and New Zealand, and devotes her attention to travelling, cooking, and writing.

Judy Schultz's profile page

It’s an interesting first foray into the world of fiction for Schultz, and she handles it deftly. Alternating between perspectives is a tricky business but she pulls it off well. —St. Albert Gazette

The idea of the novel is excellent. —Edmonton Journal

The fact that Freddy has one foot in a Chinese world and one foot in a white Canadian world adds a layer of racial misunderstanding to a story where everyone misunderstands what war can do to us . . . this is a great read. —Geist

Freddy's War was shortlisted for the 2012 Edmonton Public Library Alberta Readers' Choice Award

Brutal and violent in parts, honestly human and loving in others, this is a great novel about first-hand experience of war. —Laurie's Book Company, CBC RadioActive