BOOK REVIEW: Shadowboxing by Anne Barwell - BONUS RECIPE: Thai Mango Sweet Rice with Pomegranate Sauce

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This World War II novel appears to be the first in what will be a series of books based upon the struggle of brilliant scientist Kristopher Lehrer to stay alive, and, with the help of a closely knit group of Resistance members, reach Allied forces.  A chance meeting with a former lover, David Reuben, inadvertently discloses that his scientific research is intended to be used by the Nazis as a weapon for mass destruction.  Kristopher, ethical and moral, is torn between the beliefs of his Nazi father and the need to protect human life, represented in his sister, a physician.

Kristopher inadvertently kills his mentor, Dr. Kluge, during a confrontation about the research.  His only choice is to reach Allied forces before he is captured by the Nazis and forced to provide the final pieces preventing completion of the weapon.

Various relationships are highlighted between the members of the resistance, including the burgeoning love between Kristopher and the man in charge of keeping him alive. The characters lack empathetic dimension, and the book ends a bit abruptly. Overall, not a bad read for lovers of historical LGBT fiction.

Review first published in The Historical Novel Review
 

BONUS RECIPE
Thai Mango Sweet Rice with Pomegranate Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups uncooked short-grain white rice
• 2 cups sweet coconut milk
• 3/4 cup white sugar

• 1 tablespoon tapioca starch
• 3 mangos, peeled and sliced
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame
  1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Pomegranate Sauce (see below)Combine the rice, tapioca, sugar and coconut milk in a saucepan; bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer until liquid is absorbed, 20 - 25 mins. Take off heat and keep covered until cool
  Pomegranate Sauce 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Combine 1 cup pomegranate juice and 1 cup sugar in saucepan.  Reduce, whisking over medium heat to syrupy ribbon stage. Cool immediately. 

1. Place the sticky rice on a serving dish. Arrange the mangos on top of the rice. Pour the sauce over the mangos and rice. Sprinkle with fresh mint and sesame seeds.