Wingwatch

by Marco Strazzi, Ross Nelhams (Translator)

6 June 1944, 0:02. Roger Englin is aboard an aircraft headed for Normandy. He is seventeen years old and has a mission to accomplish.

31 May 2014, 15:12. Cédric Roussel is coming back home from the high school where he teaches history. He does not know it yet, but he has a mission to accomplish.

6 June 2014, 0:02. Théo Roussel turned eight years old two minutes ago. He will think about his party later on. Now, he has an appointment. And a mission to accomplish.

A paratrooper receiving his baptism of fire. A father who has never gotten over his greatest heartache. A young boy fighting his fear. Three people separated by space and time, yet they have something in common: a wristwatch, lost on D-Day and rediscovered seventy years later in an auction house catalogue.

It is Cédric who spots it on the internet, finding out that he more than anyone has a good reason to bid for it. Can it really be mere coincidence? The answer is a date with destiny that will challenge what he thought he knew of his own life.

WINGWATCH is a tale of courage, a bridge between the heroes of yesterday and those of tomorrow, a voyage through time in the company of that most classic of time machines: a watch, whose rusted hands and faded dial measure more than just the limited span of a minute, an hour or a human life.

wingwatch.blogspot.ch

300 pages, Paperback

First published November 7, 2012

About the author

After twenty years as a sports journalist, featuring the coverage of major football and tennis events, I became involved in watchmaking-related communication. I am the author of six historical books about horology: Lancette & C. (an encyclopedia of wristwatches in Italian, 2005), Rolex dalla A alla Z (a monography on the Rolex brand in Italian, 2007), The Museum Collection (100 milestones of 20thCentury watchmaking, in English and Italian, 2016), Watch Ads (a two volume pictorial history of communication and design in 20th Century watchmaking, in English and Italian, 2016 and 2017), Rolex 1905-1960 (timeline, watches, movements, ads, patents, documents from the first half-century of the company, in English and Italian, 2018). In 2012 I published my first fiction : the novel Wingwatch, partly inspired by a true WWII story and also available in Italian and French.

Après vingts ans de journalisme sportif, pendant lesquelles j'ai suivi les compétitions internationales majeures de football et tennis, je suis passé à la communication en lien avec l'industrie horlogère. Je suis l'auteur de Lancette & C. (une histoire encyclopédique de la montre-bracelet en italien, 2005), Rolex dalla A alla Z (une monographie sur la marque en italien, 2007) The Museum Collection (les 100 jalons de l'horlogerie au 20e siècle, en anglais et italien, 2016) et Watch Ads (deux volumes retraçant l'histoire de la communication et du design dans l'horlogerie di 20e siècle, en anglais et italien, 2016 et 2017), Rolex 1905-1960 (historique, montres, mouvements, publicité, brevets, documents du premier demi-siècle de la marque, en anglais et italien, 2018). En 2012 mon premier ouvrage de fiction est paru : le roman La Montre Ailée, partiellement inspiré d'une épisode vraie de la Seconde guerre mondiale, également disponible en anglais et italien.

Dopo vent'anni nel giornalismo sportivo, con reportage sui maggiori eventi internazionali di calcio e tennis, mi sono occupato di comunicazione legata all'industria orologiera, settore in cui opero tuttora. Ho pubblicato Lancette & C. (storia enciclopedica dell'orologio da polso in italiano, 2005), Rolex dalla A alla Z (monografia sulla marca in italiano , 2007), The Museum Collection (le 100 pietre miliari dell'orologeria del Novecento, in italiano e inglese, 2016), Watch Ads (due volumi sulla storia della comunicazione e del design nell'orologeria del Novecento, in italiano e inglese, 2016 e 2017), Rolex 1905-1960 (cronistoria, orologi, movimenti, pubblicità, brevetti, documenti del primo mezzo secolo della Casa, in italiano e inglese, 2018). Nel 2012 ho pubblicato la mia prima opera narrativa, il romanzo L'Orologio Con Le Ali, parzialmente ispirato a un episodio vero della Seconda Guerra Mondiale, disponbile anche in inglese e in francese.

Reviews

[Kaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a free copy from the Goodreads First Reads Giveaway Program and think that it interesting. I would recommend it to everyone.