When Ella Hall is left to fend for herself and her child by the departure of her restless common-law husband, Lee Tingle, to World War II, she is able to save their farm with the aid of a German POW farmhand who becomes more than a helper, leaving her with an explosive situation and heartrending decision by war’s end..
It’s 1943 on the American home front, and Ella’s pent-up, common-law husband finally decides to leave their farm and enlist. Ella must either depart their seafaring town in coastal Delaware to pursue other dreams inland or try to save their farm. Their grade-school son, Reese, won’t budge, and Ella sees that farmers have a patriotic duty to stay on the land.
The bay and ocean waters before them have been preyed upon by German U-boats, and their village has become a refuge for survivors. When an officer from a surrendered German submarine is sent to her as part of POW farm labor, can Ella embrace the help in order to survive? And what happens when Dieter becomes more than a hand to her, amidst prying eyes and under her beloved but conflicted son’s watch? How will she choose when her explosive husband returns from Europe wounded from infantry duty against the Germans?
In ELLA’S WAR, we travel a journey amongst women and men whose lives are deeply altered by the circumstances of WWII. What heroic or questionable choices must they make to be true to themselves and come through the great conflict?