The phone rings in the Kahn household, in Giessen, Germany, one night in May, 1933.  Rudolph answers.  “The Hitlerjugend [Hitler youth] are coming to kill you and your brother,” a Christian friend warns.  

“Not my boys, they won’t,” says their mother.  She packs rucksacks for her two teenagers and by 1 a.m., they are racing their bicycles through the rain.  As they whirl through a forest, Rudolph, aged 17, yells to Gottfried, “Happy Birthday,” and the latter realizes he has turned 20.

It will be four years and six countries before they see their remarkable mother again.

Pat Lorraine Simons bases her compelling debut novel on the true story of her father, Gottfried, and her Uncle Rudolph in “Brothers on the Run: Fleeing Hitler, Fighting Franco,” [Kindle and CreateSpace, $16.95, 331 pages including historical notes and bibliography].  Even her notes make for good reading, especially about famous WASP investment bankers who made big money dealing with the Nazis.   Despite the horrors of war, “Brothers” is an upbeat read.

A gifted storyteller, Simons writes of each brother in alternating chapters, in first person and in present tense.  These techniques give the book an immediacy and accessibility.  Her clear writing style makes the Kahns’ interconnecting stories easy to follow.

You might expect such clarity from a woman who spent three careers working with words.   After practicing as a trial lawyer for 24 years and, before that, teaching high school English, Simons founded the nonprofit Ready Readers program, in 1997.  It annually inspires 8,000 disadvantaged preschoolers to learn to read.  She received a 2012 Unsung Hero award from the Light.  Her son, Daniel Simons, writes too, who co-authored the well-received, “The Invisible Gorilla: and other ways our intuitions deceive us.”

“Brothers” is more than an adventure story as the Kahns zigzag across Germany to Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain and Cuba.  Parts read like a thriller as they dodge the lights and the bullets as they swim at night across the river separating Germany from Austria.  The scenes where they pose as Aryans and hang out with two Nazi brothers, then lunch with their uncle who claims to be close to Hitler’s upper echelon, are tense.  

Simons gives a nuanced study of the relationship between the brothers.  While Gottfried and Rudolph can drive each other crazy, they miss each other when they are forced to live in different cities and countries.

Both Kahns are handsome and nimble-witted.  A mechanic by trade, Gottfried can fix most anything, is adept at learning new languages and a born worrywart.  Yet he can be fearless; he drives a car down the steps of Sacre Coeur Basilica, in Paris, demonstrating how durable Michelin tires are for an advertisement.    

Rudolph is a bit of a roué with his lopsided grin, his deck of cards and his dirty jokes.  Twice he is imprisoned, and twice he gets away.  While managing a chicken farm in Catalonia, Spain, he falls madly, crazy in love at first sight with the blonde and beautiful aristocrat, Carme, aged seventeen.  Her father says they can marry if Rudolph converts to Catholicism.  Rudolph says no and tells Carme, “Wait for me.”  He leaves for Paris to gain passage for them to the United States.  

The brothers team up fighting for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War.  Simons explains succinctly the background of the conflict,  and how the Fascists like Hitler supported Franco as dictator.  The anti-Fascists have to fight with antiquated armament and the troops are highly disorganized.  The youths are severely injured, and discharged.  The brothers Kahn board a ship bound for Mexico, then jump ship in Cuba.  And their adventures continue.