Captivating Characters of June link-up opportunity! Please join the link party or share your most captivating character in the comments.

Carol’s Captivating Characters of June Link-Up

On the last Friday of the month, I will write a post about my most captivating character of the month and create a Link Party (see link below my review)! In addition to hearing about the memorable characters that have captivated you, I also want this new project to facilitate new bookish friendships, help you find your book twin, and promote blog engagement. This link party will stay active for 30 days. In exchange for linking your post back to me, I promise to visit every blog post that links up, leave a comment, and share your post once on #bookx and #booksky.

Captivating Character Link Up Details:

1. You can use fictional or real characters/persons.
2. Link up a review that specifically highlights a captivating character or person, or write a post dedicated to your most captivating character or person of the month.
3. Please include a link back to my monthly post.
4. Be kind: visit one other post in the link-up and leave a comment.
5. #CaptivatingCharacters25

No blog? No problem! Share your most captivating character of the month in the comments.

Thanks for participating Joanne @ Portobello Book Blog (Martha, Frozen River)

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Georgette “Dickey” Chapelle

Name of Captivating Character: Georgette “Dickey” Chapelle
The reason she is captivating: real-life combat photojournalist/war correspondent, determined, resilient, brave
Book and Author: The Last Assignment by Erika Robuck (pub date: 8/19/2025)
Genre/Categories/Setting: Historical Fiction, Biographical Fiction, Photography, War Zones/Areas of Conflict, Hungary, Cuba, Vietnam, and locations in the U.S.
Mood: Tense
Content Considerations: War, Imprisonment, Death, Violence

One reason I love historical fiction is that authors introduce me to brave real-life women.

Born Georgette Louise Meyer, she claimed the name “Dickey” because her hero was polar explorer Admiral Richard Byrd whose nickname was Dickey. After her divorce, she elected to keep Chapelle and was known as Georgette “Dickey” Chapelle. To her colleagues and friends, she was Dickey Chapelle.

“As a gal who was ignored, shushed, and talked over most of her life,” Dickey was driven to show the world the realities of war, and her lifelong goal was to “take a picture to end all wars.”

Dickey has a unique ability to handle adversity and to press forward despite the challenges, hardships, fear, or danger. She was never meant to have a desk job and detests bureaucracy. She is a loyal friend who loves freedom, photography, travel, exploring new locations (especially warm and tropical ones), her partnership with the military, reporting from war zones, and Vietnam.

“If I lose my life taking photos to help those in desperate need that’s no tragedy. That’s triumph. If I don’t take my last breath in a battle zone, I haven’t lived my vocation.”

“It’s my calling. I must use my gifts of curiosity, courage, and access to the inner light to go to the darkest places and expose what happens there…I have to serve as an interpreter of violence. Find it, expose it, exorcise it…I am called to expose darkness for the world to see.”

A fun literary fact: Dickey was close friends with James Michner and his wife, and Michner was one of her greatest supporters.

The Last Assignment is not always an easy or comfortable read (war content), but Dickey is an extraordinary person.

Photos of Dickey Chapelle here.

First female photojournalist/war correspondent killed in action.

More information about Dickey Chapelle here and here.

You might enjoy The Invisible Woman by the same author.

Star Rating: 4.5 Stars

Meet the Author of The Last Assignment, Erika Robuck

Erika Robuck is the national bestselling author of historical fiction including SISTERS OF NIGHT AND FOG, THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, and HEMINGWAY’S GIRL. Her articles have appeared in Writer Unboxed, Crime Reads, and Writer’s Digest, and she has been named a Maryland Writer’s Association Notable Writer of 2024. A boating enthusiast, amateur historian, and teacher, she resides in Annapolis with her husband and three sons.

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You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

(this link party is open for 30 days)

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“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke
“I love the world of words where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes
“Reading good books ruins you for reading bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
“I read because books are a form of transportation, teaching, and connection. Books take us to places we’ve never been, teach us about our world, and help us understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley

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