Archive | May 2022

The Midwife Of Auschwitz by Anna Stuart

May4

Where You Go I’ll Go

The Midwife Of Auschwitz by Anna Stuart is a powerful, horrifying historical novel set during a truly evil time and in a place that is the embodiment of evil. It is also a novel of hope, bravery and love.

The action moves from Lodz to Auschwitz as we follow two midwives. Being together helped to strengthen their resolve to survive. Amazingly they delivered over three thousand babies live babies over two years, not losing a single one at birth. It gave them a reason to hope whilst in the deepest pit.

As the Nazis moved the Jewish people out of their homes and into the ghetto, it felt like even God had abandoned them. “Searching for God. He was hard to find these days.” God was there, even when He couldn’t be felt. He walked alongside His people in their darkest hours.

As the Jewish people fought to survive, very few saw their pain but “ignorance was no excuse” to turn ones back on neighbours and friends. We do follow a Christian family, who with no thought to their own safety, did what they could, even though it could lead to the deepest pit.

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When Both Ends Meet by Alan C Hammond

May3

Entertaining

When Both Ends Meet by Alan C Hammond is a wonderful eclectic collection of poems, all cleverly constructed and highly entertaining.

Each poem is introduced by the author. They are varying lengths from just four lines to a couple of pages.

The poems cover a variety of subjects. I had my favourites. I particularly liked Sonnet about a mother, and also the very first poem When Both Ends Meet about Santa and Lucifer. Some poems make you think – why does a gooseberry have hairs? And more seriously about the gap between the common man who does all the graft compared with those in the upper classes.

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Stay Where You Are And Then Leave by John Boyne

May2

For Love

Stay Where You Are And Then Leave by John Boyne is a powerful YA historical novel set during World War I.

The reader follows five year old Alfie at the outbreak of war. The book is told in the third person but from his point of view.

Alfie is wise and brave beyond his years, recognising that he is the man of the family when his father leaves for war. He understands far more than the adults around him give him credit for.

With the men away at war and no welfare state, money is tight. Women have to have several jobs just to survive. Alfie does what he can to help.

We witness the impact of war on a community. The losses are felt by all, as the families dread the sight of telegrams or officers knocking on their door. Alfie’s mother wants to protect him and does not tell him the whole story about his father. This creates even more anxiety in him.

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The Medium And The Minister by Roger Straughan

May2

Fascinating – But No One Really Knows

The Medium And The Minister by Roger Straughan is a fascinating book studying the afterlife. The author produces evidence and viewpoints from both points of view. Ultimately it is up to the reader to decide what we choose to believe as no one really knows what happens after we die.

Roger Straughan shows the emergence of spiritualism from the mid nineteenth century. It had supporters in the British Prime Minister Arthur Balfour and author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is interesting to read their findings.

During World War I many strange phenomena happened to grieving relatives and soldiers still serving in the trenches, who claim to have seen those already passed on, but at the time the relatives and soldiers had no knowledge of the deaths. It is amazing to read, totally fascinating and unexplainable.

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