Archives

A Christmas Proposal by Rose Warner

Sep7

Carpe Diem

A Christmas Proposal by Rose Warner is a charming historical novel. It is the second book in the Teacher Evacuees series but can be read as a stand-alone.

Although there is ‘Christmas’ in the title, the book is actually set from Autumn 1940 to Spring 1941 in a fictional tale in Norfolk as we join three teachers and their pupils who were evacuated from London.

The leading character is in her 40’s. She is part of a generation of women who lost their husbands, sweethearts and brothers in the mud and mire of World War I battlefields. “Most of the men she [mother] would have considered suitable lay in the fields of Flanders their broken bodies turned to dust.” Though the class barriers were breaking down, there were still those of the older generation who tried to maintain their lofty upper-class positions as they throw out their orders.

A second world war brings to mind all that was lost in the First World War. Fears spring up. “Even if you tried to ignore them, fears didn’t lesson… facing life… head on.” Sometimes, in order to defeat our fears, we must face them. We must not let fear stop us from doing what is right.

Within the classroom we hear a child’s logic. “I don’t see the point in doing sums if we’re all going to be blown to bits.” You can’t argue with that!

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These Empty Places by Sarah Loudin Thomas

Sep6

Finding True Treasure

These Empty Places by Sarah Loudin Thomas is a powerful and beautiful Christian historical novel that I adored. It is set in small-town America in 1930.

This is a book about love and relationships – whether with people, places or God. It is also a time when the old order of things is breaking down. “Her father had grudgingly agreed [to marriage] once he’d confirmed Preston’s bank account.” This was an old class system of marriage alliances to bolster families.

We witness different types of marriage. A couple chose love over wealth. Another chose financial security over love. Both marriages worked but in different ways. Being older when facing marriage definitely brings a different set of priorities.

A younger character is not comfortable in his skin. He continually feels that he needs to earn love. For him, rising up the financial ladder will bring love – he doesn’t realise that his other half loves him for who he is, and not the size of his bank account. “Rich or poor, or anywhere in between, honesty is the soil in which strong relationships grow.”

1930 in America was a difficult time for many. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 saw many people lose their money. But “when God closed a door, He often opened a window.”  We find that “It’s troubles that have done the most to shape me into the woman I am today.” We grow more in the valleys than we do on the mountaintop. It is in the valleys that we realise our great need for God.

When we know God, we can praise Him in the valleys as well as on the mountain top.

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The Hotel Dancer by Ellie Midwood

Sep6

To Save A Life

The Hotel Dancer by Ellie Midwood is a powerful historical novel that I just could not put down.

The action is set in Warsaw during 1943. Chapters are interspersed with ones from ‘the writer’ in 1974. As the action unfolds in the past, the writer interviews a different person in 1974, giving their perspective on actions past. Who is the writer? My jaw fell as the penny dropped. I was reminded of the Jewish saying that whoever saves a life, it is as if he saved the whole world.

This is a book about bravery at a time of great evil. Characters could choose to go out with a whimper, but they go out with a bang.

Dancing under the noses of the Nazis, a young Jewish girl does what she does in order to survive – but surviving is not enough, she wants to rescue as many as she can from the Nazis reign of terror.

The reader witnesses the growing relationship of love – is it real? Or has a woman been duped? Read the novel, and make up your own mind.

Ellie Midwood has created an atmosphere of terror. Lives were balanced on a knife edge as they could be snuffed out in an instant.

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The Other Life Of Mary English by G D Harper

Sep2

A Comprehensive Account

 The Other Life Of Mary English by G D Harper is an absolutely fabulous historical novel about the lives of Mary English and Manuela Saenz as they intersected in 1820’s Columbia. This is a comprehensive account that blends fact and fiction, educating the reader.

Both women were extraordinary, they saw life and opportunities, and they grabbed them. Both women were ahead of their time as they succeeded in a man’s world.

Manuela Saenz was the lover of Simon Bolivar – but she was much more than that. She was his trusted confident, advisor, and followed him into battle.

Mary English was an entrepreneurial business woman. She had a strong morality code – no slaves would be found working her plantation. “King George had abolished the trade in enslaved people in 1807. No slaves were now found on the streets of London, but… the institution endured in the Empire made me feel deeply ashamed.” Mary English actively sought to improve the conditions of those native to Columbia, and of those African slaves.

As did Manuela Saenz. “Simon was working on plans to make the education of the natives and freed slaves equal to that of other Columbian citizens.”

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