Archives

Every Lifetime After by Jennifer Ross

Jan16

Love Remains

Every Lifetime After by Jennifer Ross is a very charming dual timeline novel that I loved.

The action is set in 2018 and 1943, and concerns the boys who flew from bomber command in Yorkshire. It is their story which is being filmed in 2018.

The leading actress has links to the area as it is where she was born and spent her first four years. Memories are awakened – some are her own, others are transcending time and space as she has a gift to ‘see’ past actions. Though their tale is already known, locations give her glimpses to the past. She is unsure what to do with her gift.

A character alive in 1943 is still alive and in a nursing home in 2018. He lives haunted by memories, grief and guilt. He grieves what he cannot change.

We see the pain of miscarriage. It affects the lives of the couple – until they share their grief, they are lone ships drifting along.

The reader ‘experiences’ the lives of the men and women of bomber command. Lives were uncertain – every time the boys left the base, they realised it could be their last.

Continue reading →

The Girl Who Told The Truth by Catherine Hokin

Jan13

Powerful & Engrossing

The Girl Who Told The Truth by Catherine Hokin is a powerful historical novel that consumed me from the start.

The action is set in 1930’s-1940’s mainly in London but also in Berlin. We follow one young British woman who desires the truth about fascism to be known. She also wants the perpetrators of an evil regime to be brought to justice.

In contrast there is a young German woman who makes it her mission to make sure fascism doesn’t end with the death of Hitler. She wants to garner support, especially in Britain. She is cunning and evil – but will goodness triumph?

The reader sees the evil Oswald Moseley and his Blackshirts as they try to take over London’s East End but “we won’t be told what to do by men who peddle hatred, not on these streets.” The plucky East End fights back as good triumphs over evil in their hearts.

With World War II comes the opening up of lives for women as they step into roles traditionally occupied by men. “Annie wasn’t the only woman who’d found a sense of freedom and purpose waiting inside the war’s ministries.”

Continue reading →

Far From Home by Danielle Steel

Jan3

Love Wins

Far From Home by Danielle Steel is a historical novel that consumed me from the start.

The novel is set in France & Germany towards the end of World War II. Hitler is losing the war but is blind to this fact. Some Germans are against him but are afraid to speak out – a few brave souls execute Operation Valkyrie. As history shows, this did not go to plan, and it is against this backdrop that the story is set.

We follow the war as seen through the eyes of a mother and a daughter following their husband/father’s attempt to kill Hitler. Their wars are very different – one is in France, the other is in Berlin.

Danielle Steel capture’s the reader’s attention as her plotline mirrors actual facts from World War II. Her characters are well drawn and easy to empathise with.

Continue reading →

Until Leaves Fall In Paris by Sarah Sundin

Dec2

Extraordinary Acts Of Bravery

Until Leaves Fall In Paris by Sarah Sundin is a powerful Christian historical novel that I loved.

The action is set in Nazi occupied Paris as we follow two Americans who are both working against the Nazis in their own individual ways. Both guard their lives as they work in secret.

Factory owner, Paul, appears to be a Nazi collaborator but he holds a secret. His outward appearance earns him hostilities from his Parisienne neighbours. In contrast, God sees his heart and knows that he is working for the greater good. We need to be ware of making judgments on what we can see because it could be far from the truth.

Ballerina, Lucie, fights a very different war. She surrounds herself with books. Her bookshop is the perfect cover for her resistance work.

People have prejudices against others, even within church but “the church needed all the different gifts working together.” If we have not walked a mile in their shoes, we should not criticise the lives of others. We have no idea of the inner battles that are raging.

Four-year-old Josie is shunned as she is judged by her father. This is wicked as she is an innocent in all this. “The poor little thing shouldn’t suffer because her father was a heel.”

Continue reading →