What Happens Next by Christina Suzann Nelson

Feb20

Heartbreakingly Beautiful

What Happens Next by Christina Suzann Nelson is a most beautiful and heartbreaking Christian dual timeline novel that consumed me from the start. I never wanted it to end.

The action is set in 1987 and then thirty-five years later. We hear the events in the third person from several different points of view. We get to know the characters intimately from ten-year-old Heather in 1987 to her best friend and her mother thirty-five years later. It is love and memories which link the lives.

Since 1987 Heather has been missing. Her mother has been unable to grieve as she is keeping hope alive. “Hope was life-giving… Could she survive without hope?”

The loss has torn the family apart. The love of God and each other is the glue needed to help them all to live again. We hear “she’d turned her back on God… But that didn’t stop Him from being there, still waiting on His lost child.” God, our Father lovingly awaits the prodigal returning home.

Heather’s mother, Dora, held everyone at arm’s length since her daughter’s disappearance. “Her heart battled to keep a barrier between herself and the kind of love that could end in devastating loss.” To love and to lose hurts too much to do again, so it is easier to wall up a heart. “The world kept spinning, no matter how much Dora needed it to stop.” We can never fathom why life continues when our hearts are broken.

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Five Go Adventuring Again by Enid Blyton

Feb19

Thrilling

Five Go Adventuring Again by Enid Blyton is another thrilling children’s book that is just perfect for the over tens. It is the second book in the Famous Five series but can be read as a stand-alone.

Generations of children have grown up with the Famous Five books – and I am thoroughly enjoying re-visiting my childhood by getting lost within the pages of a book.

The Famous Five does not disappoint and is as entertaining now as it was when I first read the books in the early 1970’s.

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The League Of Lonely War Women by Andie Newton

Feb19

Loyalty, Bravery, Camaraderie

The League Of Lonely War Women by Andie Newton is a powerful historical tale that gripped me from the start. It is a fictional tale that is grounded in facts.

The story has four brave young women at its’ heart. They are American analysts working in Britain during World War II. They are transferred to Rome working for the OSS, which sees them parachuting into the heart of Nazi Germany in order to undertake a dangerous mission. Two of the women are tasked with something even more secret and dangerous, which they cannot tell the other two about. They hope to disrupt the Nazi war effort by lowering morale of the soldiers.

Andie Newton has created admirable characters. We see that trust and bonds formed in war will never break, even if separated for a time. Cunning and stealth is needed especially when they need to flee Nazi Germany.

The book is set in 1944 when it was clear that the Nazis were losing the war. Soldiers are dissatisfied. “He was swimming in unequal parts pain, hopelessness, and hurt.” We also see that boys are being recruited as soldiers. “He looked young, but his eyes had a tormented glaze to them from the war… I hoped he wasn’t one of the boys recruited directly from the Hitler Youth.”

This is a tale of two halves – war and peace – We rejoin the story ten years later as the two women who were on a special mission, now have the chance to complete it. But America is more concerned with the red in the bed than Nazi war criminals. The CIA did not reckon on the drive of the four women to complete unfinished business.

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The Elephant’s Tale by Lauren St John

Feb15

Educating, Enthralling & Entertaining

The Elephant’s Tale by Lauren St John is an entertaining children’s novel, just perfect for the over tens. It is the fifth book in the White Giraffe series but can be read as a stand-alone. I recommend reading the books in numerical order as each one starts where the previous one ended.

Each book focuses on a different animal. As the title suggests, it is the turn of the elephants. We are educated about the characteristics of elephants. They are loyal and caring. Being in any sort of captivity is detrimental to their health.

The reader learns about the damage that global warming is doing. We should all be looking after our planet and animals.

Eleven-year-olds Martine and Ben have grown in stature since the series began. A year has passed at the animal sanctuary, Sawubona. Physically both main characters have filled out, and mentally they are wise beyond their years.

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