Tag Archive | Bookouture

The Stars Are Our Witness by Siobhan Curham

Apr28

Of Magic & Miracles

The Stars Are Our Witness by Siobhan Curham is an inspiring, heartbreaking historical read that consumed me for a few hours.

The novel opens in Warsaw in 1940. It is an occupied city where the Nazis are gradually exterminating the Jewish population. Those who were previously counted as friends are shunning their Jewish neighbours – except for one brave sibling pairing. Kindred spirits cannot be torn apart.

We witness the bravery and daring of even the very young in the fight back against the Nazi occupation. As the grip tightens and the violence escalates, so does the bravery.

The fight back and the resistance looks very different for different characters. They all have very different skill sets – some are called to fight, some to smuggle, and yet some use their feminine wiles to extract information and weapons. Codes of morality blur in times of war.

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The Nurse Behind The Gates by Shari J Ryan

Apr25

Legacy Of Hope

The Nurse Behind The Gates by Shari J Ryan is a powerful and heartbreaking historical novel that I just could not put down.

The action takes place in Munich and Dachau. It alternates between the war years and from 1933 moving forwards. The novel is written in the first person from alternating points of view, and as such, we get to know the characters intimately.

Emilie and Danner are childhood friends – but Danner is a German Jew. He and his family gradually find their lives eroded from 1933 as anti semitism is rife in Nazi Germany.

1933 was a pivotal year when Hitler’s power became absolute and the course of Germany decided and plotted.

For Emilie and Danner, their feelings for each other remain. Emilie will always be a guiding light who offers hope in the darkest of times. As long as Danner keeps her in his heart, hope is alive.

We see sacrificial love practiced by the two lead characters. Danner loves Emilie enough to let her go. Emilie loves Danner enough to never let him go.

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The Wartime Vet by Ellie Curzon

Apr5

A Light Shining In The Darkness

The Wartime Vet by Ellie Curzon is a marvellous historical novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. It is the third book in A Village At War series but can be read as a stand-alone.

The action is set in a village in the south east. Here, we meet a young female veterinarian who has fled urban bombed out Coventry. The year is 1942 and now the young vet is treating farm animals and not just cats and dogs.

The ruins of Coventry and that awful night in November 1941 still haunt the young vet. She is not alone with her fears. There is also a man from the ministry who is a decorated naval veteran of both wars, and he is haunted by the events of war. Both are struggling through PTSD, although little is known of that at the time.

In the countryside we meet land girls and a most delightful young female evacuee called Sarah. She has survived the Blitz in London. Ellie Curzon has perfectly captured her enthusiasm, zest for life, and determination to help with the war effort, despite her young age.

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A Letter From Italy by Rose Alexander

Mar28

Searching

A Letter From Italy by Rose Alexander is a marvellous dual timeline novel that totally consumed me.

The action is set during World War II in both Yorkshire and Italy, and also on the south coast in 1972. Each chapter alternates with the time periods as the reader connects the dots.

A shock surprise, following her mother’s death, totally rocks a young woman’s world. All she thought she knew about herself and her family is shaken to the core as the foundations of her life wobble. She seeks answers, as she searches for her identity. The search takes her first to London, and then to Italy.

During World War II we start off in Yorkshire as we follow a young telephonist until her papers, at aged twenty, see her sign up and posted to Italy.

Also, in Yorkshire we meet an Italian POW based at Eden camp. The locals realise that the young Italian men are no different from themselves, they just want to see the end of the war. Once Italy joins the Allies, the young man joins the partisans in Italy.

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