Tag Archive | Net Galley

The Garden Of Shared Stories by Clare Swatman

Dec5

Ripples Through Time

The Garden Of Shared Stories by Clare Swatman is the most delightful timeslip novel that I absolutely loved and never wanted it to end.

The book is unique as the leading man and lady meet – but are twenty years apart. It is a magical meeting of two hearts beating as one. Both are grieving the loss of the loved ones of their lives. “He understood because he was grieving too.” They are two sides of the same coin. United by loss, held together with love.

Grief is very raw. “How it feels every single day as though you need to remind yourself to get up, get dressed, carry on while all the time it feels as though you’re being pressed down by a heavy weight.” The grief journey can be lonely. It may be accompanied by guilt. “After he died… I tortured myself, thinking about what I should have said or done differently.” The past is gone. Re-hashing it won’t alter a thing. We need to learn to put guilt to bed.

Clare Swatman writes with sensitivity. The emotions leap from the pages and into the reader’s heart. We really empathise with the characters.

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The Orphan’s Last Goodbye by Glynis Peters

Dec4

A New Cub In Canada

The Orphan’s Last Goodbye by Glynis Peters is a powerful historical novel that I loved. It is the fourth book in the Red Cross Orphans series but can be read as a stand-alone.

The year is 1947 and the war has been over for a couple of years but its’ effects are still being felt in lives. Nightmares of things that they cannot change, remain.

We witness that relationships formed in war cannot always stand the test of peace time. In contrast, other relationships strengthen due to shared experiences.

There are hearts of gold. “You always invested your heart into each child who stepped over the threshold.” Orphans of war were guaranteed a loving home in a big family house in the North East. These huge hearts continue as nothing is too much trouble despite personal hardship. In contrast, a heart is selfish, seeking out personal gain and not thinking of others.

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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.”

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The Last Orphan by Carly Schabowski

Nov13

Butterflies

The Last Orphan by Carl Schabowski is a powerful dual timeline novel that consumed me from the start.

The action is set in 1982 and during World War II. Nazi-occupied Europe was a dangerous place to be. We follow a young man and a Jewish boy as together, and with a support network, they try to rescue and hide as many Jewish children as they could. The action is grounded in facts. Their wartime experiences never leave them. They are forever haunted by guilt over what they did and didn’t do.

In 1982 we meet the daughter of the young boy who is also suffering over things she couldn’t change. Alcohol and drug misuse have been her way of coping as she tries to escape her memories. She needs to face the past before substance abuse kills her.

People had different moral codes during World War II. Actions done in order to save the self, would forever haunt a life.

Carl Schabowski has captured the fear of the children and the desperation of the parents with her dialogue and description. There were some hard to read scenes.

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