Tag Archive | Sarah Sundin

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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Embers In The London Sky by Sarah Sundin

Aug7

Searching & Sacrificial Love In Action

Embers In The London Sky by Sarah Sundin is an absolutely wonderful Christian historical wartime suspense. It captured my imagination from the start, engaging me till the very end.

The novel opens in Nazi-occupied Holland in 1940, continuing to London and finishing halfway through 1941. Sarah Sundin waves actual events into the novel. We ‘see’ the total devastation caused by the Nazis in central Europe – lives and dwellings broken or disrupted by the Nazi war machine. We ‘witness’ the evacuation from Dunkirk in May 1940. “Soldiers plucking cheer and courage from the cauldron of defeat.” Many lives were lost.

The reader follows the lead character, Dutch born Aleida as she travels to London in search of her young son. Aleida speaks up for those whose voices are unheard. Whilst her personal search continues, she researches the lives of the evacuated children. Prejudices raise their ugly head as foreign-born children are given to institutions and not families. Their stories need telling. We see that though humans may forget others, “God would never forget her.” God sees all. His heart breaks for injustice and war. “Surely His [God] heart broke at the suffering and destruction Hitler caused.”

There are those within the novel who suffer from disabilities. These are hidden away for fear of being treated as ‘less-than’, or in the case of a cruel father, for embarrassment or disgust. The reader’s heart breaks for a young boy and his mother, both of whom are subject to domestic abuse.

A grown man hides his asthma for fear of being seen as a label. “When people know, they no longer see me, only the asthma. They treat me as an invalid.” His fears are unfounded. People see him and they care.

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Where Treetops Glisten by Cara Putman, Sarah Sundin and Tricia Goyer

Nov25

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Tricia Goyer

Trust Him

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Tricia Goyer is a heartfelt historical Christian novella set in the Netherlands during Christmas 1944. It is part of the Where Treetops Glisten book.

The characters are realistically drawn and easy to empathise with. We see lives that practice sacrificial love as they help the weak and vulnerable.

The lead character is a nurse, ministering to all soldiers. “She knew this soldier was also German… With their bloody, torn uniforms cast aside, the men all appeared the same. They bled the same.” There is no place for hate in the hospital as all soldiers need love and care. We witness the strength needed to treat without bias.

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Where Treetops Glisten by Tricia Goyer, Cara Putman and Sarah Sundin

Nov25

I’ll Be Home For Christmas by Sarah Sundin

Learning To Trust

I’ll Be Home For Christmas by Sarah Sundin is a heart-warming Christian novella about trust and letting go and letting God. It is part of the collection called Where Treetops Glisten.

The story is set in America in 1943 and already there have been casualties of war. A hurting heart has been locked up but it needs freeing.

Grief consumes. There is guilt. There is anger. There is pain. Somewhere and somehow we need to learn to live again and to trust.

We can trust God. Each one of us has a God-shaped hole that only He can fill. If we try to fill it with anyone or anything that is not God, we will always be empty.

When we come to the end of ourselves, we come to the start of God. When we feel empty, we need to ask God to fill us up. “If Pete gave in faith out of his nothingness, God would replenish.” As we give of ourselves, so we are filled.

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