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The Strawberry House by Rachel Burton

Mar3

Of Love & Life, Friends & Family

The Strawberry House by Rachel Burton is a powerful historical novel set over two time periods. It has its’ roots in facts as we hear about William Morris and the pre-Raphaelite artists. The action is set in 1938 and 1952. These alternate.

The summer of 1938 is a defining and devastating summer. Lives would be altered forever. No one would ever be the same again as a tragic accident affects all those involved.

It began as a summer of promise but ended as a summer of tragedy.

It was a summer where new friendships were forged. Lives took new trajectories as characters made decisions about their futures.

Between the two time periods was World War II. Here lives were changed again – sometimes forever lost.

1938 saw women’s lives on the edge of change. Old fashioned paternalistic attitudes had squashed women but with the war, came freedom. A female character believes “If women can crack enemy code…we can do anything we… want.”

In contrast we hear the thoughts of a male character after the war: “Go home… Marry a nice man, have some children, be happy.” “Because that was all women were good for again now that the war was over.” A male dominated society wanted to put women back in a clearly labelled box: ‘family.’

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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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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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Yesterday’s Tides by Roseanna M White

Jan28

God’s Faithfulness

Yesterday’s Tides by Roseanna M White is a powerful dual timeline novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The action is set during both world wars, and is linked by the generations of a family. The chapters alternate between the two time periods. Much of the action is set on Ocracoke, a small American island.

All the characters were well drawn and believable. I loved the fact that there were cameo appearances of characters from other Roseanna M White’s books. This added to the feeling a familiarity for the reader.

Lies and suspicion happens within a family as well as during times of war. Characters in both time periods are cruelly treated and time with children is snatched away. As is the time with a spouse.

There is the theme of forgiveness. When there is much to forgive, it does not come easy – but forgiveness is a s much for the welfare of the giver, as it is for the receiver.

There are several generations of strong women. They have had to rise above their circumstances. They are overcomers. The reader’s heart breaks for the abused wife who tells her small daughter: “You hear him [her father] coming, and you run, baby girl. You run to Lulu and spend the night with her.”

Many of the women have grown up under the Jim Crow laws, shunned because of their skin colour. The prejudices remain. The women are so much more than the colour of their skin. They are hardworking, and full of goodness, serving others where they can.

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