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The Brunswick by Callie Murray

Oct24

Saves The World Entire

The Brunswick by Callie Murray is a fabulous debut novel set in the American South in 1939. It is a Christian historical novel, and although a work of fiction, has its roots based on real people and real events.

This is a story in two halves which alternate. There is The Brunswick in Norcross, America which used to be a hotel until the Wall Street crash of 1929, but is now a run as a store by a World War I veteran’s daughter. He had originally built The Brunswick but now is confined to his room with depression. The other venue is Austria where Jewish children are persecuted and need a safe harbour.

Within America there are anti-German feelings and we see characters marginalised because of their roots, despite the fact that their parents came to America many years earlier.

The World War I veteran is haunted by his past. He has withdrawn from life, even to the point of ignoring his daughter. His prejudice runs deep. “Who knew what he experienced when he was fighting abroad? – but he must hate an entire race, past and future?” Fears of how he will react to Jewish children in his hotel are very real. “Worry is a waste of time we have left.” We should worry about nothing and pray about everything, handing our worries up to Jesus.

We witness the cruelty and persecution by the Nazis, of the innocents. We see those who are brave. “I am comfortable because others were brave.” We wonder, what does brave look like? “Sometimes bravery looks like love… and love, you have.”

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The Warsaw Diary Keeper by Avi Dobzinski

Oct20

Four Ordinary Heroes

The Warsaw Diary Keeper by Avi Dobzinski is a powerful historical novel that has been constructed around the author’s wife’s aunt’s wartime diaries.

This is a heartbreaking book about the effects of war on a Jewish family of four, living in Poland.

In order to survive the family had to adapt and reinvent themselves as Roman Catholics. “You will have to learn to walk through the world as someone else” was the message given to the two girls aged just twelve and seven. This cannot have been easy – but the family of four realised that their lives were at stake. First Poland was invaded by the Soviets and then the Germans.

Everyone from the very youngest daughter wanted to help the war effort. Though only young, the youngest daughter delivered underground newspapers. She was very brave.

Hitler’s policy to eradicate the Jewish people soon spread throughout Poland. “Neighbours who had been polite in shops… had turned into monsters overnight.” Nowhere was totally safe for the family, who travelled to various places within Poland, trying to stay alive. This is their war. We see events through their eyes. We witness the bravery of them all, even the very young. We cannot imagine the fear the parents had for the safety of their girls.

War is not glamourous. There are heroes and there are villains. This is a book about a family of heroes – They moved. They adapted. They survived.

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The Baby In Her Arms by Suzanne Goldring

Sep28

Letters From The Lost

The Baby In Her Arms by Suzanne Goldring is a powerful and heartbreaking dual timeline novel that I never wanted to end.

The action is set in Paris during World War II and in 2024 in England. Nazi-occupied Paris was a terrible place to be. We witness a young Jewish mother make the ultimate sacrifice – leaving her newborn baby at the mercy of a stranger finding and caring for her, during a random round-up. We see the appalling treatment and are horrified. In contrast, we applaud the mother’s decision based on sacrificial love, to give her baby a chance of life.

There are strong women throughout the novel. They are prepared to stand up and be counted. Where they see injustice, they seek to right it. They do what they can, when they can, in whatever way they can.

Letters thrown from trains departing eastwards are found and delivered if they have addresses, or ultimately published in the hope that someone will read the letters from the lost.

A grandmother in present day is searching for her roots. She wants to know where she came from – and what she uncovers is amazing. Finally, the jigsaw pieces fit, and she can celebrate where she comes from, and who she is.

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The Hotel Dancer by Ellie Midwood

Sep6

To Save A Life

The Hotel Dancer by Ellie Midwood is a powerful historical novel that I just could not put down.

The action is set in Warsaw during 1943. Chapters are interspersed with ones from ‘the writer’ in 1974. As the action unfolds in the past, the writer interviews a different person in 1974, giving their perspective on actions past. Who is the writer? My jaw fell as the penny dropped. I was reminded of the Jewish saying that whoever saves a life, it is as if he saved the whole world.

This is a book about bravery at a time of great evil. Characters could choose to go out with a whimper, but they go out with a bang.

Dancing under the noses of the Nazis, a young Jewish girl does what she does in order to survive – but surviving is not enough, she wants to rescue as many as she can from the Nazis reign of terror.

The reader witnesses the growing relationship of love – is it real? Or has a woman been duped? Read the novel, and make up your own mind.

Ellie Midwood has created an atmosphere of terror. Lives were balanced on a knife edge as they could be snuffed out in an instant.

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