Archive | June 2023

Before Berlin by Leah Moyes

Jun26

Of Great Courage & Resilience

Before Berlin by Leah Moyes is a heartbreaking and awe-inspiring historical novel that totally consumed me. It is the prequel to the Berlin Butterfly series.

The novel is set in the World War II years and up to 1947 as we follow the lead character, a teen from Lodz in Poland.

We see the courage it takes to survive and how one had to be adaptable. A good heart, full of compassion for many, is admirable in times of war. “We attended church enough for me to know God would not want me to hate my enemies. But where was God now?” It is easy to believe that God has abandoned us in the bad times, but we have to trust that God is there, helping us. And that He sees us. “The only logical explanation for my good fortune had to be the hand of God… Maybe He hadn’t completely turned His back on us.”

A character steps up to lead, declaring. “If not me… who?” This reminded me of in the Bible where God asks “Who shall I send?” and the reply is “Here I am, send me.” (Isaiah 6:8). We have to do what we can, when we can and trust God to do the rest.

Not all Germans were Nazis. “There is at least one good German in the world.” We had to be careful when trust was in short supply, but there were still good people out there.

We see the importance of our responses to situations. “Sometimes you can’t stop the bad things from happening.” Life happens and we cannot control it, but we can choose our attitudes and our actions.

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The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Suzy K Quinn

Jun26

To The Moon & Back

The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Suzy K Quinn is the most beautiful contemporary story about love that I never wanted to end. I savored every moment of it.

This is not your traditional love story but make no mistake, it is a love story, and by far and away the best love story I have ever read.

We all need love but not everyone recognizes this fact and that can lead to loneliness. Sometimes we need other people to point out to us just what is missing.

This unconventional love story has nine year old Callum at it’s heart, along with his friend Angel Rain and Mr Lamb who is researching for his PhD thesis. They are unlikely heroes but heroes never the less.

Callum is largely ignored by his teacher at school. She has labelled him as a slow learner and has forgotten about him. In contrast, his teaching assistant is kind and encouraging. Callum is given the opportunity to help Mr Lamb with his thesis as Callum will be observed by him.

As the book progresses, we witness the growth of both Callum and Mr Lamb as a personality that was frozen, begins to thaw.

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The Red House by Roz Watkins

Jun22

Wow! Just Wow!

The Red House by Roz Watkins is an absolutely gripping contemporary psychological suspense that I just could not put down. My attention was grabbed from the start.

Roz Watkins has spun a marvellous tale. Her plotline is well thought out and executed. I, wrongly, believed I had worked out the conclusion – nope! How wrong was I? I followed where Roz Watkins pen led, ending up in a dead end as Roz Watkins constructed her fabulous tale.

The conclusion was superb. My heart rate rose and my jaw dropped in an ‘oh wow!’ moment.

All the characters were well drawn and realistic, eliciting a variety of emotional responses from me. I loved the leading lady as she tenaciously searched for the truth from that traumatic night when she was just five years old.

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The Way To The Sea by Victoria Connelly

Jun22

Beautiful

The Way To The Sea by Victoria Connelly is a simply beautiful contemporary novel that warmed my heart and soothed my soul.

At the heart of the novel are three broken people – trauma and loss over the years has devastated lives. Each are imprisoned within themselves. Each needs awakening to learn to live again.

Loss devastates. “It seemed barbaric to him that he should even think of life after Jamie. What right did he have to be happy again when his son lay in his grave?” This loss occurred before the book opened. A life is trapped in time – moving backwards is impossible, moving forwards is incomprehensible, and so life is suspended.

The other two souls are victims of domestic abuse (before the novel opened). Trauma has isolated the pair. “I started to believe his lies I wasn’t a good person, that I didn’t deserve friends.” If someone lies to us often enough, we begin to believe them and our self confidence ebbs away. We judge ourselves to be unworthy. It takes courage to break the cycle.

We also witness the cruelty that is dementia. Just occasionally we glimpse the person they used to be.

We all wear masks that hide our true selves. Only when we feel comfortable with someone will we open up. “You should never judge anybody by appearance. You never know the secret battles they were fighting or the things they’d endured.”

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