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.
We witness the burden of inheriting money and a title. A life is pressured by parents to do one’s duty, rather than to follow one’s dreams. We can see the tension that this causes.
Jesus sees our hearts. He knows our worries. He asks us to trust Him with our lives. “The Lord was strong enough to carry her burdens… so why did she cling to her cares?” We do not always believe that God does see us. We are important to Him. What worries us, is His concern too. When we surrender our lives to Him, we can live in freedom.
If we seek approval of man, we will always be striving. “Seek approval from the Lord alone, then he’d be free to do his best in the world.” We will be abundantly free if we live with our eyes on Jesus.
When we trust God, we can experience peace despite our circumstances. “He [God] was with her. Live or die, she wasn’t alone. Warm peace filled her.”
Sarah Sundin has set her novel in London during the height of the Blitz. We see how lives are disrupted night after night but still the people continue with their daily lives.
Running alongside the war is a series of murders. Are they linked? Or isolated coincidences? Who are/is the perpetrators? Alongside the characters, the reader tries to follow the clues. We witness amateur sleuthing.
Within the novel, there is sacrificial love that is prepared to let go for the benefit of the innocent.
All the characters are well drawn, realistic and believable. Sarah Sundin has created an eclectic mix of characters who gel perfectly with her intricate and well executed plotline.
I thoroughly enjoyed Embers In The London Sky and am sorry it is ended.
I received a free copy from the publishers. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
JULIA WILSON
