Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

world war 2 fiction

Rooted in reality: Review of Promise to Keep by Elizabeth Byler Younts

I’ve made it no secret that I have a like-dislike relationship with Amish fiction. It is not my favorite genre in general, except when I find a series or an author that changes my mind about the genre as a whole.

And the books Elizabeth Byler Younts has written fit that latter description. Her three-book series, The Promise of Sunrise, has a unique slant–it is Amish fiction set during World War 2 and addresses the tension of a country at war and a community committed to peace.

promise to keepThe final book, Promise to Keep, released this week, and its story centers on a young unmarried Amish woman who has been raising the deaf daughter of an active-duty soldier. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my review.) Esther Detweiler has been raising Daisy, the daughter of her shunned cousin, since the girl’s mother died. When Esther’s grandmother dies, she and Daisy are all they have left of family. Until Daisy’s father returns.

Joe Garrison is home from war, but the war haunts him, especially at night. He wants to be a father to his daughter, but she has no initial connection to him. As Joe and Esther work to bring father and daughter back together, their feelings for each other grow beyond the love they both have for Daisy.

Though the story started a little slow for me–which isn’t unusual for Amish fiction; I find the pace is often slower, a reflection, I think, of the lifestyle being portrayed–by the middle I was turning page after page, wondering how this was going to work out for everyone. I so appreciate the perspective of someone like Younts, who does not tell a rosy, all-is-well story without conflict or realism, and who has the family heritage–she was Amish as a child–to lend credibility to the setting and culture. Both of those characteristics are what keep me coming back to her Amish stories. I hope we have more to look forward to.

The other books in the series are Promise  to Return and Promise to Cherish but they do not have to be read in order. (Book #2, Promise to Cherish, was my favorite of the three.)

Hope in the middle of tragedy: Review of A Sparrow in Terezin by Kristy Cambron

Some books I read leave me in awe of the writing process as much as the story. Kristy Cambron’s novels are part of that category. Weaving storylines of suffering from World War II and present-day, Cambron writes of hope, beauty and love in the midst of tragedy and unexpected heartache. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book through Litfuse Publicity Group in exchange for my review.)

Sparrow-in-Terezin-PKA Sparrow in Terezin is the second of Cambron’s Hidden Masterpiece novels. The first, The Butterfly and the Violin, was such a work of art in itself, I wondered if the second book could meet similar standards.

It does.

The book continues the contemporary storyline started in the first book, so if you’re interested in these books, start with The Butterfly and the Violin. Art dealer Sera James and her fiance, William Hanover, find themselves in the middle of a legal battle that could send William to prison. In 1940s London, Kaja Makovsky, a Czech emigrant, learns she is no safer across the Channel than she was at home, and she must decide to risk her life to save her family. Both women face the choice to flee or fight, to trust or doubt. And Cambron creatively connects their stories through a character introduced in the first novel.

I love these kinds of stories that blend past and present, and connect lives and stories from each era. A Sparrow in Terezin preserves the stories of children who created art at a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. The more stories I read from the World War II era, the more I realize I don’t know about that era. I’d not heard of this piece of history, but I was moved by the hope and passion of the characters to fight for beauty and love in circumstances that looked hopeless.

Cambron is one of my new favorite authors, and I hope she keeps telling stories for a long time. If you’re a fan of World War II fiction, you shouldn’t miss her novels.

And read on to find out how the author is celebrating the book’s release.

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Bound together across time, two women will discover a powerful connection in Kristy Cambron‘s new book, A Sparrow in Terezin. Connecting across a century through one little girl, a Holocaust survivor with a foot in each world, two women will discover a kinship that springs even in the darkest of times. In this tale of hope and survival, Sera and Kája must cling to the faith that sustains and fight to protect all they hold dear—even if it means placing their own futures on the line.

Kristy is celebrating by giving away a basket filled with goodies inspired by her new book!

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One grand prize winner will receive:

  • A set of poppy notecards
  • A poppy pin
  • A copy of I Never Saw Another Butterfly
  • A copy of the Mrs. Miniver DVD
  • Literary tea bags
  • Tumbler
  • A copy of A Sparrow in Terezin
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Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 28th. Winner will be announced April 29th on Kristy’s blog.

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