Ratings1
Average rating3
This story didn't reach the same depth as Secrets She Kept, Saving Amelie, or The Medallion. The beginning and ending carried the weight I've come to expect in a Gohlke book, but the middle of the story, though steady, did not dig as deep into my emotions as those other books did from front to back and every page in between. However, it found ways to keep me invested throughout the storyline.
In the opening chapter, there was an immediate sense of urgency and many hints at a beautiful, dangerous journey for Claire and the kids. My emotions were moved, and I found myself gasping and tears trickling down my face from the jump.
The hijinks of the kids throughout the middle section of the story were plentiful and entertaining. I enjoyed the conflict between Gaston and Josef, but some of the other children, especially the older ones and a few of the German ones, got lost in the shuffle. I feel like ten kids was simply too many for this particular story without adding two or three additional and separate subplots for the characters that slipped into the shadows. The book already passed the 400-page mark; why not push it to 450 pages to give those other children a chance to better shine and to be better known by the reader?
I felt a bit of a disconnect with Claire in a few chapters in the middle of the story. It might have been because she didn't see the obvious at times or that her behavior toward a certain little character was, to me, a little too harsh. Looking back on it after having read the book to completion, I see why she made the choices she did, but while observing those decisions, I wished she would make the obviously better ones available to her. Although there was some frustration and a disconnect with Claire for me, I still wanted to know what would happen to her, along with the kids and other members of the household. Like I said, the book found ways to keep me invested even though the story wasn't as deep as I was expecting.
I think what stripped the emotion from the middle for me was that the urgency that had been very present in the opening couple of scenes seemed to vanish for over half the book, only to return again with the climax. The plot, while good, was not great to me, as it seemed to settle into a day-to-day accounting of the characters' lives but without the sense of urgency or peril of an impending discovery or doom. There were snippets of that but not enough to carry on for so many chapters.
One thing that kept me cruising through this one was the fun mentions of Mrs. Healis (also known as Miss Beatrix Potter). Oh, my heart was made so happy with the addition of this beloved children's author! It was also neat to have C.S. Lewis play a bit of a role within the story, and I loved how Mrs. Gohlke used vintage books (that might have been new at the time, or at least really popular) to perfection within the plot. This was a great thread, one I enjoyed from the first mention of Peter Pan.
Aimee was my favorite character. Her emotions and reactions to things seemed the most realistic and authentic of all the characters, and I really connected well with this little girl. I wish she could be given another story, one about her adulthood, perhaps her romance through the Cold War or something. She was quite a delight.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:
“Stories give us a way to make sense of the world.”
“[She] was off the mountain but not out of the woods.”
“We are not saved because we perform works of love; we do works of love because we are saved.”
Content: a handful of profane phrases, two racial slurs (one spoken by a child), tobacco, alcohol
Two strange things that gave me pause:
A character “thanked all the stars that be” rather than God for something good that happened.
A character claimed that “tears of relief and joy... had washed away stains and darkness and every form of despair she'd known.” Only salvation through Jesus Christ wipes away the stain of sin. I'm sure this one simply came out wrong rather than meaning to discredit or make light of Jesus's sacrifice, as there were other moments in the story where His sacrifice was highlighted and expressed very well.
Overall, this was an entertaining story that kept my attention most of the time and provided me with a respite in the middle of a busy weekend. I would recommend it to folks wanting a more lighthearted WWII fiction story.
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, but my review is of the paperback I borrowed from my library. This review contains my honest thoughts.