Travelling in France today via WWII Army Airforce nurses
featured in the not yet released novel,
IN PERFECT TIME.
Every
Tuesday, Dianne hostsFirst Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros,
where she shares the first paragraph or (a few) of a book she’s reading or
thinking about reading soon, then invites our participation. Care to join us?
*
Here's mine for today ~
Sisteron, France
August 22,1944
"Vive la France!" Mellie Blake crossed the sod runway, arms outstretched as if to hug the country...
"Isn't the light exquisite? Alice shielded her eyes and gazed around. "The Impressionists said Provence has the best light in the world, and I have to agree. I can't wait to get out my paints."
Kay didn't know anything about light or paint, but the scenery was gorgeous - the rolling Durance Valley, the mix of golden grasses and deep green trees, and the sudden white of limestone cliffs, one topped by an ancient citadel... "I'm looking forward to Paris."
Captain Maxwell chuckled. "Never fear. You'll be shopping on the Champs-Elysees before long."
*
Today's intro from Sarah Sundin's In Perfect Time set to release from Revell on August 5th. Book 3 of the WWII novel series,
Featuring WWII Army Air Force flight nurse, Lt Kay Jobson in her work evacuating wounded and delivering paratroopers and supplies between Italy and France.
Perfect addition to Paris in July, it arrived in Monday's mailbox!
"Folks back home don't like to see women in danger, and the newspapers smell a story. The Army's managed to keep them quiet, saying it's in the girls' best interest. The more of a fuss we make, the more the Germans will be determined to find you. They know you're out here. They're looking. And they don't like to fail."
*
Thanks for joining me today!
I'll look forward to reading your book intros and teasers
of what's grabbing your attention.
I've been focusing my reading on France/Paris/French for
Paris in July 2014. Today is Tuesday Travels. You're invited to check out the great participant
New York Times Best Selling Author, Liz Tolsma, provides
a video peek into the story's background
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*
Editions: Paperback, ebook -352 pages
Series: Women of Courage book 2
Published: May 6. 2014
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers
*
Description:
From author, Liz Tolsma ~
"It's the real story of two very courageous women. I've taken the true accounts and fictionalized them, but much of what happens in the book did happen. I cannot imagine living during that time, either on the run for my life or hiding for my life. Wondering if each breath would be my last. Praying that the bombs would stop falling while praying at the same time that they would keep falling. I hope the story touches you the way it touched me."
*
As Liz Tolsma describes, this is a story based on true events of WWII. Gisela Cramer is an American living
in eastern Germany with her Opa and cousin, Ella Reinhardt. When the Red Army invades,
they must leave their home to escape to safety in Berlin.
However, both the elderly grandfather and cousin Ella, a nurse, refuse to leave, sending her young daughters with Gisela. During their journey, Gisela
meets Mitch Edwards, an escaped British POW. She pretends she is his wife in
order to preserve his safety among other Germans. One wounded German
soldier, Kurt, has suspicions about Mitch’s identity. Kurt also has feelings
for Gisela and tries to uncover the truth about her “marriage.”
Their journey to Gisela’s mother in
Berlin is riddled with tragedy and hardship, but they strive to keep Ella's
daughters safe so they can reunite with their mother. During the journey Gisela
and Mitch begin to develop feelings for one another beyond friendship. They
reach Berlin, but their struggles are far from over.
Gisela and Mitch must
learn to live for the day and find hope in the darkest of circumstances.
In this moving, historically accurate
portrayal of WWII Germany, the characters learn that, even with destruction all
around them, some things last forever and theymust hold on to hope and love despite all odds in the midst of a war-torn country.
*
*My thoughts?
From the one hour window of decision to departure
in the face of the army's approach,
the intensity of this story didn't let up until its conclusion.
*
"She clutched her chest, finding it hard to breath, and snapped back
to the present. They had to run. An hour. They would leave in an hour.
She drew an unsteady breath and steeled herself.
"We can't let them catch us.""
*
Authentic characters living life as was the norm at the time,
now encountering extreme life situations at every turn
was overwhelming to read, let alone imagining the scenarios
Ms Tolsma so realistically painted.
Continual pressure of making decisions with far-reaching effect
yet without time to fully consider consequences.
*
"Thoughts whirled like a snowstorm through Gisela's mind...
The pictures...rattled on the wall as another shell hit its mark.
They had no time to waste. "
*
Caring for and carrying two young children from one horrific
setting in succession after another - my heart was pounding
in a continual state of alarm.
*
Gisela discovers their only transportation - a bicycle -
has been stolen during their first night of the move west.
How pleased I was when escaped Brit POW, Mitch Edwards, arrives
on the scene, anticipating him to offer some physical assistance,
yet without grasping the hazard he now becomes to those
of Gisela's immediate group.
His presence as escaped POW, language and accent, jeopardizes their anonymity just by opening his mouth to speak.
*
The magnitude of these desperate masses of people
fleeing capture are vividly drawn by Ms Tolsma.
Each scenario tangibly descriptive and emotionally evocative.
*
"She folded the cash and slipped it into a pocket sewn on the inside
of her dress, along with a handful of cigarettes from the tin.
They were like gold, barter for whatever they needed.
Anyone would sell anything for a cigarette."
*
Travelling on foot, hauling belongings by cart without rest
and for endless miles, with bombers attacking from above,
I despaired for their survival and protection.
Every emotion heightened and fully engaged in the outcome
of this young woman and her charges.
When a one armed soldier pulls her to the last spot of safety
in the final departing army transport, Gisela has no way of knowing
what lies ahead...
*
Bright moments of miraculous provision of food,
catching train space, help from fellow travellers, strangers,
and the comic relief of two elderly sisters
living in a world from their past, all serve to provide some cushion
for the reader from the constant onslaught of darkness that is war.
* In the midst of this exterior darkness, Gisela works and reworks the
interior darkness resulting from her past actions
regarding two cousins for whom she feels responsible.
Faith plays out in resolution of her distress and a maturity
I was looking for on her behalf.
*
Relief at the joys of reuniting once they reach Berlin are soon
exchanged for an entirely new barrage of emotions
when the Allied forces escalate their bombing in the final days of the war,
targeting more than the headquarters to bring down the Third Reich.
The advance of the Russians into the area bodes new evils
depicted by Ms Tolsma
and we're plunged into horrors that take our breath in new ways.
*
Personal tension between the main characters, Gisela and Mitch,
increases as the love triangle manufactured by German soldier, Kurt,
plays out to the music of his own imagination.
Ms Tolsma enriches readers' understanding with excellent insights into Kurt's thinking that colours his actions.
*
A well researched, encompassing story that relieves the suspense
with a satisfying conclusion.
*
“No what-might-have-beens. If
God says not to worry about tomorrow, I would think the same applies to
yesterday. There's enough trouble in the here and now to worry about how
differently things could have turned out.”
* Thanks to Thomas Nelson for providing an ecopy to read and review via Litfuse without cost or compensation.
*
Author Bio:
Liz Tolsma has lived in
Wisconsin most of her life, and she now resides next to a farm field with her
husband, their son, and their two daughters. All of their children have been
adopted internationally one has special needs.
* Her novella, Under His
Wings, appeared in the New York Times bestselling collection, A Log Cabin
Christmas. Her debut novel, Snow on the Tulips, released August 2013.
Daisies Are Forever releasedMay 2014. When not busy putting words to paper,
Liz enjoys reading, walking, working in her large perennial garden, kayaking,
and camping with her family. Please visit her blog atliztolsma. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter @LizTolsma. Liz is also a regular contributor to the Barn Door blog.
"Shadowed by Grace "is a dramatic story inspired by the Monuments Men of World War II by acclaimed author, Cara C. Putman. Desperate to save her dying mother, Rachel accepts her newspaper's assignment to travel to Italy to capture images dangerously close to the front lines of WWII. Her real motive - to find the father she never knew -- an artist she hopes can offer the comfort and support both she and her mother need to survive.
In her quest, Rachel becomes involved with what will become
the Monuments Men effort to save great monuments and works of art from the
Third Reich. Soon enough she will find more than she ever imagined--in war, in
love, and in God.
*
Pages: 352 pb
Publisher: Broadman and Hollman Books Published: Dec 4.13 and Jan 1.14
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Author, Cara Putman's thoughts :
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Books are born many ways. Shadowed by
Grace started when I walked by a display at our local library the summer of
2010. There a new non-fiction book stood cover out.
The photo on the front piqued my interest: a clearly WWII soldier standing with
a large painting. The stories I read in that book, Monuments Men, by Robert
Edsel, intrigued me and made me want to learn more. Before long, characters and
story ideas filled my mind, and I began fleshing out the story that became Shadowed
by Grace.
The idea of an elite, tiny group of soldiers who were tasked with saving
Western civilization fascinated me. Their task was compounded by the fact that
WWII was the first war that involved constant aerial bombardment.
What challenges would they face?
What would they fear?
Then
I started looking for unique roles American women filled on the European front.
The idea of a war correspondent who was a photo-journalist seemed the perfect
fit. An artist in her own right, she would understand the importance of saving
art. Rachel Justice and Scott Lindstrom were born and became the heroine and
hero in Shadowed by Grace.
*
My thoughts?
Cara Putman's WWII novel explores a variety of plots and subplots, ever increasing levels of wartime intrigue and human interest.
Rachel is conflicted in caring for her ill mother whilst pursuing her desire to find the father she's never known. In a bid to gain the finances that will help fund the health treatments that could save her mother's life, Rachel gains approval for overseas travel to photograph frontlines of the war. Though her mother is adamant in dissuading her, Rachel remains single minded in her pursuit to find her unknown father. The journey to attain her goal is treacherous and self-affirming.
Rachel grows in her art of photography, relationships, and faith
even as she is both captured and captivated by the intrigue of the journey.
Historical details of the time and Monuments Men's mission specifics well researched and intriguing,
I did not want to put this story down.
The horrors of the war scenes encountered were realistic and emotionally engaged me even as the relational interludes offered relief in the story's ebb and flow. Descriptions were colourful. Pacing kept the story alternately moving and standing as the main characters experienced wartime realities of siege and retreat.
I found the story filled with enlightening historical detail and rich in relational interactions. The blossoming romance was drawn with many emotionally lovely touches. Putman created an intelligent hero of worth and honour with intriguing past connections
to the monuments he was sent to protect. Suspense regarding these efforts was superbly sustained and concluding revelations dramatic enough to please even this reader.
Definitely a pleasing entry for my first experience with the writing of Ms Putman.
A welcome addition to libraries of WWII historical readers .
I look forward to more reading opportunities from Cara Putman in the near future.
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About this author
Cara C. Putman lives in Indiana with her husband and four children. She’s an attorney and a teacher at her church as well as lecturer at Purdue. She has loved reading and writing from a young age and now realizes it was all training for writing books. She loves bringing history and romance to life.
An honours graduate of the University of Nebraska and George Mason University School of Law, Cara left small town Nebraska and headed to Washington, D.C., to launch her career in public policy.
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