The Vow by Felicity Goodrich

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: April 7, 2016

It happens in the chill of a September night, 1939: Their small Polish village is raided, burned to the ground. Anna, a devoutly Catholic teenager, watches as her friend is shot, as her father is dragged off for conscription in the German army. Szymon, the young village priest, stands silently with his parishioners as their church is ransacked and torched. Anna clings to him—her dear friend and confidant—and by some luck, the Germans spare them. Five Septembers later, Anna and Szymon still cling together, now amid the turmoil of war. Though Anna dreads her engagement to a local ruffian and Szymon fears for his father’s life back home, the two find solace in their friendship. But when the Soviet army comes to “liberate” them, Anna endures an unspeakable atrocity and Szymon suffers his own tragedy. Now bound even more tightly by the sorrows they carry, they face a choice: honor the vows they’ve made to others or risk everything for the chance at salvation in each other.

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My interest in Felicity Goodrich’s The Vow stems from the time and location in which the story unfolds. I love WWII fiction and was instantly drawn to the narrative. Lake Union Publishing provided me a copy through Netgalley, but unfortunately, the book didn’t deliver the punch I’d been hoping for when I submitted my initial request.

Goodrich sets an intense tone in the opening chapters of the narrative, but she doesn’t sustain the momentum through to the end. I finished the book, but I had to fight off boredom the last sixty pages and was not at all satisfied the novel’s resolution. It doesn’t seem to have bothered other readers, but suffice it to say the conclusion was too predictable and tidy for my liking.

Anna and Szymon have their moments and while I appreciated the challenges of Szymon’s holy responsibilities, both leads struck me as cookie-cutter characterizations. If not for Tomek, I’d have likely given up on the story altogether. Of the entire cast, the war profiteer was the only one with a truly compelling arc. I will not ruin the story by getting into the details, but I think his journey the most thought-provoking of the narrative.

I enjoyed the suspicions and jealousies that pit neighbor against neighbor within these pages, but I can't claim The Vow had a particularly profound impact on me as a reader.

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Turning toward Anna, he took one last look at her. There would never be another girl like her in his life, and he knew it. He wanted to hold her one last time, to feel her kiss him the way she had in the church…

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Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Obtained from: Local Library

Read: March 4, 2016

Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets.Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war. As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom. Yet not all promises can be kept. Inspired by the single greatest tragedy in maritime history, bestselling and award-winning author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) lifts the veil on a shockingly little-known casualty of World War II. An illuminating and life-affirming tale of heart and hope.

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Generally speaking I turn to young adult lit when I’m in the mood for something light. I mean no offense in that admission, but the genre doesn’t satisfy my tastes the way it once did. This being the case, I seriously considered bypassing Ruta Sepetys’ Salt to the Sea altogether, but the truth of the matter is that the subject matter was simply too tempting to ignore.

The sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff is a tragedy I’m very familiar with, but Sepetys’ work marks the first time I’ve seen it adapted to fiction. The disaster serves as the backdrop for the novel’s climax and I loved how the magnitude of event was emphasized by the individual experiences of Sepetys’ cast. The author’s incorporation of the mystery surrounding the Amber Room was also noteworthy, but it was her descriptions of Operation Hannibal that struck the most emotional chord. I read a lot of World War II fiction and genuinely feel the desperation Sepetys illustrated within these pages beyond compare.

Joana’s resolve and generous heart made her an intensely compelling heroine. Florian is flawed, but his tenacity and courage endear him to Sepetys’ audience from page one. Emilia, sweet and gentle Emilia carries a burden of memory and experience I’ve rarely seen in adult fiction and while I was both horrified and heartbroken over the revelation of her backstory, I feel the loss of innocence that defines her journey the most powerful arc of the narrative. I found Heinz, the shoe poet, singularly charming and felt Ingrid refreshingly inspired. Like many readers, I struggled to appreciate Alfred though I can’t decide if that because I felt his voice superfluous or because I pegged his story in the early chapters of the narrative.

In the author’s note, Sepetys states she was “… haunted by thoughts of helpless children and teenagers – innocent victims of border shifts, ethnic cleansings, and vengeful regimes. Hundreds of thousands of children were orphaned during World War II. Abandoned or separated from their families, they were forced to battle the beast of war on their own, left with an inheritance of heartache and responsibility for events they had no role in causing.” Sepetys novel is intense, painful, and at times, uncomfortable, but it truly reflects the horrors faced by children of the period and stands as a testament to the terror they endured and overcame.

Salt to the Sea is not an easy read, but it is a brutally powerful one that I highly recommend.

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“I unbuttoned my coat, enduring the freezing temperature in order to allow the bloodstains on my shirt to be visible. I had another stain of course. One that wasn’t visible. Sippenhaft. Blood guilt.” 

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Scent of Triumph by Jan Moran

Rating: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: February 20, 2015

Scent of Triumph is the story of Danielle Bretancourt, a talented young French perfumer with a flair for fashion and a natural olfactory gift. In the language of perfumery, she is a Nose, with the rare ability to recognize thousands of essences by memory. The story opens on the day England declares war on Germany, and Danielle and her family are caught in the midst of a raging disaster sweeping across Europe. Her life takes a tragic turn when her husband and son are lost behind enemy lines. She spies for the French resistance, determined to find them, but is forced to flee Europe with fragments of her family. Destitute, she mines her talents to create a magnificent perfume that captures the hearts of Hollywood's top stars, then gambles again to win wealth and success as a couturier. Her intelligence and flair attracts the adoration of Jonathan Newell-Grey, of England's top shipping conglomerate, and Cameron Murphy, Hollywood's most charismatic star. Danielle charts her course through devastating wartime losses and revenge; lustful lovers and loveless marriages; and valiant struggles to reunite her family. Set between privileged lifestyles and gritty realities, here is one woman's story of courage, spirit, and resilience.

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I don't know where to begin with Jan Moran's Scent of Triumph. The book made an unmistakable impression, it left me speechless and I find myself at a loss in describing my experience with it.

Moran's style and tone grated my nerves from the start. The language she employs struck me as repetitive and the story is positively saturated with purple prose. I make a point of ignoring the odd hiccup in spelling and grammar, but Moran struggles with neither. This is a technique and one that didn't hold much appeal for this particular reader.

The book is character heavy which might have worked, if any of the cast had struck my fancy. Unfortunately, I felt the lot underdeveloped, wooden and clichéd. Danielle Bretancourt and Jonathan Newell-Grey lacked charisma and depth. Cameron Murphy had potential, but I don't feel Moran executed it to her best advantage. Heinrich and Sofia were promising, but they enjoy relatively minor roles and weren't as necessary to Danielle's experience as they were Nicky's.

To make matters worse, I felt Moran's execution predictable, unbalanced and heavy-handed. Danielle's takes place against WWII, but the global conflict hardly competes with the author's portrayal of the perfumer's art. I felt the first half of the narrative entirely unnecessary and I often found myself wondering at the author's delivery. There is a distinct lack of tension and many of the main plot points are weakly tied together.

I'm a stubborn mule and finished the novel for no other reason than a desire to say I did, but nothing about this piece worked for me and I don't see myself recommending it down the road.

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They all raised their glasses. Marie cleared her throat and held her glass high. “And to those who’ve gone on before us, may they watch after us,” she said solemnly, then added with a lilting laugh, “and may we never cease to amuse them."

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A Chance Kill by Paul Letters

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

Read: April 1, 2015

An old-fashioned love story weaves through an authentic wartime thriller. Can individuals shape destiny? Or is it all by chance? Based upon real events, seventeen-year-old Polish catholic Dyta Zając finds herself forced away from wartime Warsaw due to her family’s shadowy connections. Dyta’s time on the run sets her on a path towards confronting the ultimate Nazi. Half a continent away, an RAF bomber crew embarks upon Britain’s little-known first offensive of the war. In a story of fear versus hope, the unspoken limits of loyalty are exposed and the value of a compromised life is contested. Courtship edges Dyta’s destiny closer to that of members of the RAF crew – and toward the Allies’ most brazen covert operation to strike at the Nazi elite. Even more dangerous than the enemy, however, is the assumption that your enemy’s enemy is your friend...

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Paul Letters' A Chance Kill is an interesting piece. It captures the macro level politics of the period, but like Sofi Oksanen's Purge and Philip Schultz's The Wherewithal, it also delves into less well-known chapters of WWII, affording readers both new insight and distinct intrigue.

This is ambitious storytelling that covers much of Europe. It is at times intense, but I personally thought Letters' tone appropriate for the material at hand. The writing is heavily detailed and while I sometimes felt the sheer volume of information detrimental to the novel's pacing, I can't deny being impressed by the research Letters put into his work.

I wasn't much for the love story, but that's just me. I liked how the soft emotions between Letters' lovers countered the tension and desperation of the resistance movement and their operations, but the romance itself didn't hold a candle to the darker drama at the heart of the novel. 

A Chance Kill is a weighty fiction, but an enjoyable one that proved well-worth the time I put into it. I wouldn't recommend it as casual reading, but fans of war era thrillers should have no trouble getting lost between these pages.  

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She recalled one of the dictums Captain Sykes had drummed into her on training. Don’t focus on what you don’t know how to do – execute what you have learned with precision and speed.

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Check Out All the Stops on Paul Letters' A Chance Kill Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, April 6
Review at Flashlight Commentary

Tuesday, April 7
Review at Books and Benches
Spotlight at Beth’s Book Nook Blog

Wednesday, April 8
Review at Quirky Book Reviews
Review at Back Porchervations
Spotlight at A Literary Vacation
Spotlight at With Her Nose Stuck In A Book

Thursday, April 9
Review at History From A Woman’s Perspective
Spotlight at Boom Baby Reviews

Friday, April 10
Review at The Great Reads!
Interview at Back Porchervations
Guest Post at History From A Woman’s Perspective
Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews

The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: January 1, 2015

A Mysterious painting breathes hope and beauty into the darkest corners of Auschwitz--and the loneliest hearts of Manhattan. Manhattan art dealer Sera James watched her world crumble at the altar two years ago, and her heart is still fragile. Her desire for distraction reignites a passion for a mysterious portrait she first saw as a young girl--a painting of a young violinist with piercing blue eyes. In her search for the painting, Sera crosses paths with William Hanover--the grandson of a wealthy California real estate mogul--who may be the key to uncovering the hidden masterpiece. Together Sera and William slowly unravel the story behind the painting's subject: Austrian violinist Adele Von Bron. A darling of the Austrian aristocracy of 1942, talented violinist, and daughter to a high-ranking member of the Third Reich, Adele risks everything when she begins smuggling Jews out of Vienna. In a heartbeat, her life of prosperity and privilege dissolves into a world of starvation and barbed wire. As Sera untangles the secrets behind the painting, she finds beauty in the most unlikely of places: the grim camps of Auschwitz and the inner recesses of her own troubled heart.

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Kristy Cambron's The Butterfly and the Violin sat on my kindle far longer than it should have. I received a review copy before it ever went to print, but my attention only turned its way when Cambron released a sequel. I'm not a fan of starting in the middle so, naturally, I felt I had no choice and promptly bumped book one of the Hidden Masterpiece series to the top of my TBR. 

I cracked it open and to be perfectly honest, I fell in love with it. There was a lot of intrigue in the contemporary mystery surrounding the painting and I liked the inherent conflict of the 1942 premise. I didn't think much of William, Sera or Adele, but I quickly grew to appreciate supporting cast members like Vladimir, Penny and Omara. The pacing was great, I loved the amount of authentic detail offered in the Auschwitz scenes, and I thought the back and forth movement between the two storylines very well-done. I still think that, but none of it makes up for the elements I didn't appreciate.

The early chapters of the novel incorporated light religious references that complimented the situational drama of the narrative, but Cambron mounts a soapbox in the tail end of the story and infuses her novel with so much faith that the fictional elements of the novel fade into obscurity. Some readers of Christian fiction like this treatment and I can respect that, but I am not one of them. I have no problem with religion, if I did I wouldn't have picked up the book, but Cambron got so caught up in her message that she lost sight of the story she'd created and that is something I can't ignore. 

Bottom line, I felt The Butterfly and the Violin started strong, but it lost its way and never recovered. The story had tons of potential, but lacks balance between its fictional elements and faith-based themes and at the end of the day, I admit it is a piece I'd have great difficulty recommending alongside the American Family Portrait series by Cavanaugh or the Zion Covenant books by Thoene.

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"Now I understand the depth of the sadness.” William turned and looked at her. “In the painting? Adele’s eyes look as though they go deeper than the back of the canvas. It’s because of what she saw, because of all the people who walked by her and she was powerless to stop it.” 

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The Other Girl by Pam Jenoff

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: August 18, 2014

One woman's determination to protect a child from the dangers of war will force her to face those lurking closer to home... Life in rural Poland during WWII brings a new set of challenges to Maria, estranged from her own family and left alone with her in-laws after her husband is sent to the front. For a young, newly pregnant wife, the days are especially cold, the nights unexpectedly lonely. The discovery of a girl hiding in the barn changes everything—Hannah is fleeing the German police who are taking Jews like her to special camps. Ignoring the risk to her own life and that of her unborn child, Maria is compelled to help. But in these dark days, no one can be trusted, and soon Maria finds her courage tested in ways she never expected and herself facing truths about her own family that the quiet village has kept buried for years...

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Pam Jenoff is one of my favorite authors. I've enjoyed her work for several years and love what she does with World War II fiction. Her latest release, The Other Girl is a novella, a companion piece to The Winter Guest, and though I've yet to finish the novel, I found the short interesting for the perspective it brought to the larger story. 

Naturally there isn't a lot of character development, but one can't help empathizing with Maria. A young woman, alone in a small Polish village, she struggles to make peace with her personal situation and understand the changes wrought by German occupation. I don't want to spoil anything, but suffice it to say her brief experience with Hannah and Janusz is quite moving. 

Understandably, I have difficulty stating a short is a must read, but the piece is certainly worth looking into if World War II fiction is something you find appealing.  

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Most villagers were just trying to survive. They were not complicit with the Germans like her own traitorous father, but it was hard to imagine them risking their own lives for a person they didn't know...

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The Things We Cherished by Pam Jenoff

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Obtained from: Local Library

Read: August 20, 2012

An ambitious novel that spans decades and continents, The Things We Cherished tells the story of Charlotte Gold and Jack Harrington, two fiercely independent attor­neys who find themselves slowly falling for one another while working to defend the brother of a Holocaust hero against allegations of World War II–era war crimes. The defendant, wealthy financier Roger Dykmans, mysteri­ously refuses to help in his own defense, revealing only that proof of his innocence lies within an intricate timepiece last seen in Nazi Germany. As the narrative moves from Philadelphia to Germany, Poland, and Italy, we are given glimpses of the lives that the anniversary clock has touched over the past century, and learn about the love affair that turned a brother into a traitor. Rich in historical detail, Jenoff’s astonishing new work is a testament to true love under the worst of circumstances.

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I’m a WWII junkie, but Holocaust fiction has always been hit and miss in my book. It wasn’t until reading The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman, that I was truly moved by the adapted subject matter which is what led me to Pam Jenoff's The Things We Cherished. I was familiar with Jenoff’s work, but even so, the material and angle seemed rather ambitious. Truth be told, I wasn't convinced she could pull off dual timelines anchored by a torsion style timepiece, but I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. 

Turns out I needn’t have worried. Jenoff's use of the anniversary clock as a central plot element proved inspired and I was as thoroughly engaged in Charlotte and Jack's story as I was captivated by Roger and Magda's. Cover to cover I loved this book. 

My sole criticism has so little relevance it hardly deserves mention, but who exactly is the kissing couple on the cover supposed to be? Roger and Magda would never display their affection so publicly and the clothing is a bit outdated for Charlotte and Jack. I like the image and all, but am I the only one who likes the cover to represent the text? 

I didn't expect to fall in love with this book, but love it I did. The Things We Cherished is a superb WWII romance and an absolute must read.

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He imagined a home with a mantelpiece, tried to envision the people who would look at and admire it and take from it the cadence of their day. A piece of himself, going places he would never see.

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