Night Song by Tricia Goyer

Night Song: A Story of Sacrifice is the full title of this, the second of four books in Tricia Goyer's World War II Liberator series. All are fiction, but they are based on trues stories and interviews with WWII veterans, civilians, and historians.

Jakub is a young Austrian Jew whose father was an violin maker. He and his brother both were accomplished violinists. When the Germans took over the country, they rounded up the Jews and sent them to camps to work or be exterminated, depending on their usefulness to the Reich. Jakub eventually finds himself playing the violin in the orchestra in a concentration camp. The orchestra director becomes his mentor, sacrificing his own well-being to see that Jakub survives.

Other characters are Nick Fletcher, an American medical student who becomes an Army medic. His love interest is Edie Krieg, daughter of an Austrian diplomat living in the U. S. She is forced to go back to Austria with her family when Austria becomes part of Germany. Then there's Otto, the German officer who believes all the propaganda about the thousand-year Reich and the Aryan race being superior to all others.

As with Goyer's other Liberator novels, you learn of the difficult conditions war generates. You suffer with the characters who experience physical pain or emotional turmoil of not knowing what's happening with loved ones. Jakub suffers most as a prisoner. Nick deals first-hand with the horror of battle. Evie works with the resistance. And Otto educates us about what motivated the German soldiers. Each character makes a sacrifice in the battle between good and evil.

I have thoroughly enjoyed each of the four books in this series. The stories are riveting, and the historical information is accurate. The best recommendation for me was the statements made by the veterans who provided Goyer with the stories.  They felt that she had accurately portrayed the events and conditions they experienced. It is not necessary to read the books in order, as the characters are different for each book. Reading this series is a good way to learn about WWII without slogging through history books!

In 2005, Night Song won ACFW’s Carol Award for Long Historical Romance. In 2006, Dawn of a Thousand Nights, another of the Liberator series, won Book of the Year for Long Historical.

The print version is on Amazon here. Or, see the Kindle version here.