Remembering You by Tricia Goyer

Ava Ellington is a TV news reporter who accompanies her grandfather on nostalgic trip to Europe. It's not a laid-back vacation. It's a tour of WWII battle sites, beginning in France and ending in Austria at a concentration camp that was liberated by Grandpa Jack's unit. He is a WWII vet who saw action in some of the bloodiest battles and difficult conditions of the war.

Accompanying Ava and Grandpa Jack is his army buddy, Paul, and Paul's grandson, Dennis, Ava's first (and lost) love. Ava films daily stories about the places they visit and the reactions of the veterans. The other travelers don't have much patience with Ava's work, but they gradually come around.

Tricia Goyer has written or co-written nine books of historical fiction set in the WWII era. This one draws on research for her earlier novels based on the experiences of the 3rd Army's 11th Armored Division. WWII buffs will appreciate her attention to detail. For example, a church in the town of Bastogne chimes the first six notes of The Star Spangled Banner to honor the American solders who liberated the city in 1944.

I've enjoyed every WWII novel that Goyer has published. All of them have some romance thrown in, and this one is no exception. While the grandfathers wrestle with demons from their war-time past, their grandchildren are conflicted about their feelings for one another. I think Goyer strikes a good balance between the romance and the reminisces of the old men. And, there are surprises along the way. I recommend it highly.

Note: This book was not provided to me by the author or the publisher.

From Dust and Ashes by Tricia Goyer

Another in the WWII Liberators series, From Dust and Ashes, is a powerful story set at the end of the war in the eastern part of Germany. The story revolves around the liberation of the Matthausen concentration camp. According to the veterans Goyer interviewed in her research, she accurately portrayed the events and the emotions of those who were there. The back cover text describes it well: "Nazis flee under cover of darkness as American troops near the town of St. Georgen. A terrible surprise awaits the unsuspecting GIs.  And three people—the wife of an SS guard, an American soldier, and a concentration camp survivor—will never be the same."

As I read, I remembered the films I've seen of the concentration camp survivors. The Americans were not equipped to help the people. Some of the Germans wanted to help, while others had to be forced. What a monumental task it was for the Allied forces to deal with this situation in addition to taking prisoners and securing the country. I felt like I was there struggling to understand along with the characters.As with most war stories, romance enters the picture. There's conflict between the two main female characters who are interested in the same GI.

I highly recommend all the Liberator Series books I've reviewed so far. See my reviews of two other books in this series, and a third WWII-era book by Goyer. See them all at this link.

Amazon link:From Dust and Ashes: A Story of Liberation (The Liberator Series, Book 4).

Arms of Deliverance by Tricia Goyer

This may be my favorite of the four books in Tricia Goyer's World War II Liberator series. All are fiction, but they are based on interviews with WWII veterans, civilians, and historians who testify to the accuracy of the facts. Arms of Deliverance: A Story of Promise is the fourth and last in the series. Each book stands alone, so there is no need to read them in sequence. I chose to read this one first because of the connection to the exploits of the B-17 crews of the Eighth Air Force (because my father was one of them).

The story has a number of characters which makes it a bit hard to keep up at times. First is Katrine, a Czech Jew, who has managed to pass as "Aryan." Katrine dates a Nazi SS officer who is concerned with the "purity" of the Aryan race. Katrine becomes pregnant and finds herself in a Lebensborn home, a facility where women and children with "pure" genes are confined. She discovers that her baby will not be hers to raise but will be raised to serve the German state.

Lee and Mary are American reporters who have managed to get themselves assigned to war reporting. Lee is a society gal with connections that open doors for her. Mary's mother was the cleaning lady at the paper where she works. There's an interesting sideline about her father, too. I wondered if  women reporters were actually used in the war zone back then. Just a little research showed they did. Mary rode along on a bomber mission to write about the crews and the challenges they faced.

Eddie, the navigator on Destiny's Child, the bomber on which Mary flew her mission, ends up being her protector when they have to bail out. The adventure is white-knuckled suspense from there on. Eddie and Mary bond during their adventure, and their story eventually intertwines with Katrine's.

I loved the book. The story lines were a bit hard to follow simply because there were so many characters. The way the stories are brought together at the end is heartwarming, if not a bit preposterous. Well, I thought that at first, but, when you read some of the true stories from WWII, you realize that a lot of unbelievable things happened during those years.

Historical fiction tells a story, but it also educates. Goyer is a master at making history come to life. In this book, she pays tribute to the news reporters, the bomber crews, the ground crews, and the Europeans who participated in the resistance. The scenes in the B-17 reminded me of the stories by dad used to tell. I recommend it. It's an absorbing story that shows you how people lived during WWII.

Check it out on Amazon. The Kindle edition is here.

Dawn of a Thousand Nights by Tricia Goyer

World War II buffs, do you enjoy true stories of people and events of the Greatest Generation? Well, I think you'll like the stories in Tricia Goyer's World War II Liberator series. There are four books in the series. All are fiction, but they are based on facts gleaned in Goyer's research with veterans, civilians, and historians who testify to the accuracy of the facts. Dawn of a Thousand Nights: A Story of Honor is the third in the series. Each book stands alone, so there is no need to read them in sequence.

It's 1941, and Libby Conners, a female aviator living in Hawaii, meets Dan Lukens, a fighter pilot in the Army Air Corps. They meet at the beach, discover their mutual interest in flying, become friends, and begin dating. Then comes December 7, 1941, the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Dan is sent to the Phillipines, and Libby goes home to stay with her dad in California. They pledge to marry when it's all over.

Dan fights valiantly but ends up being part of the Bataan Death March. Libby becomes a WASP (Women's Airforce Service Pilots), ferrying planes from factories to their duty stations within the U. S. She does not hear anything from Dan for months on end. She is tempted to date others, but she promised to wait. Dan encounters Natsuo, a Japanese man with whom he had attended classes in college. The story revolves around these three characters, although there a numerous others to add interest.

It's a great read, although the ending seemed a bit rushed to me. About 3/4 of the way through the book, I began to wonder how the author would pull it all together in the few pages she had left. It's an emotional story, especially the part about Dan's experience as a POW. Some say that there are inaccuracies in the details of the story. I think Goyer did a fine job of giving the big picture of life in a time of conflict, fear, and uncertainty. The survivors and veterans she interviewed for her research gave her high marks on "making it real."

Check it out the hard copy on Amazon here.
The Kindle version is here.

I will be reviewing the other three books soon. See the list on Amazon here.

Footnote: I failed to mention that Dawn of 1,000 Nights was winner of the 2006 Carol Award for long historical novel.