This book completely took my breath away. I was in love with Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit, but this one eclipses it—and then some. I downloaded this to my Kindle and thanked God I had it during a 16-hour roadtrip with my family. I was raptured by the book from page one. I read during each five-minute drive between errands and for seven solid hours at a time. The tale of these men and what they endured during the war. Hillenbrand creates characters that seem larger than life—characters that might not even fly if this was a “fiction” book. But the truth behind each chapter makes it all the more powerful and...
Book Review: The Promises She Keeps
Book Description It’s her destiny to die young. The man who loves her can’t live with that. Promise, a talented young vocalist with a terminal illness, is counting on fame to keep her memory alive after she dies. Porta is an aging witch and art collector in search of the goddess who will grant her immortality. When Promise inexplicably survives a series of freak accidents, Porta believes that Promise is the one she seeks. But Chase, an autistic artist who falls in love with Promise and opposes Porta, comes between the women with his mysterious visions and drawings, and plunges everyone into a flesh-and-blood confrontation over the true meaning of...
Story Behind the Story: Laurie Alice Eaks
Lady in the Mist released from Baker Publishing February 1, 2011 and has already been picked up by Crossings Book Club and by Thorndike Press for large print. The whole thing started thirteen years ago. I was in graduate school studying history with the duel purpose of wanting to write more serious historical fiction, so wanting more knowledge, and possibly teaching history. I do both now, but not as I expected. But that’s a different story. My first semester, I took two classes—Research Methods and The History of Medicine. In the former, I had to write a long research paper. In the other, I had to create a project,...
Story behind the Story: James L. Rubart
In late 2000 my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I began to live the great sadness of seeing my father slip into the chains of Alzheimer’s, and watched his memories fade away. I wondered where they were going. Was God catching them as they escaped his mind? Would they one day be restored to him? When I read Psalm 139:16 I realized God had already written down every moment of my Dad’s life in His book. After that I started to wonder—what if that book was on earth? And what if we could find it and see our past, and our future? And what if my protagonist had to find...
Story behind the Story: Robert Elmer
Guest Blog by Robert Elmer – See my review of his book, Wildflowers at Terezin! My Danish heritage has flavored my interest in writing historical fiction, and I’ve always been interested in history. Perhaps it’s that way with children of immigrants. There’s a strong tie back to the old country, and when my parents and my grandmother told stories about their life in Denmark, I knew there were things there I had to pass along somehow. What was it like during the occupation years? What was it like to be a student back then, a kid? Were there lessons for us that we need to remember today? I wanted so...