Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Hope at Dawn by Stacy Henrie, A Review

Hope at Dawn (Of Love and War, #1)

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Book Description

In a Time of War, Love is the Inspiration.

With her brothers away fighting the Great War overseas, Livy Campbell desperately wants to help her family. Her chance comes when she meets a handsome stranger who lands her a job as a teacher in a place far from her parents' farm. But the war casts a long shadow over the German-American town that Livy now calls home—and the darkness will test everything she thought she knew about family and love . . .

More than anything, Friedrick Wagner wants to be part of his adopted country's struggle for peace. But when the bitter animosity between Germans and Americans soon turns citizens against newcomers, friend against friend, he will do whatever it takes to protect Livy from the hysteria that grips their town. As tragedy—and dark secrets from the past—threaten their future, Friedrick and Livy have one chance to stand up for what's right . . . and one chance to fight for their love.

Review

I received an eARC copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Here is my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a Christian book and so had a very sweet romance. Henrie did an excellent job at portraying innocence in both characters. 

My grandfather fought in World War II and I remember being told that he dropped one of the letter S in his last name because it was a German name (but there was never anything in our life that spoke to a German heritage) and it was easier for him. I never really thought about what that would look or sound like until reading this book. I know that Japanese-Americans faced persecution during WWII but again, never applied that to German-Americans as well - in either war. The fact that we don't really talk about this aspect of the war(s) in our history classes is sad.

I can't wait to read the second book in the series! 

I gave this book: 

★ = I did not like it     ★ = It was okay     ★ = I liked it    
★ = I really liked it     ★ = I loved it

More Info Added:
Author Stacy Henrie has written several blog posts on the subject of WWI and the German-American experience. This post is one of my favorites. I know that my grandfather has a German ancestry; even though there was nothing "German" in our family when I was young, he did fight in WWII and did change the spelling of his last name to be more American. 

1 comment:

Stacy Henrie said...

Thanks for the review, Cassie! And I'm with you - I wish I'd learned more about WWI and the German-American experience in school, too.