Author: Melanie Dobson
Publisher: Tyndale
Release Date: January 11, 2022
Check out the Q&A with author Melanie Dobson!
What a great time-slip novel to kick off 2022! A fantastic read for the new year!
Occupied France in 1943 is a dangerous place to be, but when smuggling out Jewish children into Spain, it becomes treacherous. Grace Tonquin was born into Hollywood fame and fortune but wanted nothing to do with it nor her mother. After a party goes awry, Grace is taken in by her grandparents, Quakers in Oregon. She loves the Quaker lifestyle and originally goes to France in the 1930s to help Spanish refugee children during the Spanish civil war. She never imagined that just a few short years later, she would be smuggling children back into Spain for safe harboring. When it is no longer safe for her to return to France, Grace accompanies two children across the Atlantic to meet their uncle, who is later found out to be non-existent. As their primary guardian, Grace takes them back to Oregon to shelter them from the trauma of war and the Holocaust.
Several decades later, Addie Hoult lives a life of reckless abandon until she is given the choice of jail time or a fresh start at a girl’s home in Tennessee. Through this second chance, she turns her life around with the help of the home’s parent couple. Now a widow with a baby on the way, Addie’s father figure Charlie Tonquin has a rare cancer that requires a bone marrow transplant from a relative. Though Charlie has no interest in sharing his past history, Addie finds a photograph of a young Charlie at a lake in Oregon. In an effort to save the man who essentially saved her life, Addie takes the plunge into uncovering what happened to Charlie’s family.
What a great time-slip novel to kick off 2022! It doesn’t get much better than this! Readers will love reading between time to discover the connection between the two stories and finally seeing the outcome so desired through the whole story. With descriptive French scenery, both present day and war-torn Europe, as well as rural Portland, readers will be transported throughout out space and time. Addie has tremendous character growth as a young woman, even from the start of the story. Charlie too shows that characters can grow when they are nearing the end of their life span. Multiple elements of faith, doubt, hurt, and love show up throughout the story. A great read for the new year!
I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.
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