"Today." With the grand opening of her new gallery and a fairytale wedding months away, Sera James appears to have a charmed life. But in an instant, the prospect of a devastating legal battle surrounding her fiance threatens to tear her dreams apart. Sera and William rush to marry and are thrust into a world of doubt and fear as they defend charges that could separate them for life.
"June 1942." After surviving the Blitz bombings that left many Londoners with shattered lives, Kaja Makovsky prayed for the war to end so she could return home to Prague. But despite the horrors of war, the gifted journalist never expected to see a headline screaming the extermination of Jews in work camps. Half-Jewish with her family in danger, Kaja has no choice but to risk everything to get her family out of Prague. But with the clutches of evil all around, her escape plan crumbles into deportation, and Kaja finds herself in a new reality as the art teacher to the children of Terezin.
Bound by a story of hope and the survival of one little girl, both Sera and Kaja will fight to protect all they hold dear.
My thoughts....
Even though this is a work of fiction, A Sparrow in Terezin carries you away into a real place in our world's history and connects history to present day. As I turned each page, I was swept away by the fight to survive, do battle against evil and injustice, and the love that motivated each of the character's to do what was right.
Sera and William's story picks right up where it left off in the previous novel. A beach wedding filled with love and hope for the future is interrupted and their world is shifted upside down. Sera trusts William, but feels she must help him fight this battle. Their story, for me, was just as interesting as Kaja's story, and even better was the fact that both tales were woven together. It made me think about how many times I've said to someone, "It's a small world!," when we've found amazing connections. God writes all of our stories and weaves them together. Our stories are not without their hardships....and even horrors...but it is possible for beauty to come out in the end.
Kaja's courage and determination led her to persevere in her personal mission to help her family, despite physical injury at one point and even the growing feelings of love she had for a man she worked with. She was willing to sacrifice it all, even her own life, to help those who needed it. This kind of love was moving to read, parallel to the love Christ has for us, and the embodiment of the verse, "Greater love has no man that this than he who would lay his life down for his friends."
When I saw this book available for review...I was filled with excitement and anticipation. I knew before I even started page one that this book was going to take me on a journey, just as Kristy Cambron's first book in this series, The Butterfly and the Violin, did. But I also knew that I would be haunted by the atrocities that took place in WWII Germany and the beauty that would come from the ashes of those horrific days. After I read The Butterfly and the Violin, I began looking at the art that was created by Holocaust victims. It was hard to look at, seeing what no human being should be forced to endure. After reading A Sparrow in Terezin, there is another opportunity to research the art of the young children who were also victims. I haven't started that journey yet...I'm not sure I'm ready. I do know this....we must never forget!
I would highly recommend this novel. You get the satisfaction of a Christian fiction novel, in that it tells you a story, one that includes romantic love. But there is so much more to this book. You walk into the pages of real history. The names may be different, some of the details might be fictionalized, but within beats the heart of truth: real struggles, true courage, self-sacrifice, and faith.
**I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley to give an unbiased review, which I gave.**
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