An Open Book (Feb. 2021): Two Inspiring Stories of Hope and Resilience

 

How wonderful is this link-up for all of us inveterate bookworms?!  Thank you as always, Carolyn Astfalk, for hosting it.  I'm grateful to have the opportunity to discover titles that I might not have heard of yet, and which have been vetted already by writers and bloggers whose opinions I value so much.  I may not be one of those folks whose opinions are particularly valued...but I'm going to give you my two cents anyway! :)

First up, When We Were Young & Brave, a Novel, another fantastic work of historical fiction by Hazel Gaynor, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors of all time.  Her books are meticulously researched and her prose is truly a thing of exquisite beauty.  Sometimes I have to re-read a sentence, just to experience once again the way Gaynor has arranged the words in a manner that utterly sets my soul on fire.  (I am admittedly in love with words, and in awe of those who have the God-given talent to use them so wisely and so well!) 

I was at Walmart shopping recently and did a quick fly-by through the book department--you know, just "to look" (because I can never help myself, it's a problem!)--and this lovely cover jumped out at me for two reasons: by the artwork, I guessed that it was a story set in WWII, and that is always an irresistible draw for me; and it was written by Gaynor, an extraordinarily talented writer of whom I had become a big fan in the past year, after reading some of her other historical novels (The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter, a Novel and The Girl Who Came Home, a Novel of the Titanic, both of which I've previously shared here at the link-up).  I flipped the paperback open and started to skim the prologue, and I was almost staggered by a few simple words said by one of the main characters, a woman who is reminiscing about her childhood years spent in a Japanese internment camp in China during WWII 30 years ago. Before she and her fellow schoolmates, American and British children of missionaries and diplomats, are forced to leave their comfortable boarding school and endure the horrors of being prisoners in a crowded, filthy camp overseen by often cruel Japanese guards, she says they complained about little discomforts and inconveniences and were "wildly ignorant of our privilege and of how much we were about to lose."  

Those words really struck a chord with me, considering the violent upheavals taking place in our country right now and how very possible it is that we will all be facing unforeseen sufferings and deprivations in the future.  So I bought the book.  And after reading it, I can tell you that the money was well spent.  Now that I'm finished (and still thinking about the characters and all they endured with tremendous fortitude and grace) I plan to share it with my oldest son's wife, a book enthusiast like myself.  And I will no doubt re-read it at some point in the future; it's that good.

The novel is told in first person, alternately from the perspective of young Nancy Plummer, the daughter of Protestant missionaries working in China and a boarding student at the Chefoo Mission School, and Elspeth Kent, the no-nonsense but tender-hearted teacher, mentor, and Girl Guides troop leader who becomes a mother and more to Nancy and the other schoolchildren under her care during a harrowing six-year period following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Overnight, the school loses its protected status and its teachers and students become civilian enemies of Japan.

This is an aspect of the Second World War about which I knew nothing prior to reading When We Were Young & Brave--just when I thought I'd read every story, fiction and non-fiction alike, about every possible locale and every possible manner in which seemingly ordinary people showed extraordinary bravery, kindness, and faith during that awful period of history.  Based on the true events surrounding a group of schoolchildren and their teachers who were taken from their Chinese mission school to a Japanese internment camp in China during the war, Gaynor has brought the story alive through a large cast of very believable characters whom you will grow to love and whose triumphs over unimaginable adversity will make you feel like cheering out loud.  In spite of all the tragic and often terrifying circumstances in which the teachers and students of Chefoo School find themselves, they never lose hope and strive every day to make the very best of an impossibly awful situation.  The actions of the teachers, especially, with their determination to keep life as "normal" as possible for their charges, brought tears to my eyes as I read.  They were heroes, in every sense of the word.

This is not a book populated with Catholic characters, but the themes are undoubtedly Catholic.  It's a story about human kindness, perseverance, and hope; it's about overcoming fear and trusting in God's plan for our lives, no matter how desperate our situation seems; it's about having faith in God no matter what happens, turning to Him in prayer, and trusting in His boundless love and mercy. And it shows that even in the midst of the most unthinkably terrible circumstances, the human heart can flourish and love can bloom.  When We Were Young & Brave is a page-turner that will keep the reader on the edge of his or her seat; it's powerful and moving, and jam-packed with inspirational messages.  Just a warning: you might want to have some Kleenex handy when you're reading.  I recommend it highly--five stars!

Sunflower seeds, and the cheerful, resilient sunflowers that grew from them, played an important symbolic role in When We Were Young & Brave.  Thinking about sunflowers reminded me of another novel I read quite a while ago, written by an online author friend I made back during the years when I was more involved in the world of Catholic fiction writing and reviewing.  So I decided that I wanted to re-read this wonderful novel of hers. And that is my brilliant segue (if I do say so myself), leading to my second book recommendation for this month: Sunflowers in a Hurricane, by Anne Faye.  I posted an Amazon review for Sunflowers in a Hurricane, back when it first came out in 2016.  With the novel fresh in my mind again, however, I decided to write a revised edition of that review to share here today.

Sunflowers in a Hurricane, by talented Catholic fiction author and blogger Anne Faye, is a short novel, at about 50,000 words; but it is by no means short on substance.  If you are able to clear your calendar for an afternoon, you could devour it in one sitting--which is exactly what I did!  I dare say you won't be able to put it down once you start it.

As I was reading along, I could clearly picture every scene of this sweet and uplifting novel, and the thought occurred to me more than once that it would make an excellent Hallmark Channel movie.  Faye has woven a compelling tale here, with engaging characters whose flaws and struggles are so painfully real that any reader can relate to them.  She is particularly adept at illustrating the awkwardness of adolescence, and also the agony and thrill of first love, through the voice of 13-year-old Ruth.

The writer's tools of first person narrative and time shifting are deftly employed by Faye in this novel.  Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of the three main characters: mildly rebellious Ruth; her wounded single mother, Cheryl; and George, the kind-hearted elderly neighbor with a tragic past who changes both of their lives in amazing and unexpected ways.  Aside from having alternating narrators, the story bounces back and forth in time from 1935, to 1972, to 1986, and back to 1935 again, which allows the reader to experience all the events that drive the plot right along with the characters who are experiencing them.

In my original Amazon review I called this book "wholesome," and another reviewer said that description was a bit misleading, because the situations in the book (teenage date rape, adoption, death, and alcoholism) are so serious. And that's true; there is indeed a great deal of pain and family brokenness in this novel, and it's definitely not all sunshine and roses.  But the serious topics and situations are handled carefully and compassionately, without any gratuitous descriptions that would keep this from being an excellent book for your teen reader.

Although George is a daily Mass-goer, and he hopes to bring his young friend Ruth (whom he considers the granddaughter he never had) back to the Faith, he is never preachy or pushy.  There are beautiful Catholic messages in Anne's words, but a reader of any faith could enjoy this book.  It touches on the themes of sin and redemption, of human frailty and the need for divine help; and ultimately, through the actions of its well-drawn characters, it shows the true meaning of sacrificial love.  This novel illustrates so beautifully how God can draw straight with crooked lines. It illustrates how just like hardy sunflowers that are still standing after a hurricane, the human heart can survive even the fiercest, most destructive storms and positively flourish.  I highly recommend this book for any reader, YA to adult. 

What an honor it is for me to review the books of my author friends!  "Meeting" Anne (not in person, unfortunately, but through online correspondence) was definitely one of the many unexpected blessings that came my way during the years I was immersed in the world of Catholic writing.  I will always be grateful for the many contacts I made during that period of my life, the many people who have enriched it in countless ways.  And I will always treasure my signed copy of Sunflowers in a Hurricane, a thank you gift from Anne for being a beta-reader for the novel before its publication and giving her my feedback.  

That's it for me.  Hopefully, I'll be back next month, with more good books under my belt to tell you about.  Happy reading!  (Now head on over to Carolyn's for more recommendations.)