By: Shari J Ryan
This is the third book in a trilogy by Shari J Ryan chronicling the life of Charlie Crane and Amelia Baylin and their family. This is Charlie’s story.
For some reason, this is a very hard review to write. Not because the book was bad – it wasn’t. The book was brilliant and so beautifully written, I couldn’t put it down. However, it’s hard to praise a book told from “the enemy’s” perspective. Especially when talking about the Nazis. So it was intriguing to read a note from the author saying she also struggled to write this book. I could tell. This story wasn’t written in a rush of creativity but rather it was the manifestation of a ton of soul-searching and introspect.
Charlie is a Nazi soldier, reluctantly drafted and voluntold into being in the SS. From the very start, we see how antisemitism didn’t happen overnight. It was the well-thought out brainwashing that took place over a number of years. Charlie is warm, compassionate and has his whole world stripped from him when he’s chosen to become one of Hitler’s followers. I liked how carefully Ryan handles this piece – there’s not a lot of excuses given. We get a simple clear view of a young boy who didn’t have a choice. She’s very factual but in a way that slices into your heart.
He meets a young Amelia Baylin at one of the most horrific moments of her life. The enemy in her story, we see how this begins to unravel him. He follows her to a concentration camp and begins a forbidden relationship with him. Over the next few years, he experiences every ramification of the horrors he not only witnesses but has to inflict. I mean – is it even possible to feel sorry for a Nazi? Ryan expertly handles this in a way that doesn’t distract from the fact that Nazis WERE evil! Hitler was evil personified and six million Jews were sacrificed at the alter of his madness. Ryan doesn’t downplay this fact at all.
As Charlie’s story goes on, switching between the past and current day, we’re invited further into the psychological breakdown that he experiences. We see his love for Amelia as the only link to life and we see how that love and hope not only kept him alive, but exhorted him to try to make amends for being a Nazi.
Ultimately, this story is about forgiveness. But not the kind of forgiveness that’s blown around like a dandelion, light and fluffy and gone with the next wind. This is hard forgiveness, the kind that comes from deep within and see beyond evil. It’s the forgiveness that anchors itself and stays steady and strong and true, surpassing even the passing of time.
I loved this story. It made me cry and it made me think and it made me hurt. This trilogy isn’t an easy read but it is a necessary one. One that I would highly recommend.
NOTE – Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
My rating: :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Faith Love n Joy 