'Such A Time' by Kate Breslin

A June evening, a delightful breeze at the end of a 90 degree day, sitting out on my deck, flowers in pots, the fountain running, apcat not thrilled that the computer is on my lap instead of her, a neighbor’s dog barking, and the cottonwood tree whispering in the breeze describe my idea of a perfect evening. I am grateful for a laptop that allows me to work outside instead of in my office. Two nights ago I finished reading a novel that might end up on my top ten must-be-read list. Not sure what other book to bump off, but this is one of those stories that will hang around in my heart and mind for a long time.

Bethany House Publishers, the company that publishes my historical novels, sends me a book by one of their authors for my birthday, usually by someone I don’t know. This year was no different. I thanked them politely and put the book on the shelf by my writing chair, on one of my to-be-read shelves. When searching for my next book to read, I studied the spine out stack, and for some unknown reason, pulled out For Such a Time by Kate Breslin. The cover design did not grab me but the quote from Debbie Macomber definitely did. Interested, I read the back cover copy. Now that really hooked my attention.

“In 1944 Hadassah Benjamin feels abandoned by God when she is saved from a firing squad, only to be handed over to a new enemy. Pressed into service by an SS Kommandant…..her Aryan-like looks allow her to hide behind the false identity of secretary Stella Muller. Is it possible she is, like biblical Esther, in a place to help save her people?”

First-time fiction author but experienced writer, Kate Breslin, enthralled me with her magnificent story of the Jews and the Germans in the final days of the war. This tale of secrets, subterfuge, sabotage and the suffering beyond description, was set against the story of Esther, which made it all the stronger.

I know that many countries, ours included, are rewriting history, ignoring the way things really happened. But if we do not know history, we are doomed to keep repeating the same horrors. We see this going on in today’s world, but no one wants to talk about it.

Books like For Such a Time, and The Light We Cannot See, which I reviewed in this column a few months ago, are necessary to keep history accurate and our awareness of the horrors committed by both evil people and those who try to ignore the evil alive.

I hope to meet Kate Breslin one day but in the meantime, the best I can do is highly recommend her book to all my readers, and be proud to do so. I hope you are enjoying these summer days, finding time to read, enjoying the evenings like this one and perhaps even writing family stories of your own, or poetry or letters and cards to people you care about.

You’ll be able to read my newest contemporary novel Someday Home, after the first of July. Forced by circumstances beyond their control, three women come together to embark on a journey to find a place they can someday call home.

So happy reading and writing and summer from Lauraine.