Memories of Glass

by Melanie Dobson
Carver County Library hardcover 397 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction

Set in Amsterdam during WWII and also in modern day times, this story followed the Kingston family and their connections through the Holocaust and beyond. There were things I really liked about the story (mostly Ava's modern-day journey to help the Kingston Foundation and find out her family history) and things I disliked.

I'll start with disliked: my confusion over all the characters and how they were connected! I understand why the author didn't provide a "who's who" type of list, as that would have spoiled some plotlines. I ought to have made my own, since this proved a challenge for me to follow some aspects of the story line (and judging by our book club discussion, a barrier for others, too).

Landon and Ava/ coffee and compassion / Uganda and Seattle - definitely my favorite aspect of the book. Here are some other spots I noted:

Page 52 - "God, she suspected, would want the theology she'd spent a lifetime learning to siphon down into her hands and feet. Share His love with those who needed a glimpse of it during this dark season." (Josie, May 1942)

Page 85 - "Books, she once said, are the best legacy. They outlast one's life and shed light on the past when truth is hard to find." (Ava, in Uganda)

Page 115 - "Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for a future that only He can see." (Quotation from Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place.)

Page 242 - "I sit on a bench and retrieve her Bible out of my handbag to find the verses where Jesus speaks about the truth of His teaching, truth that could set people free. The father of lies wants to conceal the truth, He said, enslave people in their sin. Their shame. God sent His Son to set them - to set me - free." (Ava, in Seattle, after meeting Mrs. West)

Page 308 - "A glimpse of heaven, that is the terroir I need right now, a place where evil can no longer hide, the supreme light of Christ blasting away the shadows." (Ava, in Amsterdam)

Page 313 - Yes! I suspected this but was pumped when Paul answered what his father's name was!

Page 347 - "He started buying antique bottles in their memory, and for years we would watch the light pour into each one, filling what had been broken, their legacy living on in both of us." (Mrs. West, talking to Ava, Landon, and Kendall) This scene is so gorgeous in my mind that it makes me want to start collecting colorful glass containers to put in a sunny window!

We had a good discussion, but I was only halfway done reading it so I couldn't fully participate. I need to get the book club book more quickly and hunker down to read it!