For Such a Time

by Kate Breslin
Hennepin County Library paperback 418 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction

Overall, I really like Breslin's writing. She is a talented author who creates characters with depth. Setting the story of Esther in Nazi Germany makes sense on some level, but it is somehow disturbing to set a love story in the Holocaust. This book just didn't work well for me as a reader. Both Hadasseh and Arik were compelling characters, as were Joseph, Morty, Helen, and others. But the evils of Nazi Germany don't lend themselves well as a setting for a love story. On page 89, at the Commandant's dinner party, I thought it would not at all be realistic for a group of German leaders to brush off the harsh comments that Arik made about the SS. In any case, I finally got "into" the story around the mid-point and found it more compelling to read the second half. I'm glad I read her other book first. (This one was her first novel published.) I won't spoil the ending, though I definitely saw it coming. She did an excellent job with the inclusion of Bible verses at the start of every chapter.

Not by Sight

by Kate Breslin
Hennepin County Library paperback 369 pages
genre: Christian fiction, historical, romance

I loved this! Although the ending was predictable, I got swept up in the story and have already requested Breslin's other published book. Taking place during WWI, Grace Mabry is a wealthy young lady who wants her brother home from the front. She attends a costume ball she was not invited to so that she can hand the young men (conscientious objectors) a white feather - symbol of cowardice. She hopes to shame them into joining the war effort so that the war will be over sooner. Okay, that sounds kind of silly, but it's really just the set-up so she can make eyes at our hero, Jack Benningham - "dashing heir to the Earl of Stonebrooke." I enjoyed the intrigue (what's Clare's story?) and the verbal sparring between Grace and Jack. It wasn't a very substantive story (I didn't mark any pages for tonight's book club discussion), but I liked it!