Three things I loved about When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin
Cosy reading for the long weekend Read the ReviewNB : Contains low-level spoilers
Sarah Sundin writes with enviable historical accuracy. She handles both sweet romance and military action in a way that truly sweeps the reader up into the story. I read her entire Sunrise over Normandy series in two and half days! I read her latest book, the standalone WWII romance When Twilight Breaks, over a long weekend and was absolutely transported to another time and place
Munich 1938
This book focuses on two Americans in Munich in 1938. Foriegn correspondent, Evelyn, is tenacious, independent and happy to break the rules in search of a good story. Graduate student, Peter, loves order and is initially impressed by the way fascism has hauled Germany out of chaos. Of course, he soon realises that the order in Nazi Germany is a product of fear and comes at the high cost of freedom, especially to Jewish people. Peter and Evelyn have to work together to tell the truth about what is happening in Nazi Germany and eventually escape its cruelty. As a present day reader I understood the tragedies that unfolded as the Nazi regime consolidated its power, so I read this book with a sense of foreboding, skipping ahead to check dates to guess exactly what the characters get mixed up in.
Cosy reading for the long weekend
Three things I love
- Munich: I can comfortably say that I have never thought about Munich before. I knew that several important events preceding WWII occurred there (The Beer Hall Putsch, The Munich agreement), but it was really just a name on a map for me. However, this book made me want to go there…and, of course, eat there. I dragged my family along to a local German club on the weekend I read this book because I was so inspired to try Bavarian food!
- Compelling characters: Oh, how I loved the people in this book. Evelyn had gumption and not a hint of timidity. Peter had the right mix of brains and braun, and his admiration for a woman like Evelyn made him all the more attractive. I also liked his journey from being an admirer of the fascist regime to a mole within the system when he saw the injustices being wrought. The dastardliness of the antagonist was perfect. I do think the characters were smarter than Sundin gave them credit for – I felt both of them would have worked out that they were in love well before they actually did, but the romantic resolution was still satisfying.
- Authentic faith: Sarah Sundin is a well-known Christian author and Revell is a Christian publisher. This can be a factor for some readers when deciding whether or not to pick up this book. For my part, even though I enjoy reading books from both the general secular and Christian markets, I don’t like any kind of preachiness and didacticism that takes me away from the story. I have found some of Sarah’s other books to have their didactic moments, but not this one. In When Twilights Breaks the inner lives of the characters felt complete and relatable. I got to know characters who prayed, who weighed up choices based on their faith and understanding of God, which added to the moral complexity of the story.
Highly recommended for anyone who loves good World War II romance!
