Like a River From its Course Book Review

About the book:

Like a River from Its Course (Kregel, June 2016)

An epic novel exposing the ugliness of war and the beauty of hope.

The city of Kiev was bombed in Hitler’s blitzkrieg across the Soviet Union, but the constant siege was only the beginning for her citizens. In this sweeping historical saga, Kelli Stuart takes the reader on a captivating journey into the little-known history of Ukraine’s tragedies through the eyes of four compelling characters who experience the same story from different perspectives.

Maria Ivanovna is only fourteen when the bombing begins and not much older when she is forced into work at a German labor camp. She must fight to survive and to make her way back to her beloved Ukraine.

Ivan Kyrilovich is falsely mistaken for a Jew and lined up with 34,000 other men, women, and children who are to be shot at the edge of Babi Yar, the “killing ditch.” He survives, but not without devastating consequences.

Luda is sixteen when German soldiers rape her. Now pregnant with the child of the enemy, she is abandoned by her father, alone, and in pain. She must learn to trust family and friends again and find her own strength in order to discover the redemption that awaits.

Frederick Hermann is sure in his knowledge that the Führer’s plans for domination
are right and just. He is driven to succeed by a desire to please a demanding father and by his own blind faith in the ideals of Nazism.

Based on true stories gathered from fifteen years of research and interviews with Ukrainian World War II survivors, Like a River from Its Course is a story of love, war, heartache, forgiveness, and redemption.

This book is one of the best books that I have read in a long time. A compelling, deep, and complex story that had me reading for hours. At times the story was hard to read because it was so sad, but I still could not put it down.

The author intrigues the reader immediately by the perspectives she gives through three Ukrainian characters and one Nazi. Each of their stories are intense as they are dealing with how the tragedies around them are affecting them personally. Also, this book was a history lesson for me as I learned so much about Ukraine and their history during WWII. Beyond the moving storylines the author provides rich and informative details about what was actually happening during that time. If you haven’t read it yet, please add this to your summer reading list. You won’t be sorry. I find myself continuing to look for more books by Stuart but this is only her first one. I hope to read much more from this author in the future and I am already looking forward to what her next book will be.

I was given this book from Litfuse in exchange for a review.

Purchase a copy: https://bit.ly/28YOXRu