"Long Way Home" focuses on two young women and their experiences during and after WWII. Peggy was a wonderful character and very inspiring. When her best friend, medic Jimmy Barnett returns home he is not the same man he was before he joined up. Battling PTSD, Jimmy is in an army hospital receiving shock therapy to help cure his depression. However, Peggy is not impressed and sets out on a mission to get him out of hospital and bring him home, a well man.

Gisela's story was the harder one to read. Trying to escape the Nazis, she and her family board the passenger ship, the SS Louis which is heading to Cuba. While on board she meets a Jewish boy and falls in love. Sadly, on arrival in Cuban waters, the captain is told to turn around and return to Europe and so begins Gisela's desperate struggle to stay alive. My heart ached for all she had to endure, especially once she was in a Nazi internment camp.

"Long Way Home" was a well-written novel. The two timelines, one before the war and the other after, are slowly brought together through Jimmy. The characters are flawed but very likeable and throughout the novel there are numerous acts of kindness and courage. Peggy was my favourite character. She was hardworking, determined and hopeful. The only element I didn't like was her romance. I didn't think it rang true. However, overall, this is a story of hope and trust. ( )

Another fantastic book by Lynn Austin! Her characters always touch me and help my faith in God to be strengthened. There is always hope and Jesus is the answer!
Jimmy returns from the war a broken man. After he tries to kill himself his parents place him in the VA hospital hoping for answers. Peggy, their neighbor and Jimmy's childhood friend is determined to bring Jimmy out of his darkness. Through perseverance and a true faith in God she finds old Amy friends of Jimmy's and reminds him of the good in his life. She also touches each life that she's reached out to. A story of faith, hope and love. ( )

"Long Way Home" by Lynn Austin reminded me of her writing in the first book I ever read by her, "A Candle in the Darkness". That book was about the Civil War, slavery, and abolitionists. This book is about WWII. She writes about things I have not read about in all the books I have ever read covering that period. She writes about the "St. Louis", a ship from Germany with Jewish passengers, that was refused the ability to land at Cuban, American, and Canadian shores because of the ethnicity of its passengers. She wrote of the soldiers returning home and the struggle they all faced because of the horrors of war, especially the soldiers liberating the people from the death camps such as Buchenwald. But through it all, she reminded us of the God who sees. He was weeping with us at the evil men do but He used others to show His love and goodness. With prose like, "Do you have any idea how long it has been since a Jew heard someone weeping for him? We've been despised, spat upon, degraded in every way. Jim showed us that we're still worthy of someone's tears.", she keeps the story going showing that we must stay together and help each other through the difficult times. And rejoice together through the good times. She uses Biblical history and people's criticisms of God to paint a picture of Jesus that satisfies the soul. ( )

What a beautiful, powerful story. Even though it took me a while to get through this book (I read it at a very busy time), it was well worth the read! Both parts of this book were equally well-written, and as I oscillated between post-World War II and mid-World War II, I related to each of the main characters and cheered them on. To my knowledge, I don’t remember reading about the St. Louis incident before; the way it was portrayed here was heartbreaking, and yet somehow Austin managed to still infuse some hope in the story. Helping someone recover from PTSD was also a heartbreaking, yet hopeful process—and combining the two stories created an unforgettable read. If you enjoy history, especially historical fiction that discusses some of the harder elements from the past, this would be an excellent choice for you.

I was given a review copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion of it. ( )

I've come to appreciate well-written novels that can transport me back in time in order to gain a new viewpoint of a different time period. Lynn Austin's novels always accomplish this for me. She has an amazing way of telling a story that will have you seeing history from a new perspective. In this novel, Lynn takes the reader down the path of two women's stories, one from America and another from Germany. Each has her own hardship that must be overcome to survive. Although compared with each other, the life of the one in America certainly doesn't compare to the life of the other in Germany. The two stories are interesting as they encounter the horrors of war and the lack of understanding of mental health. I appreciated this book and how it helped me empathize with the Jewish people and the veterans of WWII. It can be challenging for us as American citizens to understand all the veterans and Jews experienced since we are so far removed from such atrocities.

If you're looking for a good story that will widen your understanding of WWII, pick up Lynn's new book and experience a greater appreciation for all that our veterans have done for our country.

***I received this complimentary book from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own. ( )