What I liked most about this book was the deeply drawn charcters and the World War II at home setting.

Penny was kept away or protected by her parents by their unusually controlling attidude. They never celebrated her or praised her for anything. Being told over and over again that you will fail at anything you try, and have the intelligence of a green bean is so destructive a child's mind. With no body to tell her anything different, she believed it. Emotionally immature, she had a crush on the next door neighbor's in a duplex. But he never noticed her and got married and moved away.

When the war was looming, Eddie ( the one who Penny dreamed about) lost his wife in an accident and could not deal with grief, everything in the apartment reminded him of her. To escape, he enlists even though he has two young children, Esther and Peter. He wants his mother to take care of them but she refuses. Penny voluteers to do the job, in hopes that he would eventually marry her.

The landlord of the apartment lives one floor below and his son had gone to Hungary for more edication before the war. But now his son, wife and granddaughter are all missing.

There are important themes of silence, guilt, and forgiveness echoing throughout the book and Penny grows up with the aid of a friend that she meets on the bus. Family doesn't have to be your blood relations, Penny, the landlord and the children learn and are enriched by each other. ( )

The following description was taken from Amazon. It did a great job of telling you what the book was about.

"In an unassuming apartment building in Brooklyn, New York, three lives intersect as the reality of war invades each aspect of their lives. Young Esther is heartbroken when her father decides to enlist in the army shortly after the death of her mother. Penny Goodrich has been in love with Eddie Shaffer for as long as she can remember; now that Eddie's wife is dead, Penny feels she has been given a second chance and offers to care for his children in the hope that he will finally notice her and marry her after the war. And elderly Mr. Mendel, the landlord, waits for the war to end to hear what has happened to his son trapped in war-torn Hungary.

But during the long, endless wait for victory overseas, life on the home front will go from bad to worse. Yet these characters will find themselves growing and changing in ways they never expected--and ultimately discovering truths about God's love...even when He is silent."

This seemed like a very true-to-life story. There was pain and sorrow and love and hope. A story of two children who are having to grow up in a difficult time and how they were dealing with it, along with how these children would help an old man begin to see that his life was more than just about what he was dealing with. I appreciated getting to see how life was during WWII, and also learning more about how the Jews were treated both at home and overseas during this time. A very thought provoking story that stayed with me even after I closed the final page. ( )

i love Lynn Austin's books. Haven't found one that isn't good!

3.5 stars

This novel was an enjoyable read set during WWII. It follows the story of Penny Goodrich and Jacob Mendel. At the start, Penny's lack of self-esteem annoyed me. She made assumptions that were wrong and refused to stand-up for herself, but I did like following her personal growth as she grew above her circumstances and became an independent woman.

However, I found elderly Jacob's story far more interesting as he struggled for news about his son in Hungary. The author gave an insight into what European Jews were facing from letters sent from Avi and his wife. Their plight was heart-wrenching.

A story of secrets, separation, friendship, forgiveness and faith, "While We're Far Apart" was an easy, predictable read showing the importance of family ties and trust. ( )

****************** Stats **********************
Hero : 3 Heroine : 3 Peak Factor:3 Plot:3 Writing:3
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Overall Star rating: 3

I have to say I liked this book. It was not great but, it was not horrible. I liked the characters, the plot, and the story but, where it felt short was that it was so much in the book that just did not feel right. I think the author tried really hard to go in several directions and there were a few times that it bothered me. If you want a book that is slam packed with details then this is the book for you. It just felt like the book moved too slow in the important parts.


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