Embers in the London Sky by Sarah Sundin

 

 

In 1940, Germany invaded The Netherlands and Aleida van der Zee Martens escaped to London. At that time, she was separated from her three-year-old son, Theo. She is a young widow desperately searching for her little boy.

Embers in the London Sky by Sarah Sundin starts right out in the nitty gritty of war and all of the difficulties. In the beginning, readers also learn that her husband was abusive to her and her son. It is because he handed the child off to someone else, without her knowledge, that Aleida does not have her son. Aleida soon gets a job with an agency evacuating children to the countryside to help her search for her son. During this time, she also meets BBC radio correspondent Hugh Collingwood. Together, they search for her son and deal with the daily London bombings during the war. 

At the same time, there is also a mystery as Hugh's uncle is murdered and the pair seek to help the police find the killer. This case becomes more complicated as the book goes on and there is more than one murder.

Embers in the London Sky definitely shows the reader some of the challenges of living through this wartime era. Sundin brings history to life through these characters. I can't imagine trying to find my son at such times. She doesn't dwell on the abuse but it is clear Aleida's husband was abusive and Aleida was looking to flee from him initially before the war evacuation. 

I thought the developing friendship, and eventual romance, between Aleida and Hugh was well-paced and I liked how it worked out. I also liked how these main characters had some personal challenges that they had to learn to deal with in the midst of the tough times. I thought the murder  mystery added to the story as the reader tried to figure out who the killer was. I also liked that there was an element of faith in the characters that got stronger as those characters faced so much as the book went on. All in all, this was an enjoyable read full of richly developed characters, a plot that kept the reader guessing and a faith line that was inspiring. In my opinion, Revell also nailed it with the beautiful cover for this book that captured the essence of the story.

I also like that there are questions at the back of Embers in the London Sky that would be good for book clubs to use for discussion.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Interviews and Reviews. All opinions are my own.