Simple Faith

If you have followed my book reviews for any length of time, then you know I am a huge WWII fan of both historical fiction and non fiction books. I am so thrilled I got the opportunity to review Anna Schmidt's novel, Simple Faith, the second novel in the Peacemakers Series. In this one she utilizes the true story of a group of German medical students who banded together in what came to be known as the White Rose to speak out against Hitler and the Nazis.

The journey of the characters of Anja and Josef and Beth take in this novel is set against the background of historical fact. Amazingly, during World War II there were several so-called escape lines managed by brave local citizens of countries occupied by the Nazis. Like those who worked on the Underground Railroad, these individuals - at considerable risk to their own lives and safety - provided false papers, safe houses, food, shelter, and clothing to move Allied airmen from the site of their downed planes behind enemy lines across much of Europe until they could reach Gibraltar - a British territory - and move from there back to England. They traveled hundreds, even thousands of miles by train, bicycle, or on foot, and perhaps the most amazing piece of this story is that the best known of these escape lines - the Comet Line - was created and manage by a young woman.

This is the story of Second Lieutenant Peter Trent who was shot down while attempting to escape a fire in his bomber that was activated by a photoflash bomb and thus requiring an immediate evacuation of the plane. This was not before being shot in the leg and as he tries to remember all his survival training tips as he parachutes into Belgium in November of 1943, he only hopes he can make it out alive along with the five other crewmen who jumped with him. But for now with being shot in the leg, he can only hope that a "friendly" comes to rescue him before the Nazi Gestapos do.

What Peter does discover is a band of people who are willing to risk their lives and those of their children to make sure that he finds his way back home instead of being shot or captured by the Nazi's. Peter and Anja are about to embark on a life changing journey that will do more than test their survival skills but also test their faith in God along the way.

I received Simple Faith by Anna Schmidt compliments of Shiloh Publishing and Pump Up Your Book Tours for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions contained in this review are strictly my own unless otherwise noted. For me, this one was aspect of the war, I have never heard about until picking up Anna's novel. I can't imagine how difficult it would be the not only find an Allied airmen, but to risk their own personal safety against being arrested or killed while trying to get him home while the Nazis continually searched for these men. Knowing their plane was shot down, it only seems logical that they would search nearby farms, homes and businesses looking for people who were willing to hide them. Almost like what countries did during the Holocaust to hide the Jews who were being shipped off into concentration camps. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the research that went into the creation of this amazing novel and can easily give this one a 5 out of 5 stars. I look forward to picking up the first novel in this series, to see how Anja escaped the Nazi death camp in All God's Children.

For more information about Simple Faith, Anna Schmidt, or where to pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Simple Faith by Anna Schmidt

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