Customer Reviews

From Dust and Ashes: A Story of Liberation (The Liberator Series, Book 4)

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As a guy, I'm not drawn usually to fiction featuring the faces of glamorous women. I am drawn, however, to WWII stories. I lived in Austria for a time, and I've visited Matthausen concentration camp with my wife. With that in mind, I couldn't resist checking out "From Ashes and Dust."

The story brings together an assortment of characters caught in the aftermath of Hitler's terror. Peter is an American, disturbed by the conditions within the concentration camps. Michaela is a survivor from Poland. Helene is a woman torn by her husband's brutal actions as an SS officer. And Arno is her husband's fellow conspirator, a conniving man with a treasure to uncover. The pace never flags as these lives come together and pull apart. Although God's redemption is central, the story doesn't come across as melodramatic or simplistic. It honors those who lived through the horror of those days.

Once again, I'm glad I overcame my silly prejudices. Tricia Goyer writes a wonderful story of pain and evil coming face to face with forgiveness and hope. The WWII veterans' endorsement of this tale encouraged me to read on--rightfully so. The historical and geographical details are rendered with care. Yes, there is some romance, but it is woven into the tragedies of the day and never seems forced.

From the ashes of war, Goyer crafts a wise and entertaining story. I look forward to her next effort.

Tricia Goyer takes us on a journey of liberation through the eyes of three very different travelers? an American GI, an emaciated death camp survivor and the wife of a cruel Nazi SS Guard. Goyer draws her characters realistically, with sensitivity and depth. I found myself still reading at 2am, unable to put this book down even knowing I had an early morning meeting.

Most WWII novels deal with the war period itself. I found the dynamics of post war even more compelling-- the displacement, the confusion, the power shift, the border changes-- especially since, at the time of my reading, we're watching the confusion of postwar Iraq on the nightly newscasts. It's a case of fiction offering us a richer understanding of reality.

Don't miss reading this book.

I have read the book and have never experienced a more emotional trip. Tricia has captured the cheracters in every respect. She has been true to the time and placed and this is because she interviewed many of us at our reunions. Read this book you will never read a better one.

I enjoyed this story, but it becomes too predictable & homogeneous in plot and the ideas it explores. The author seems to be an American Christian, and this colors the entire story (for instance, the characters she focuses on are all devout Christians, and the American soldiers are all better than any soldier from any other nation). Still, the characters are caught up in a surprisingly wide range of historically-based conflicts, which is probably the coolest thing about the book in my eyes.

Unfortunately, everything's resolved by divine intervention in the form of gut feelings, one of which the main character follows obstinately for several months to great personal detriment on a hopeless task. A huge swathe (later on) of the book revolves around people trusting God, which drowns out the huge diversity of ways people can cope (or fail to cope) in the aftermath of such an event. The Jewish characters are side-lined, and they've all undergone some conversion--one into an American patriot, one raised Christian as a cover for a few years, two more converts to Christianity. This seems a bit unfair.

Throughout, there's also a failure to engage with beliefs--Nazism is wrong, of course, Christianity is right, and any good person's moral intuition is, too. None of the characters is shown to deal with the tension between common decency and ingrained Nazi sympathies, which disappointed me. Instead, it seems like the characters need to prove their goodness by sticking stalwartly to moral intuitions that reflect a modern liberal sensibility toward anti-Semitism and war crimes.

Oh, and need I mention anything about the questionable romantic interactions? It's pretty much par for the course in fiction... But one evocative moment involved a rushed wedding of a minor character who'd been through major trauma and barely knew the person she was marrying. It raised questions about the legacy of the war, and the reader doesn't find out how it all turns out. Things like that are the second-most interesting thing about the story, which is why I'm so disappointed the author decides to use God to neatly wrap up everything in any main character's life.

Overall, it's an easy, pleasant, and thought-provoking read that would be better if the author's faith was confined to certain subplots, characters, and situations instead of overwhelming the rest of the story.

From Dust and Ashes: A Story of Liberation(The Liberator Series,Book 4) was so hard for me to put down. I love it when a book is THAT good! I also love when an historical teaches me history,as this novel did. It was fascinating to read that General Patton ordered the liberating American soldiers to make the civilians around the concentration camps to help bury the dead and attend funerals for them,so they would be forced to see and acknowledge what their inaction had caused.

I don't see how a book about this era could have been more perfectly written.This book is so perfect that I wouldn't want to change a single word of it!

I got totally wrapped up in the characters and really cared about wanting everything to work out for them.

This book is not a 'light' read.It will really stir your emotions and make you ask yourself some questions about how you would conduct yourself in the same situation,and even questions about how did these horrors affect people's faith and how would you handle those questions about where was God?

The author was perfectly right to bring such questions into the story,because I know any thinking person,has asked them,and I love to see how God works in people's lives and how in His compassion and mercy He grants understanding to those who truly seek answers with a heart thirsting for answers and a desire to know Him better.

The romances were also wonderfully developed and so sweet.

I just realized when I was almost finished with this book,that I had read the last book in the series,first,so now I will go back and read the other 3 in order!


I highly recommend this WW II historical romance to any who have an interest in this horrible period of history.

Be forewarned however,that it IS tagged Christian fiction and Christian Historical Romance!

I never could understand how some people will read a book with Christian tags,and then complain because the author has included God,His son and the gift of Salvation in the story!
I guess they prefer "Christian" to be no more real than those Sunday morning pew warmers who play at church,and only take God out of their box they keep Him in until Sunday morning,then put Him back in after church! Those people have no business reading this book or any other with "Christian" tags,when they can't stand reading about interaction with God.

From Dust and Ashes is a beautifully written story of hope, love, liberation and faith. American soldiers suddenly discover two concentration camps abandoned by Nazi guards. Helene, wife of an SS Guard, is one of the first to take food to the prisoners. Within moments her life becomes entangled with two of the rescued women and an American soldier. Their lives will never be the same. Helene,burdened with guilt,concerned about her future and that of her unborn child and little girl,wonders what will happen when her secret is known. Will they ever be free? Will any of them know peace again?
Out of the horror of war, shredded lives, greed of a few, From Dust and Ashes tells a story of freedom, compassion and hope. You will find it difficult to put the book down. You will cry some tears of sorrrow and of joy.

From Dust and Ashes raises the bar for Christian fiction. It's intriguing, the plot is believable, the characters fully developed, and the research is so well done the reader feels as if he or she is actually there. The story is not preachy, yet Tricia manages to show God working in people's lives in a very real way.

The author could not have picked a better topic in which to develop the theme of forgiveness and she does it beautifully. An SS wife has compansion for the recently freed prisoners, two former prisoners accept her help and forgive her, an army soldier forgives the SS wife, and the wife forgives her husband. Only with God could this be possible, and Tricia Goyer tells the story well.

This is a wonderful story of a few of the heroes and heroines of WWII. This book draws you into their world and you experience their joys and sorrows on an intimate level. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a great read. I simply could not put it down. You won't be disappointed. The story is intricately woven with suspense, romance, history and unforgettable characters. This is one of those books that you will probably remember years after you've read it.

"From Dust and Ashes" is such a touching, interesting, and compelling book! I loved the story, especially since it was based on a true story! I was so privileged to proofread this book. It definitely stands out in my mind--one of the best books I've ever proofread. The SS wife, the people in the concentration camp, the American soldier; all of it became so real that I felt like I was there. I love historical fiction that can pull me into that time, place, and the minds of the characters. Tricia also shows us how God can bring beauty from ashes & use even our toughest circumstances to show His love to each of His children. A wonderful book I will never forget!

Tricia Goyer is an incredibly gifted writer; she's become one of my favorites. I look forward to reading all of her historical fiction! Don't miss this gripping and fascinating book!

This book had the opportunity to be a very inspiring story, however about half way through it became a Christian testament. Anyone outside of the Christian faith was portrayed as either total evil or hapless lambs. Apparently, there was no strength exhibited unless you gave yourself to Christ. Very little is mentioned about those Christians who actively worked throughout the war, putting their lives at risk, to help. Our 'heroine' looked the other way during the war and reaped the benefits of being SS until things changed. At the end of the book I felt the author, with all of her research trips, missed the opportunity to fulfill the promise of the setup of the story. I felt like I was promised one story line and halfway through it totally changed. VERY DISAPPOINTING! A missed opportunity by the author.