“Ashes” is the heartwarming tale based on true events by author Christopher De Vinck. Set in Belgium 1939, eighteen year old Simone Lyon is the Catholic daughter of a Belgium national hero, General Joseph Lyon. Her best friend Hava Daniels, is the daughter of a devout Jewish family. Despite growing up in different worlds, they are inseparable. Spring 1940 brings
Nazi planes and tanks bombing Brussels where they live and their resilience and strength are tested. Hava and Simone find themselves caught in the advancing onslaught and are forced to flee but even the most harrowing horrors cannot break the bonds of love and friendship of a relationship that never should have been.
The story starts quite powerfully and straight away the reader is subjected to the horror of war. We are then taken back to how Simone and Hava became friends and as the Germans invade Belgium shortly after, we follow their resilience and perseverance to protect each other and stay alive.
The girls really did capture my heart and their innocence was a joy to read. To say the book wasn’t riveting would be doing the story (and the authors writing) a disservice because just the nature of the story based on true events deserves high praise. However it was slow at times and the ending seemed a bit rushed. I did find the final closing chapter very emotional when we learned what finally happened and I admit to feeling quite sad when reading.
Simone’s and Hava’s friendship was remarkably poignant and the relationship between them was truly incredible and lovely to read. Highlighting the horrors of the Nazi invasion of a country thought to be neutral and the perils of being a Jew made this book a harrowing but heartwarming read. The author hopes to remind readers what it if feels like to be filled with compassion, dignity and love and I believe he achieved this. The historical facts/quotations at the start of each chapter were a nice addition and often were very informative.
If you enjoy character based stories with a backdrop of war then you’ll find this book is for you and apart from being a tad slow at times, I did enjoy and would read more by this author again.
4 stars
Nazi planes and tanks bombing Brussels where they live and their resilience and strength are tested. Hava and Simone find themselves caught in the advancing onslaught and are forced to flee but even the most harrowing horrors cannot break the bonds of love and friendship of a relationship that never should have been.
The story starts quite powerfully and straight away the reader is subjected to the horror of war. We are then taken back to how Simone and Hava became friends and as the Germans invade Belgium shortly after, we follow their resilience and perseverance to protect each other and stay alive.
The girls really did capture my heart and their innocence was a joy to read. To say the book wasn’t riveting would be doing the story (and the authors writing) a disservice because just the nature of the story based on true events deserves high praise. However it was slow at times and the ending seemed a bit rushed. I did find the final closing chapter very emotional when we learned what finally happened and I admit to feeling quite sad when reading.
Simone’s and Hava’s friendship was remarkably poignant and the relationship between them was truly incredible and lovely to read. Highlighting the horrors of the Nazi invasion of a country thought to be neutral and the perils of being a Jew made this book a harrowing but heartwarming read. The author hopes to remind readers what it if feels like to be filled with compassion, dignity and love and I believe he achieved this. The historical facts/quotations at the start of each chapter were a nice addition and often were very informative.
If you enjoy character based stories with a backdrop of war then you’ll find this book is for you and apart from being a tad slow at times, I did enjoy and would read more by this author again.
4 stars