Book Review: Daisies Are Forever ~ The Review Stew

A book was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.

About the book:

Gisela must hold on to hope and love despite all odds in the midst of a war-torn country.

Gisela Cramer is an American living in eastern Germany with her cousin Ella Reinhardt. When the Red Army invades, they must leave their home to escape to safety in Berlin.

However, Ella is a nurse and refuses to leave, sending her young daughters with Gisela. During their journey, Gisela meets Mitch Edwards, an escaped British POW. She pretends she is his wife in order to preserve his safety among other Germans, especially one wounded German soldier, Kurt, who has suspicions about Mitch's identity. Kurt also has feelings for Gisela and tries to uncover the truth about her "marriage."

Their journey to Gisela's mother in Berlin is riddled with tragedy and hardship, but they strive to keep Ella's daughters safe so they can reunite with their mother. During the journey Gisela and Mitch begin to develop feelings for one another beyond friendship. They reach Berlin, but their struggles are far from over. Gisela and Mitch must learn to live for the day and find hope in the darkest of circumstances.

In this moving, historically accurate portrayal of WWII Germany, the characters learn that, even with destruction all around them, some things last forever.

About the author:

New York Times best-selling author Liz Tolsma is the author of Daisies are Forever, Snow on the Tulips, and the contributing author of A Log Cabin Christmas. When not busy putting words to paper, Liz enjoys reading, walking, working in her large perennial garden, kayaking, and camping. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and children, all adopted internationally.

My Opinion

I have mentioned before how books set in WWII are my ABSOLUTE favorite! It is such a terrible time in our history but there is so much to learn and learn from in that time period and I have never found a WWII book that wasn't really interesting and compelling!

Daisies are Forever is a touching, amazing, heartbreaking and sorrowful story of Gisela and Mitch during WWII in war-stricken Germany. I love how this book takes a different angle at the view of WWII and sets it in Germany with Germany people who are suffering. It is very interesting to see what happened to the poor, helpless German people when their cities and country were being destroyed during the War. They feared the Russians like many people feared the Germans and you can see in this book that the war was definitely two sided - opposing sides were equally and sadly brutal to each other's people - specifically women.

This story was written so well and I could feel every emotion: pain, sadness, joy and the amazing story of Gisela and Mitch as they strive to survive through the end of the War. I highly recommend this book!

Buy It: You can purchase Daisies are Forever for $11.95 from Amazon.com

Liz Tolsma's latest WWII historical fiction novel, Daisies are Forever, is getting rave reviews.

". . . compelling and fast-paced tale about the atrocities and tremendous losses. . . ." —Library Journal

"Excellent storytelling, accurate historical reporting and gritty, persevering characters make this WWII-era novel a must-read." —CBA Retailers + Resources