On Distant Shores

Sarah Sundin has been a favorite author of mine from the time I read her very first book. She writes World War II fiction with believable characters who have an unwavering faith in God. I love WWII fiction because my father served in the Coast Guard and since his death, my brother has been able to tell me more of his stories. I am sorry I missed hearing them first-hand.

Last night, I did something unusual--I went to bed early so I could read, Sarah's new book was just too fascinating to put down. I NEEDED to read it.

Georgiana is a flight nurse who feels she doesn't fit in, she went into this because her best friend was doing it too. Ward is Georgie's boyfriend back home and he desires for her to get out of flight nursing and come home to him. Her parents also wish for her to come back home and get out of such a dangerous profession. In other words, Georgie is coddled to the point of suffocation.

Georgie has decided to stand on her own two feet and listen to God instead of the cacophony of voices around her telling her what to do. After freezing up on a flight that ended in a collision with another plane on the ground, Georgie was sent back to the States to finish her training. Her commanding officer was hoping that Georgie would fail the training, but Georgie was determined to fulfill God's plan for her. If she failed, it was because she truly didn't have it in her to do the work. Georgie's determination is what got her through the training and allowed her to be transferred back to her original outfit.

Hutch is an enlisted pharmacist who is campaigning for a Pharmacists Corps in the Army which would allow the pharmacists to become officers instead of enlisted personnel. In the midst of his campaign, he forgets his purpose and his calling as a pharmacist, instead he pushes for the "respect" he feels he deserves from the other officers in the hospital.

During the course of their duties, Georgie and Hutch meet and have an attraction to each other, but both are faithful to those who are waiting for them back home: Georgie's Ward and Hutch's Phyllis. While Georgie was home to finish her training, she found that Hutch's Phyllis was already married and had had a son. She forces Phyllis to write to Hutch and tell him of her duplicity. At the same time, Ward's smothering ways and Georgie's decision to listen to God instead of the voices around her cause Ward and Georgie to come to a parting of the ways. When Georgie goes back to Italy, she and Hutch begin a romance, forbidden by the laws of the Army.

One of my favorite things to find in a work of fiction is finding something to learn from the characters in the book. Sarah has written a book that teaches me to block out the noise of the world and find God's voice. It reminds me of the verses in Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. This was the lesson Georgie and Hutch both had to learn, and they learned it well.

Five stars, two thumbs up, and a good dose of trust.