The Winter Rose

 

So I decided to lose sleep over this book last night.  I just couldn't put it down.  First, let me say that there is very little romance--as in ooey-gooey kisses and long, loving looks type of romance--in this book, but there are examples of deep, abiding love that lasts through the ages. 

This is what is commonly known as a time-slip novel, where there are parallel plots that cover more than one era.  In this case, it is World War II and present day.  Grace Tonquin has seen too much of the evil of men and works to save children from the Nazi regime and spirit them into Spain, and ultimately, to Lisbon, Portugal, where they can be shipped out of Europe. Her whole raison d'etre is taking care of the children.  Two of the children she is responsible for become as her own when she finds there is no uncle living in the United States to care for them.  She takes them with her back to Oregon to her family's vineyard. Elias, soon to become known as Charlie, is a bundle of rebellion, anger, and regret.  He's seen far more than a child of his age should see. His sister, Marguerite, is an artist from a very young age.  She has synesthesia--an ability to see emotions as colors--and can tell at a glance where danger lies, even though she is quite young. She thrives with Grace's love and gentleness, where Charlie kicks at the goads hard and often.  

Roland is the man who guided Grace and the children out of France, and who has fallen in love with Grace.  He has promised he will find her and come back to her, and he does, but not until after he was interred at Dachau Prison Camp for the waning years of the war.  Together they build a home for Elias and Marguerite and Louis--another child who was hidden away by Roland's aunt Helene. Louis never really connected to Grace and Roland, instead choosing to live with Grace's mother--a once upon a time movie star. 

Addie is a protégé of Charlie and Emma, who ran the Sale Creek Home for Girls.  She had gotten in trouble with the law and was offered this option or time in jail.  She chose the Home for Girls. Afterward, she got a scholarship to a Bible College where she met her husband who was a pastor of not very high integrity.  When Charlie gets sick and needs a bone marrow transplant, Addie goes looking for family members who might be a worthy donor.  She finds more to Charlie's story than she ever knew before, and in the meantime finds a bit of herself in the process.  

For having so many characters in the book, Melanie Dobson does a fantastic job of fleshing them out and making them come alive on the pages of the novel.  The Winter Rose is the kind of book that will make the readers think, and feel, and take stock of themselves.  Which is not a bad thing at all. 

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a hike over the mountains to safety. 

Tyndale House and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own.