Saving Amelie by Cathy Gohlke

This Christian Fiction novel is full of wonderful and brave characters. Since it takes place in Germany during the war years, WWII, there are also cruel cowards in the novel. Men like Hitler, Goebbels and Mengele who all of a sudden found themselves with the power to choose death over life for certain people. These men hated any one not of Aryan blood. Those people not of Aryan blood were seen as bringing weakness to the German bloodline. Adolf Hitler wanted a pure race. This pure race could not include Jews, Negroes, ill children or handicapped children or the elderly. 

This brings me to little Amelie. Amelie is deaf. Her father is a German officer. His name is Schlick. He hates his child because of her weakness. She can't hear. He can't see pass her affliction to love her. He can only think of getting her away and sadly, burnt to death. Thank God there are always a remnant of kind souls left in these societies who want to save the weak and helpless. 

These brave souls can never be forgotten. Just as those who died innocent deaths in the Concentration camps can not be forgotten. These are the heroes who lived to help other people. People like Jason, the American journalist who never gives up trying to plan ways to save Rachel and Amelie. There is Kristine, Rachel's best friend, who loves her daughter Amelie so much that she is willing to give her over to Rachel's care knowing she might never see her child again. She trusts Rachel to get her daughter out of Germany. Then, there is Rachel's twin sister, Lea and Rachel's grandmother Oma. These two women open their doors to Rachel, Amelie, Rivka. Their prime thought every single day is to keep the child, and the women safe and fed. 

It's fascinating the way Cathy Gohlke in Saving Amelie uses twins. Rachel and Lea are twin sisters. They've never known one another.  They were used experimentally by their father scientist, Dr. Mengele. So cruel, he didn't love his daughters. He saw them as science projects. One twin is raised with everything she could ever want while the other twin is deprived of her needs. This is done to see who is the strongest and fittest. In this case, it's Rachel. Eugenics is such a frightening term and is described in depth in this novel. 

While family is reunited in this German household, Cathy Gohlke doesn't miss writing about the hardships of reuniting family members. The twins find it very hard to draw close to one another. Rachel fights with her superior attitude. After all, this is  how she was brought up by her father. Lea fights with jealousy of Rachel. Rachel had it all while she had so much less. Then, there is the homecoming of Frederich, Lea's husband. She loves him so much, and he loves her. When he is released from the fighting zone and the hospital, he is hardly recognizable. He's skin and bones, in a coma and can't add or take away from the household. He, at one time, was a wonderful wood carver. Lea is always kind. She treats her broken husband gently and prays daily that he will become well again. 

Each time I stopped reading the novel, it was still on my mind. I wondered what would
Maximillan do next or what would happen to the Curate. This book is a page turner. I also enjoyed learning about the town called Oberammergau. This is where the passion play is put on by the villagers every ten years. Frederich's wood carvings are used in the Passion Play. 

There is one scene that bothered me. When Maximillan approaches Lea and kisses her behind the ear and tries to go further, she thinks it's Frederich. To me, she took an awfully long time to figure out it wasn't Frederich but Maximillan. Since she loved Frederich so much, I thought she would recognize another man's touch immediately. I wondered did Lea hunger for a man's touch so much that she slid into a world of fantasy for a moment and pretended it was Frederich until she couldn't stand Maximillan's touch any longer. I will never know. 

Cathy Gohlke has written World War II History amazingly well. The characters are still with me. I deeply appreciate the Epilogue. The Epilogue allowed me the chance to follow up with the characters after all the war sadness had passed away. http://authorcathygohlke.com/ 
This copy of Saving Amelie by Cathy Gohlke is a complimentary copy from Tyndale House Publishing.
 



Comments

Harvee said…
Serious topics for discussion in this novel, as you point out so well, Tea. Sounds like a fascinating historial.
another excellent sounding WWII novel! thanks for posting - I just posted Daisies are Forever and the realities of living thru that era are horrific - good eye openers!
Giveaway offered for Daisies if you're able to pop over..
Cathy Gohlke said…
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