"Daisies Are Forever" by Liz Tolsma

Things were not good in East Prussia in early 1945. The Russian army was advancing towards Germany, and thousands of residents were fleeing for their lives. When a young nurse refuses to leave her ailing grandfather, she entrusts her two small daughters into the care of her cousin Gisela and sends them out into the frozen countryside. Gisela soon finds herself in charge of a motley crew of survivors, trekking towards Berlin in the hope of outrunning the brutal Red Army soldiers.

British prisoner of war Mitch Edwards has escaped from a holding camp and managed to evade recapture by posing as a wounded SS guard. When his cover is challenged, he's shocked when Gisela steps up and claims him as her husband. Even though her group is traveling in the opposite direction for rejoining the British army, his life depends on staying with Gisela and taking on the identity she has offered him.

Two little girls and three elderly people slow down the rate the group is able to travel. Also among their party is an injured Nazi who becomes enamored with Gisela, and a German woman who is believes she can convince Mitch to leave his "wife" and take her to America once the war is over. The internal conflict is just as dangerous as the outside forces.

This book was full of the very real struggles and horrors of the end of World War II. I've looked up a lot of the things mentioned while they were fresh in my mind, and found them all to be historically accurate. While not explicit in details, there are mentions of bodies found in rubble after bombings, sexual assault, open hangings with corpses left swinging, etc. There are even dangers of these things touching the characters we come to care about, and because this kind of violence can be triggering for readers, I wouldn't recommend it without a warning. It's not whitewashed history.

That being said, it's a story of survival and finding God even in the midst of unspeakable nightmares. Gisela is certain that because of failures in her past that God can never forgive her. Somehow through all the loss and life-threatening moments, she is able to hold onto the Bible and the pressed daisies which her grandparents had tucked between its pages. Could the promises of God's love and watchfulness be true? She tries so hard in her own strength to keep alive those she has claimed responsibility for, but nothing short of God's grace will allow any of them to remain alive through the end of the story. This was a book I didn't want to put down until I finished it.




I received my copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for this honest review. All opinions are my own.