Night Song by Tricia Goyer
Historical Fiction. 392 Pages. 5 Stars
Synopsis:
Tricia Goyer tells the little-known, but true story of the orchestra started by prisoners in Hitler’s Mauthausen death camp. This courageous orchestra played the American national anthem as Allied troops arrived to liberate the camps. Around the orchestra story, Tricia weaves the fictional stories of a beautiful member of the Austrian resistance, the American GI who loves her, and a young prisoner who fakes his way into the camp orchestra in a desperate attempt to stay alive.
My Review:
I love music. And I’m oddly drawn to the WWII era, so as soon as I saw this book, I knew I wanted to read it. It stands alone from the previous book, but of course, I wanted to read that one first since it’s technically Book 1.
Tricia does such a fabulous job of portraying the depth of the horror of the Holocaust while not dwelling in that darkness. Her research is impeccable and the stories feel so authentic because of it. Her world is so easy to slip into.
This one had a slower start for me than the previous one. It was harder to see what the goal of the characters (save one) was and how the stories would intertwine. I kept waiting and waiting to figure out what exactly we were building toward. But the end of the book pulled things together beautifully.
And she got me! I teared up like three times. I was fine until one certain bit and then after that she got me twice more in the last few pages. So very well done. I look forward to the next one, but will likely take some space to get through a few other reads before diving back into WWII.
Content: no swearing, a clean, sweet romance, and some war violence. It’s a WWII book that deals with the concentration camps, the injustice, the fear, the control, and even a little of the occult in this one. The book deals with heavy things like loss and grief, not understanding why, not knowing if you’ll live or die day by day, and feeling completely helpless to do anything to make things right. But it’s well worth the read. I’d probably recommend for 16/17+
More:
Book 1 in the WWII Liberators Series is From Dust and Ashes (4 Stars)
Book 3 is Dawn of a Thousand Nights
Book 4 is Arms of Deliverance
These books are standalones and can be read in any order, though Tricia suggests starting with Dust and Ashes if you’ve never read any of her books before. Check out the links for more info!
On GraceBought
If you missed it, check out my thoughts on the first book!