A Brighter Dawn is an Amish/Mennonite dual timeline novel from Leslie Gould. Set in modern-day America and WWII-era Germany, the book explores both white supremacy and the Nazi eugenics experiments. It was interesting to read about Mennonite communities in the present and in the past and their struggles with keeping separate from the “world”. As in most spiritual communities some people better adhere to their principals than others. Main character Ivy Zimmerman has a lot to deal with — guilt over her parents’ deaths in a car accident, her struggles with faith, and the newfound family she knew little about. Add to that a mystery surrounding her great-aunt Clare, and you have a complex, yet cohesive story to fall into. I enjoyed the book overall, though I did find the historical thread more compelling. The scientific research, the growing anti-semitism, and the ambivalence of those of faith were all too relevant for the modern reader. I had trouble connecting with the younger characters in the present-day story — probably due to my own advanced years. 😉 I do think that older teens and young adults would like this book. It certainly is a recommended read.
Recommended.
Audience: older teens and adults.
(I purchased this book from Amazon. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
Ivy Zimmerman is successfully navigating her life as a young Mennonite woman, one generation removed from her parents’ Old Order Amish upbringing. But when her parents are killed in a tragic accident, Ivy’s way of life is upended. As she deals with her grief, her sisters’ needs, and her Dawdi and Mammi’s strict rules, Ivy finds solace in both an upcoming trip to Germany for an international Mennonite youth gathering and in her great-aunt’s story about Ivy’s great-grandmother’s visit to Germany in the late 1930s.
As Ivy grows suspicious that her parents’ deaths weren’t, in fact, an accident, she gains courage from what she learns of her great-grandmother’s time in pre-World War II Germany. With her great-aunt’s encouragement and the inspiration of her great-grandmother, Ivy seeks justice for her parents, her sisters, and herself. From the talented pen of bestselling author Leslie Gould comes a powerful and evocative dual-time story partly set on the eve of World War II.
Leslie Gould is the best-selling and award-winning author of over forty novels. She loves research, traveling, and church history. She and her husband live in Portland, Oregon and have four grown children and one grandchild. http://www.lesliegould.com/.
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