Guest Author - Diana Pederson

Tricia Goyer. Night Song: A Story of Sacrifice. Moody Publishers. 2004.

Tricia Goyer has proven herself as an author of historical fiction dealing with World War II. Night Song is unique in its telling of World War II. One of the death camps, Mauthausen, became home to an orchestra made up of prisoners of war. Although the story is based on purely fictional characters, it is an honest look at the horrors of the Nazi death camps and the survival of the human spirit in spite of the odds. When the allied liberators marched into the death camp, the orchestra was proud to play the American National Anthem.

I appreciate Goyer’s writing because of the historical accuracy of the events portrayed in her books. If you also enjoy her writing, be sure to take a look at the following book too.

Tricia Goyer. Dawn of a Thousand Nights: A Story of Honor. Moody Publishers, 2005.

This is one of the few fictional books from the World War II historical period that I have truly enjoyed. Although it is hard to read about the suffering of our soldiers during this war, I learned several important facts I don’t remember being taught in United States History courses. First, I learned that we had a lady pilots group that ferried planes from manufacturer to the various military bases. Those women dealt with all the problems of flying the “big planes” and even lost some from the group to plane accidents. Second, the story of the Bataan Death March brought tears to my eyes as I realized just how much our soldiers suffered at the hands of the Japanese. I had no idea about how many of our men were brutally murdered by the Japanese for things such as “walking too slow”.

The main characters, Libby Conners and Dan Lukens, live through difficult circumstances on different continents. In spite of their separation, their love remains true to each other and to their Lord. I am sure this is one of thousands of love stories that could be told from World War II.

Recommendation

Tricia Goyer brings a feeling of realism to her fictional characters. Her writing style let you feel as though you are living the events too. Frankly, it is difficult to read some parts of the books. Can you imagine being shot just for being too tired to walk quickly enough to suit your captors? I had difficulty stomaching some of the horrors described in these books. Fortunately, the faith of the various characters kept me reading to see how it would hold up through such suffering. These stories are an encouragement to Christians everywhere – truly, we can survive anything if we have faith in Christ.