Saving Amelie by Cathy Gohlke

About the Book:

SUMMER 1939

ONE LETTER, ONE REQUEST . . .

 On a trip to Germany with her father, Rachel Kramer receives a cryptic letter with a plea for help from an estranged friend. Married to SS officer Gerhardt Schlick, Kristine sees the dark tides turning and fears her husband views their daughter Amelie—deaf since birth—as a blight on his Aryan bloodline.

. . . LEADS TO A TRUTH SO DARK . . .

 Once courted by Schlick, Rachel knows he’s as dangerous as the swastikas that hang like ebony spiders across Berlin. She fears her father, an eminent eugenics scientist, may know about Hitler’s plans for others, like Amelie, whom the regime deems unworthy of life. But when she risks searching his classified documents, she also uncovers shocking secrets about her own history and a family she’s never known.

. . . THEY’LL RISK EVERYTHING TO BRING IT TO LIGHT.

 Now hunted by the SS, Rachel turns to Jason Young— a driven American journalist and unlikely ally—whose connections to the resistance help Rachel and Amelie escape the city. Forced to hide in Oberammergau, the Bavarian village of the Passion Play, Rachel’s every ideal is challenged as she and Jason walk a knife’s edge, endangering their lives—and asking others to do the same—for those they barely know but come to love.

My Thoughts:

This is my first time reading a novel by Cathy Gohlke, but I doubt it will be my last.  "Saving Amelie" is a surprise within a surprise, packed with passion, romance, intrigue, history and faith.  No wonder the book is nearly 500 pages in length!

Cathy crafted a story about imaginary people caught up in a real life series of horrific events, and sprinkled a few historical figures in for added authenticity.  As you turn the pages of the book you can literally feel the evil of Hitler's reign creeping across the continent of Europe and spreading its tentacles of destruction over the vast oceans to other unsuspecting countries.

You'll watch the innocent get caught up in the net of destruction and feel so helpless to do anything.  You'll witness brave souls put all on the line to help save as many lives as they possibly can, and weep as they pay the price...at times, the ultimate price.

And you will cheer as events unfold to a climactic end, but be left feeling dissatisfied as the guilty often go unpunished--at least, in THIS life.  God knows all, even that done in secret, so take heart and pray that the wicked turn from their ways and seek Him...oh, wait, this is a novel, isn't it?

THAT is how real and how vivid Cathy Gohlke creates with words.

We live in an age where history is so easily re-written and spin doctors put their best twist on what 'really happened'.  Novels like "Saving Amelie" become more than entertainment in such an environment.  They become the life blood of the truth of these events, keeping it alive for generations to remember, to know...

...to experience.

Let me say this much about "Saving Amelie": the book is about the life of one little girl who is deemed defective by the Third Reich, but it is so, so much more than that.  Please, don't miss a golden opportunity to enjoy a true gem in the literary world.

My thanks to my friends at Tyndale Publishing for my advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  I've noticed many more books dealing with events of the 1930's lately, and I've read quite a few of them.  Some are better than others....this is one of the best.  Take my word for it.  You won't be disappointed.

Happy Reading!





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