SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 // 23
BOOK SHELF // GLIMPSE // WILDLIFE // POP CULTURE // WORDS // Q&A // FOOD // FUN
rupted by anti-aircraft gun-
fire that shoots a plane out
of the sky. It crashes to her
street in a fireball, and she is
first to arrive on the scene,
discovering two bodies in
the blazing wreckage. The
dead pilot is British, judging
by his uniform. The other
man, in civilian clothes, is
alive but terribly injured.
BOOKMONGER
Breslin gets it right with
High as the Heavens
Third time’s a charm for
Of Belgian descent, Eve
is now living with her el-
author Kate Breslin, who
derly mother, also a widow,
writes early 20th century
and her aunt and uncle in a
historical romance novels
house that has been forced to
from a Christian faith per-
spective.
billet German soldiers.
By day, Eve works as a
Breslin’s first novel was
Red Cross nurse in a hospi-
published in 2014. “For
tal operated by the German
Such a Time” was a World
occupiers. In
War II tale
evenings,
that had good
“HIGH AS THE the
she waitress-
character
HEAVENS” GETS es in the café
development
and chemis-
HIGH MARKS. owned by
try, but that
THIS STORY IS her aunt and
exercised
SPELLBINDING. uncle.
And after
questionable
finishing at
judgment in
the restaurant, Eve turns
treating the subject matter.
to her third line of work:
The author’s second
undertaking espionage
book, “Not by Sight,” was
activities for the Belgian
set in World War I England.
resistance.
does she have to live for?
Although the narrative
At this point, what else
Eve is on her way to a
description of the lives and
times of women in that era
was quite good, the plot
Crossword Answer
floundered.
But with her brand-new
S E A W A R S
F E A T
D A L I
A S H
novel, “High as the Heav-
I
M
R
I
G
H
T
A
M
M
O
E
L
E
G
A
N
C E
ens,” Breslin has hit her
L O B S T E R M I D O R
B E V E R O O M
stride. This tale, also set
O T O H
S U T R A
T I T
A T T I R E
during World War I (with
some pre-war flashbacks),
S E R B
U T A U S T I N
P R I O N S
successfully combines a
O P S
S H E L T E R
T O T E M
soulful love story with a har-
P I A N O
S I E
L L A N O S
E S A
rowing espionage tale and
U N D E R O O F
B L A C K B O A R D E R
some fascinating historical
L A D
T O N I E R
T E E T H E
background.
S T E R
M I D E A S T
S E N E C A
The protagonist is
A
I
R
E
S
C
O
N
C
E
R
I
E
S
M A X E D
British-born Evelyn (Eve)
R
E
S
C
U
E
E
Q
U
A
L
T
O
L I S A
Marche, who is living in
A
L
T
P
O
P
E
N
M
E
S
H
L A P
German-occupied Belgium
C O M P U T E R A T O R
S P O I L E R T
during World War I. Evelyn
lost her British RFC Captain
R N A
A S T R A L
E T H
L O D E S
husband early in the war.
Y A Y M E
T H E P I P S
P L O
The young widow also suf-
S P A D E S
N A N O T U B E
S P A M
fered a miscarriage during
C L O V E S
O T S
S A T Y R
E L L A
the violent German invasion,
R O L E R S A L
B A T T E R M I N A L S
and her younger brother and
O P E N L A T E
A R I E
D I L U T E S
sister were taken away by
W E S
E Y E S
R A T S
S T E P O N E
German troops.
“High as the Heavens”
By Kate Breslin
Bethany House
395 pp
$15.99
KATEBRESLIN.COM
covert midnight rendezvous
when her mission is inter-
She turns him over to
administer first aid, and
is shocked to see — now,
Reader, I don’t want to
spoil this for you. Let’s just
say this is the first of many
twists in a plot that repeated-
ly surprises and intrigues.
Breslin has developed
a varied cast of characters
who are sympathetic, devi-
ous, resilient and vulnerable
— sometimes all at the same
time. You’ll get a kick out
of Eve’s sweet old mother,
for instance, who tats coded
intelligence messages into
lace that passes unsuspected
out of the country and gets
delivered into the hands of
the British Secret Service.
But it is Eve who carries
the story. Breslin has cre-
ated a nuanced figure who
grapples with the war-time
realities of bereavement,
trauma, ethical compromise
and a challenged faith while
risking all for what’s left
of her family, and for her
community.
“High as the Heavens”
gets high marks. This story
is spellbinding.
The Bookmonger is Bar-
bara Lloyd McMichael, who
writes this weekly column
focusing on the books, au-
thors and publishers of the
Pacific Northwest. Contact
her at bkmonger@nwlink.
com.
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