WHEN TWILIGHT BREAKS, Sarah Sundin’s latest, is a tour de force.
Munich, 1938
Evelyn Brand is an American foreign correspondent determined to prove her worth in a male-dominated profession and to expose the growing tyrrany in Nazi Germany. To do so, she must walk a thin line. If she offends the government, she could be expelled from the country–or worse. If she does not report truthfully, she’ll betray the oppressed and fail to wake up the folks back home.
Peter Lang is an Americvan graduate student working on his PhD in German. Disillusioned wit the chaos in the world due to to the Great Depression, he is impressed with the prosperity and order of German society. But when the brutality of the regime hits close, he discovers a far better way to use his contacts within the Nazi party–to feed information to the shrewd reporter he can’t get off his mind.
As the world marches relentlessly toward war, Evelyn and Peter are on a collision course with destiny. [from back cover]
Evelyn and Peter grapple with truth versus propaganda in the increasingly divided, tense country. And if they are to help each other survive the treacherous terrain of Nazi Germany, they will have to reconcile their conflicting perspectives
All the characters in this story are completely real and compelling. The choices they face are heart-breaking. Their spiritual struggles authentically arise from their experience. And the forces that impact them lead to gripping, high stakes journeys where threats, like a tornado, intensify and accelerate.
Sundin draws her characters and settings clearly and thoroughly which helps keep the action brisk. Without intending to, I stayed up hours past normal, walking with Evelyn and Peter, trying to determine who was trustworthy and who was not. The supervisor, neighbor, professor, landlord, restaurateur? The new friends? Maybe the old friends? God?
Much like how our 21st century world had to learn how to handle a novel virus, this cast of characters has to learn about the novel threat of Nazi Germany. Their journey to do that is compelling and kept me engaged even after shutting the book. I highly recommend it.
(I can give you a man’s point of view soon as my husband is reading the story now.)
UPDATE ~ Hubby also gives it 5 stars! The story drew him in and kept him engaged with taut writing. A tale filled with drama, intrigue, internal and external struggles, and a tender romance that does not overpower the rest of the action. He liked how the author sprinkled in bits of spiritual questions or needs that Peter and Evelyn had. No complaints and just one unanswered question. 🙂