Arms of Deliverance

by: Trisha Goyer

Published by: Moody Publishers

Reviewed by M. K. Dancy

This is a winding, compelling tale of three women. Set in New York and Europe during World War II, the novel introduces us to Lee O'Donnelly and Mary Kelley who are both young newspaper reporters in New York. They have chosen to serve with the Army in the European Theater of Operations(ETO) for the United States and send inspirational stories about the soldiers' lives back home.

Lee and Mary come from very different upbringings, but are both determined to make their names while overseas with the ETO. So they board the Queen Mary and sail to England. There they are dispatched to different areas of the war to report on the lives and stories of the men who serve. Lee is from a privileged family in New York and has many high-level contacts in the military. Mary is the illegitimate daughter of the editor of her newspaper and has made her way on her charm and personality.

The third story is of Katrine. She is a Jew who has the good fortune to avoid the ethnic cleansing because she looks Aryan. Her father separates her from her family moments before they board a train to a concentration camp. Soon she finds herself living in the city and involved with a dashing S.S. officer, Heinrick. Katrine finds herself pregnant with Heinrick's child and terrified of what will happen. Heinrick, who is a high-ranking officer in a department of the Nazi government that works to "purify" the race of Aryans, sends Katrine against her will to a home for mothers who are carrying Aryan children.

Katrine immediately realizes that he never loved her, and that she and her child will be in mortal danger when he finds out that she is Jewish.

Three seemingly separate stories gradually meld into one as the book goes on. The story is slow to start, but exquisitely detailed and filled with vivid prose. Once the story takes off, it is exciting and compelling. Arms of Deliverance is a sweetly romantic tale set in a time of great unrest.

Armchair Interviews says, if you're looking for an inspirational romance with an unusual setting, this is for you.