Hardcover: 368 Page

Publisher: Thomas Nelson (February 25, 2020)

From international bestselling author Mario Escobar comes a story of escape, sacrifice, and hope amid the perils of the second World War.

Synopsis

August 1942. Jacob and Moses Stein, two young Jewish brothers, are staying with their aunt in Paris amid the Nazi occupation. The boys’ parents, well-known German playwrights, have left the brothers in their aunt’s care until they can find safe harbor for their family. But before the Steins can reunite, a great and terrifying roundup occurs. The French gendarmes, under Nazi order, arrest the boys and take them to the Vélodrome d’Hiver—a massive, bleak structure in Paris where thousands of France’s Jews are being forcibly detained.

Jacob and Moses know they must flee in order to survive, but they only have a set of letters sent from the south of France to guide them to their parents. Danger lurks around every corner as the boys, with nothing but each other, trek across the occupied country. Along their remarkable journey, they meet strangers and brave souls who put themselves at risk to protect the children—some of whom pay the ultimate price for helping these young refugees of war.

This inspiring novel, now available for the first time in English, demonstrates the power of family and the endurance of the human spirit—even through the darkest moments of human history.

Review

✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️/5

Each time I pick up a historical fiction novel I wonder if WWII fiction, in particular, has run out of plot lines. But once again I was surprised, this time by Children of The Stars. The telling from the perspective of the boys was fresh and took on an innocent quality that kept this book from becoming too heavy – a slight concern of mine prior to starting the book.

I read this book in an evening. Historical fiction isn’t typically a page-turner for me but this book was different.

The writing was beautiful and the translation was excellent. I didn’t feel like I was missing anything which can sometimes be the case in translated fiction. With this book, the author’s voice was clear and captivating.

I loved nearly all of the characters and the book took on a tone of hopefulness. If you’re looking for a different perspective in a historical fiction book, you will most likely love this book. It’s available today from your favorite bookseller!

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble | Thomas Nelson

About Mario Escobar

Mario Escobar Golderos (Madrid, Spain) has a degree in History, with an advanced studies diploma in Modern History. He has written numerous books and articles about the Inquisition, the Protestant Reformation, and religious sects. He is the directs the magazine Nueva historia para el debate, in addition to being a contributing columnist in various publications. Passionate about history and its mysteries, Escobar has delved into the depths of church history, the different sectarian groups that have struggled therein, and the discovery and colonization of the Americas. He specializes in the lives of unorthodox Spaniards and Americans.

Connect with Mario

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Thank you to TLC Book Tours and the publisher, Thomas Nelson for a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️/5

Welcome to a writer’s worst nightmare.

Maurice Swift is handsome, charismatic, ambitious and lacks the talent needed to become a successful writer on his own merits.

As a young man, Maurice becomes the obsession of author Erich Ackermann. Maurice needs Erich to help his career along and Erich has other intentions. As they develop some semblance of a relationship Erich confesses to Maurice a terrible act he committed in concert with the Nazis resulting in the deaths of four people.

Maurice in turn takes this story and packages it as the novel, Two Germans, and his career takes off while simultaneously destroying Ackermann’s career and essentially his life.

After the success of his first novel, his sophomore book has less than stellar results and Maurice marries an up and coming author who narrates the second part of the book addressing Maurice as “you” – an interesting twist in narration.

One calculating move after another leads the reader to realize that Maurice may not be who he appears to be. My jaw dropped multiple times as I went back to make sure I understood what had just happened.

John Boyne is an incredibly talented writer – The Heart’s Invisible Furies is in my own top five books. I downloaded this audiobook expecting a good book but this was another phenomenal book – different from Furies but with some shared similarities.

In both books references to real authors are made. In Furies the main character is always reading James Joyce or another Irish literature giant. Boyne takes it a step further in Ladder with Gore Vidal appearing as a guest star in the book.

An exchange between the two men served as the shift from young aspiring author to a more sinister Maurice.

There is also a nod to Maude Avery – a reference Furies readers will appreciate.

These literary details gave this book a solid footing when at times you felt as if you were reading the impossible.

I personally love books about writers writing, the publishing process, and literary criticism and this book was simply phenomenal, even for someone who doesn’t find that process to be all that interesting.

At the heart, it is a character study and one can only imagine how Boyne went about developing such dark yet interesting characters that will keep a reader engaged despite how despicable a character is behaving.

Mark this one down as one of my top books of 2019 – even if it’s only July.