This novel is based on the true story of Elisabeth Eidenbenz, a Swiss woman who helped orphans during the Spanish Civil War. In 1939, after the defeat of the Republic, she opened the Elne Maternity Hospital to care for care for Spanish refugees in Southern France. Depictions of the nearby refugee camps are drawn from the testimonies of Spanish people who crossed into France fleeing from certain death at the hands of the new regime. At one point there were 440,000 refugees, many of them women and children. This resulted in one of the most severe humanitarian crises of the twentieth century. After WWII began, the home also served as a haven for Jewish women and children.
Elisabeth was raised as a Calvinist Christian in a home where service to others was the highest value. In establishing the Elne Maternity Hospital, she was assisted by Quakers and Mennonites, as well as the Swiss Aid to Spanish Children organization. Later in life she her work was recognized, and she was awarded many honors.
The story is told through the voices of Elisabeth, Isabel (a young Spanish woman), and Peter (husband of Isabel, an American who fought for the Spanish Republic). Isabel and Peter are separated, and their difficult journey back to one another and eventually to the United States provides a realistic and painful picture of war and its' aftermath.
VERDICT: 4 STARS.
For more Christian fiction see these posts:
The Souls of Lost Lake by Jaime Jo Wright–Book Review
until Leaves fall in Paris by Sarah Sundin–Book Review
a long time comin' by Robin W. Pearson — Book Review
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