IF I WERE YOU by Lynn Austin, Reviewed by Paula Shreckhise RELEASES ON JUNE 2, 2020

If I Were You looks back to WWII in England and the unlikely friendship of Eve Dawson and Audrey Clarkson. Eve is a servant and Audrey is from an aristocratic family. Yet their friendship is made stronger through their service to their country in the awful war. Ms Austin takes us to diverse places during the years of 1939 through the end of the war and beyond. The girls do their part in the boat rescue of soldiers at Dunkirk and end up at ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service) Motor Transportation Center as drivers of ambulances and trucks just like Princess Elizabeth. This book is rich in depiction of the war years and what people went through in their daily lives. The scenes of bomb shelters and the aftermath of the bombings is heartrending.

Faith is a strong component in this story. Both Audrey and Eve grow during this time. Ms. Austin shows how we are all fallible and how forgiveness is healing to those doing the forgiving and those who are forgiven.

Quote: “That was the destructive power of sin and lies- they harmed the innocent along with the guilty. Hitler’s lies had dragged the entire world into six long years of hell.”

The message is hope in the One who bestows forgiveness, because none are exempt from condemnation. But “ The Good Shepherd had come to fetch His lost sheep and bring her home.”

This was a sobering look at the devastation of war. At the same time, friendship, love, forgiveness and faith resonate through this book.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher on behalf of the author. I was not required to give a favorable review. All opinions are my own.*I give this 5 Stars. It has a (3) strong faith thread.

 

BackCover Blurb:
From bestselling and eight-time Christy Award–winning author Lynn Austin comes a remarkable novel of sisterhood and self-discovery set against the backdrop of WWII.

1950. In the wake of the war, Audrey Clarkson leaves her manor house in England for a fresh start in America with her young son. As a widowed war bride, Audrey needs the support of her American in-laws, whom she has never met. But she arrives to find that her longtime friend Eve Dawson has been impersonating her for the past four years. Unraveling this deception will force Audrey and Eve’s secrets—and the complicated history of their friendship—to the surface.

1940. Eve and Audrey have been as different as two friends can be since the day they met at Wellingford Hall, where Eve’s mother served as a lady’s maid for Audrey’s mother. As young women, those differences become a polarizing force . . . until a greater threat—Nazi invasion—reunites them. With London facing relentless bombardment, Audrey and Eve join the fight as ambulance drivers, battling constant danger together. An American stationed in England brings dreams of a brighter future for Audrey, and the collapse of the class system gives Eve hope for a future with Audrey’s brother. But in the wake of devastating loss, both women must make life-altering decisions that will set in motion a web of lies and push them both to the breaking point long after the last bomb has fallen.

This sweeping story transports readers to one of the most challenging eras of history to explore the deep, abiding power of faith and friendship to overcome more than we ever thought possible.

Tyndale Publishing, June 2020
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