The Heart Mender: Review and Giveaway!

One of my favorite genres is historical fiction so I was quite excited to read The Heart Mender by Andy Andrews. The main part of the book is set in 1942. A young woman is still grieving the loss of her husband and finds herself angry most of the time, even with those who love her most. A young man has also lost everything he had and doesn't even understand exactly how he went from his German U Boat to washing up on the Florida shore. Can they make peace with themselves? Can they forgive those who have caused them pain? The answers to those questions determine the course for the rest of their lives. The secondary part of the book comes from the personal experience of the author who made an interesting discovery outside his home. His curiosity quickly became an obsession and drove his determination to find some answers. This book is a record of his discoveries as well as some talented tale weaving.

A word of caution, this book was previously published as Island of Saints, although it does contain extra information at the end regarding the characters/people involved. Overall, I thought this book was fantastic and found myself staying up too late at night just to turn another page. I honestly had no idea that the Gulf of Mexico was so involved in WWII and think it's shameful that this information is still concealed today. My one issues with the book is that forgiveness is supposed to be a main theme, but I don't feel Andrews allowed his characters to fully express how they resolved this issue; almost as if it was a forgotten point. This omission in no way damages the rest of the story for me though as I just love the ending. Which, of course, I am not sharing with you.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”