Tuesday, January 23, 2024

About the Book

Book: Faces in the Window

Authors: Andrew Busch and Melinda Busch

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction

Release Date: October, 2022

Franz Maedler, an officer in the Wehrmacht, loses a leg in Stalingrad and is evacuated just before it becomes impossible to do so. He returns to a desk job with the Army General Staff in Berlin but is deeply conflicted. His father is committed to the Nazi cause, as seems to be his brother Friedrich. Yet his girlfriend Katrin is a devout Christian, as was his now-deceased mother, and his conscience is haunted by things he was a part of on the Eastern Front. He wants to marry Katrin, but she will not agree until he decides who he is and who he follows. Then, unexpectedly, a moment of crisis forces Franz to choose. Will he side with the cross or with the swastika? And what will it cost him?

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About the Authors

Andrew and Melinda Busch were both born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, and were introduced in 1994 by their junior high school math teacher. They married in 1995 and have three grown children. They now live in Rialto, California.

Andrew teaches American government at Claremont McKenna College in southern California. He has authored or co-authored about two dozen books on American politics, government, and public policy. He received his Ph.D. in Government from the University of Virginia. Melinda is a freelance author who has published numerous short stories and children’s books. She received her Master’s degree in education from Concordia University-Portland. Faces in the Window is their first co-authored book.

More from Andrew and Melinda

We came up with the idea for our book after a trip to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. in 2006, but didn’t start writing it until late 2019. The COVID lock-down gave us a lot of time at home to work on it.

Writing together was fun. Sometimes one of us would draft a section and the other one would revise it and then we would go back and forth until we were satisfied with it. Other times, when there was important dialogue, we would each pick a character, go onto Google Docs, and have the conversation in real time. We had to be sharp, since our characters often found themselves in a tight spot. Though we planned out the story, sometimes the conversations took on a life of their own, and things went in a different direction.

One of us is a poet and an author of children’s books, fantasy stories, and fan fiction, while the other is a professor who has written extensively about American government but has never before dipped his toe into the vasty depths of fiction. Together, we had a great time!

MY REVIEW

This book was an emotional read and one that made me really think about the theme. I have read many books about WWII but each time I seem to learn something new. The authors definitely did their research well as historical facts are defined in the story. It is hard to pinpoint when I became engrossed in the book but from the beginning I knew I had to pay attention to the storyline.

Franz is coming home after serving his country due to an injury. He worries how he will be welcomed by some back home. How sad it was that he was concerned that his father may not be excited to see him. The war was hard for Franz but coming home may be more stressful. He looked in people’s eyes who were sad, desperate or lonely. It is something that will stay with him forever. Those faces if war remain ingrained in his heart forever.

Seeing his sweet Katrin now makes him happy yet does he see a hint of uncertainty in her eyes? Are their plans still moving forward or will she want to postpone their future together? This part of the story was intriguing as I wondered why Katrin would have second thoughts of marrying Franz.

Franz does question when he first returns from the service if he still believes in God. All the suffering Franz has seen makes him question his faith. Have you ever been through something that made you doubt God? I liked how the authors used this to illustrate how people can stray from their faith and then be reconciled when they surrender and trust Him again.

With secrets, hints of disloyalty and questions of faith, this story captures the turmoil one young man has as he struggles to find his purpose . His father is not easy to talk to and takes great honor in letting his son know he does not believe in God. Who will Franz be loyal to? Will he find out who to trust before it is too late?

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.