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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Discerning Readers Need a Great Read Like This One

by Chautona Havig · 4 Comments

Amy Lynn Green has written a phenomenal, gripping, insightful novel that every lover of good fiction should read. Not bad for a debut author, is it? via @chautonahavig

When you see a cover that won’t leave your mind, sometimes you just have to go find out what it’s all about. Well, that’s exactly what I did last fall, and what I found… Whoooeee! Yeah.

Debut authors are a penny a dozen these days. Phenomenal debut authors with novels you can’t put down and can’t stop thinking about, on the other hand… oy.

I actually quit editing one episode slated for today and went to record this one. Why? Because I just couldn’t wait one more minute to gush–erm, talk about Things We Didn’t Say by Amy Lynn Green.

Amy Lynn Green

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Discerning Readers Need a Great Read Like This One

There’s nothing more wonderful than a new release that keeps you riveted to the page–or the audiobook app–from the first word to the last.

Unless it happens to be by a debut author.

That’s right, Amy Lynn Green has written a phenomenal, gripping, insightful novel that every lover of good fiction should read.

The story behind this book goes way back to when a friend recommended the novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society a few years ago. I spend about 5 minutes talking about #thatguernseybook as a way to set up how I found this book and why I consider those books comparable. So, if you want to skip that, start around the 5-minute mark.

In fact, I’m calling this book “The American Guernsey Book” because it’s got a similar feel.

So what is so great about Amy Lynn Green’s, Things We Didn’t Say?

So many things.

A linguist, Johanna Berglund is called home to translate for German prisoners of war, censor their letters, all the stuffness.

This epistolary novel opens with a treason trial and someone has collated all of Johanna’s correspondence. Letters to the editor, notes at work, writing to friends–everything.  So, between learning to see the Germans as people and trying to treat them as such, and having a Japanese-American friend, she’s looking guilty when things go south.

There are so many perspectives shown through all of these notes and letters.

Furthermore, the way the character arc transforms Johanna’s character is brilliant. You see Amy Lynn Green pulling Johanna out of her shell and into her own person throughout the story.

As I say in the episode, Johanna’s growth reminds me of an old Jimmy Stewart movie, No Highway in the Sky.  This is the aftermath of the scene I mentioned where Stewart realizes he’s become personally involved… or vice versa.

The book is well written and full of great characters whose personalities shine on the page. Additionally, there are strong spiritual elements that show faith in action, faith growing. If that werern’t enough, Amy Lynn Green addresses and explores difficult political and ideological issues of the day–both from objective and subjective viewpoints. This adds depth and richness to her story.

Did I love it?  Oh, yeah. Am I disappointed that I don’t see more available by her? Definitely. Do I stalk Amy Lyn Green’s Amazon page for preorder links to another book?  Yep. Sure do.

A five-star read all the way. Things We Didn’t Say better win awards. I’m just sayin’

Also… I shared news about the podcast!

In addition to this gush about Amy Lyn Green’s book, I announced that we’re going to expand the episodes to two types.

Tuesdays: These episodes will be just like the ones we’ve been having all along.

Saturdays: These will be genre-specific (Historical, Contemporary Romance, Spec Fic, etc) episodes featuring short interviews (8-10 minutes) with approximately 3 authors. We’ll discuss upcoming or newly released books. And with these, we’ll keep the chit-chat to a minimum.  Still, I plan to read most of if not all of the books so I know what questions to ask, etc.

Oh, and watch for the winner of the giveaway from Episode 44.

Things we Didn't Say Amy Lynn GreenPublisher’s Synopsis:

Headstrong Johanna Berglund, a linguistics student at the University of Minnesota, has very definite plans for her future . . . plans that do not include returning to her hometown and the secrets and heartaches she left behind there. But the US Army wants her to work as a translator at a nearby camp for German POWs.

Johanna arrives to find the once-sleepy town exploding with hostility. Most patriotic citizens want nothing to do with German soldiers laboring in their fields, and they’re not afraid to criticize those who work at the camp as well. When Johanna describes the trouble to her friend Peter Ito, a language instructor at a school for military intelligence officers, he encourages her to give the town that rejected her a second chance.

As Johanna interacts with the men of the camp and censors their letters home, she begins to see the prisoners in a more sympathetic light.

But advocating for better treatment makes her enemies in the community, especially when charismatic German spokesman Stefan Werner begins to show interest in Johanna and her work. The longer Johanna wages her home-front battle, the more the lines between compassion and treason become blurred–and it’s no longer clear whom she can trust.

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Comments

  1. Bethany says

    February 3, 2021 at 4:42 am

    Hold placed at my library! I’m always excited when the library is actually carrying a book I like that isn’t on KU. : )

    Reply
  2. Emma says

    February 2, 2021 at 1:46 pm

    I got that book from NetGalley, but haven’t read it yet. Now I really want to!

    Reply
  3. Cheryl Arcemont says

    February 2, 2021 at 7:11 am

    Wow, this definitely sounds like a book to add to my TBR mountain! Thank you for sharing, I tend to get it when you say this is a winner or when you have issues with a book. Sounds like we have very similar likes and dislikes! Have a terrific Tuesday!

    Reply
  4. Andrea Stoeckel says

    February 2, 2021 at 6:57 am

    “Guernsey” was a sensation…this one will go into my library queue

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 265: A Chat with Karen Witemeyer
byChautona Havig

Nothing says fairy tale like a sweet western romance by an author like Karen Witemeyer… unless it’s a fairytale retelling set in Texas in the late 19th century, right?  Fairest of Heart takes the familiar “Snow White” and turns it on its head with retired cowboys, a self-absorbed actress, a Texas Ranger, and a sweet girl who knows the true Source of her beauty.  Listen in to see all the genius Easter eggs Witemeyer planted in this book.

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Sometimes All a Girl Needs Is a True Change of Heart

I fell in love with the cover of Karen Witemeyer’s Head Over Heels a few years back (only to learn it’s much older than that, even), and meant to read that book.  I didn’t.  #BecauseIdiot. Well, that’ll be rectified just as soon as I’m done listening to her first book in a trilogy of fairytale retellings. I loaded it up on my Audible app tonight and wheeeeeeee. Here I go! So much for no new books until October. HA! 

Karen talks about her heart for young women today and how they’re taught by every bit of media blasting at them that they need to use their bodies to get what they need or want when the Lord has a better plan. And I can’t guarantee it, but I strongly suspect she does it without preaching. SQUEE!

Fairest of Heart by Karen Witemeyer

Once upon a time in Texas . . .

Beauty has been nothing but a curse to Penelope Snow. When she becomes a personal maid for a famous actress whose troupe is leaving Chicago to tour the West, she hides her figure beneath shapeless dresses and keeps her head down. But she still manages to attract the wrong attention, leaving her prospects in tatters–and her jealous mistress plotting her demise.

After his brother lost his life over a woman, Texas Ranger Titus Kingsley has learned to expect the worst from women and is rarely disappointed. So when a young lady found in suspicious circumstances takes up residence with the seven old drovers living at his grandfather’s ranch, Titus is determined to keep a close eye on her.

With a promotion hanging in the balance, Titus is assigned to investigate a robbery case tied to Penelope’s acting troupe, and all evidence points to Penelope’s guilt. But Titus might just be convinced that the fairest woman of all has a heart as pure as her last name . . . if only he can prove it.

You can learn more about Karen Witemeyer and her books on her WEBSITE. Don’t forget the book is 30% off on BakerBookHouse.com.  

Follow Karen on BookBub and GoodReads.

And don’t forget her Posse Group on Facebook.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

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  • and more!
Episode 265: A Chat with Karen Witemeyer
Episode 265: A Chat with Karen Witemeyer
September 29, 2023
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Episode 262: Chatting about The Legacy of Longdale Manor with Carrie Turansky
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Episode 261: Chatting with Christian Youth Fiction Author, Candice Yamnitz
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Episode 259: A Chat with Debut Author, Laura Conaway
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