Embers in the London Sky by Sarah Sundin

Embers in the London Sky
by Sarah Sundin

ISBN-13: 9780800741853
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Revell
Released: February 6, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
As the German army invades the Netherlands in 1940, Aleida van der Zee Martens escapes to London to wait out the Occupation. Separated from her three-year-old son, Theo, in the process, the young widow desperately searches for her little boy even as she works for an agency responsible for evacuating children to the countryside.

When German bombs set London ablaze, BBC radio correspondent Hugh Collingwood reports on the Blitz, eager to boost morale while walking the fine line between truth and censorship. But the Germans are not the only ones Londoners have to fear as a series of murders flame up amid the ashes.

The deaths hit close to home for Hugh, and Aleida needs his help to locate her missing son. As they work together, they grow closer. But with bombs falling and continued killings, they may be running out of time.


My Review:
Embers in the London Sky is a Christian romance set in 1940, mostly in England. Aleida's abusive husband is ashamed that their son lacks fingers on one hand. As many rich families fled from the Netherlands, he sneaked his son away and gave him to an English family to take with them. Aleida escaped to England, but she didn't know who had her child. She agreed to work for the department handling sending children (including refuge children) into the country in hopes of finding her son. Hugh didn't have permission to tell her story, but he helped as he could. He also struggled to hide his asthma while reporting from areas burning from German bombs. He fought for the right to report on bad events, not just positive ones.

The main characters were complex, engaging, and I cared about what happened to them. Aleida and Hugh supported each other and built each other up. Then Hugh said something unthinking that triggered Aleida into feeling like he was controlling, like her dead husband. They both had to realize that they'd reacted wrongly to the situation. Concerning Theo, I thought it odd that Aleida didn't anticipate being asked and had trouble thinking of how to prove that she's Theo's mother.

Aleida learned to stop trying to control every detail of her life and trust that God loves her and is in control. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable historical.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.