About the Book

Book: A Brighter Dawn

Author: Leslie Gould

Genre: Amish Romance

Release date: March 28, 2023

Ivy Zimmerman is successfully navigating her life as a young Mennonite woman, one generation removed from her parents’ Old Order Amish upbringing. But when her parents are killed in a tragic accident, Ivy’s way of life is upended. As she deals with her grief, her younger sisters’ needs, the relationship with her boyfriend, and her Dawdi and Mammi’s strict rules, Ivy finds solace in both an upcoming trip to Germany for an international Mennonite youth gathering and in her great-great-aunt’s story about Clare Simons, another young woman who visited Germany in the late 1930s.

As Ivy grows suspicious that her parents’ deaths weren’t, in fact, an accident, she gains courage from what she learns of Clare’s time in pre-World War II Germany. With the encouragement and inspiration of the women who have gone before her, Ivy seeks justice for her parents, her sisters, and herself.

My Review:

I enjoyed reading this book because it’s unique among the many other Amish/Mennonite books published today.  The dual-time storyline gave the book another level of interest.  It takes a talented author to hold a reader’s attention when a book splits between two time periods, and I found myself as interested in what was happening in one time period as I did the other.  I think the author did a great job of incorporating her historical research in a way that added depth to the book.  There’s a surprise when the two storylines tie together that I didn’t see coming until near the end of the book.  

I found myself a little bit conflicted over the main character of Ivy Zimmerman.  I liked the fact that we get to see Ivy mature, make good changes, and become less selfish and even develop compassion as the book progresses.  But even though I sympathized with Ivy as she coped with the tragedy in her life, I never really felt connected to her. That being said, the author stayed true to Ivy’s personality all the way through the book and to have changed Ivy drastically wouldn’t have been realistic.  This book also ends with some questions unanswered and I am hoping that we’ll get those answers in the next book in the series.

I do recommend this book.  The dual-time aspect makes the story intriguing and held my attention.  I’ll be looking forward to seeing where the series takes these characters. 

I voluntarily received a copy of this book from  the publisher.  All opinions are my own.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Leslie Gould (www.lesliegould.com) is a Christy Award-winning and #1 bestselling author of over 35 novels, including four Lancaster County Amish series. She holds an MFA in creative writing and enjoys studying church history, research trips, and hiking in the Pacific Northwest. She and her husband live in Portland, Oregon, and are the parents of four adult children.

More from Leslie

The historical thread of my dual-time novel A Brighter Dawn is set in Nazi Germany from 1937 to 1939. During that period of time, Germany incorporated Austria, mandatory registration of all Jewish property began, and concentration camps opened. Then came the Night of Broken Glass—the anti-Jewish pogrom in Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland. Soon following was the German occupation of Czechoslovakia before the Nazis invaded Poland in September 1939.

My main character, Clare Simons, is a Mennonite young woman from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who is staying with her uncle and cousins in Frankfurt, Germany. She doesn’t follow current events much and struggles to balance the Nazi propaganda her uncle and oldest cousin believe with the events unfolding around her. Slowly, she begins to see the truth behind the Nazi lies.

One thing that broke up the narrative of the heavy events I researched and wrote about? The food.

When I traveled in Germany with my husband (who had lived there during his Army service years ago), I marveled over the scenery, became engrossed in the history, and definitely enjoyed the food. My background is Swiss, so it wasn’t that the food was unfamiliar. It was just at a level I hadn’t experienced before!

As I researched what Clare would fix for meals, I pored through cookbooks. For added inspiration, hubby and I ate at German restaurants. Jägerschnitzel (seared pork with gravy). Rinderbraten (paprika and caraway spiced beef roasted in red wine gravy). Wienerschnitzel (breaded and fried pork loin with warm potato salad and a vegetable remoulade.)

I noted food in research books, documentaries, and films. The entrees became focal points in the stories, including rabbit stew, a Christmas goose, and Sauerbraten with Spätzle and red cabbage. So did the desserts, including trifle and Black Forest cake.

When I visited Germany with my hubby, one of the things I really loved was stopping in a café for Apfelkuchen (apple cake) and coffee in the afternoon. In one scene in A Brighter Dawn, when Clare and her cousin Lena stop for coffee, they order apple cake too. Then, in another scene, Clare bakes an apple cake for the family of the nearby Jewish grocer who will soon lose their property.

Below is a recipe for a simple and dense German apple cake (which may have originated in Poland and been influenced by a Jewish apple cake recipe).

The food in A Brighter Dawn doesn’t take away from the narrative, but it is a reminder that a nurturing soul, such as my character Clare, can stand against the lies of an evil regime.

German Apple Cake 

Ingredients

• 1 cup salted butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup white sugar
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ½ to 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 5 cups apples—peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (to soften apple slices before baking, place in a microwavable dish with a lid and microwave them with a Tablespoon of water for 3–4 minutes)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×13 cake pan.
2. Beat butter and eggs with an electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar and vanilla; beat well.
3. Stir together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Slowly add flour mixture to egg mixture; mix until combined. The batter will be very thick. Fold in apples and walnuts by hand using a wooden spoon. Spread batter into the prepared pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 45–50 minutes. After 30 minutes, put a sheet of foil over the top of the cake to keep it from burning. Cool cake on a wire rack.

Possible Toppings

Before baking: 

Crumble: ¼ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup white sugar, ½ cup flour, 4–6 Tablespoons softened butter. Combine ingredients and evenly spread over the top of cake.

Butterscotch: Sprinkle a package of butterscotch chips over the top of the cake.

Almonds: Sprinkle almond slivers over the top of the cake.

After baking:

Dust with confectioners’ sugar.

Drizzle with caramel sauce.

Sprinkle with white sparkling sugar.

            Top with whipped cream.

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Christina’s Corner, April 30

Texas Book-aholic, May 1

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Bigreadersite, May 3

Bliss, Books & Jewels, May 3

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, May 4

Little Homeschool on the Prairie, May 5

For Him and My Family, May 5

Splashes of Joy, May 6

Pause for Tales, May 6

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Leslie is giving away the grand prize package of a paperback copy of A Brighter Dawn and one $15 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/258b9/a-brighter-dawn-celebration-tour-giveaway