The title and story of my new novel was a gift. The wind of
spirit—inspiration—whispering as I sipped tea in my favorite coffee shop,
scribbling down ideas for my next book.
Outside the window stood an old tree, a weeping cedar with its sturdy branches
and dangling leaves that ballooned like a giant umbrella over the people
drinking coffee and tea below. In my mind’s eye, I saw two German children—the
best of friends—playing high among those branches. In a tree house. They were in
danger, though at the time I didn’t know what threatened them. I just knew the
boy and girl had to run. And the girl would be lost along the way.
The story slipped between past and present, slowly unfolding on my paper. The
boy and girl separated during the war. A man who spent a lifetime trying to keep
his promise to find her. A British noblewoman who sympathized with Hitler and a
tenacious journalist in London who can’t resist a good story—a journalist with
secrets of her own.
My research for this novel took me on a journey north of my home in Oregon to
the misty San Juan Islands, across the Atlantic to tour the medieval Swiss
fortress Château de Chillon, and then to visit the historic streets and heaths
in London and the beautiful gardens and villages of Kent.
At London’s National Archives, I read through a stack of recently released “spy
files" as well as older documents about German espionage in the United Kingdom.
Many Britons sympathized with Nazi Germany for a multitude of reasons, and I
read account after account of men and women who either gathered information for
Hitler or attempted to wreak havoc on England’s facilities. There were
handwritten letters from suspected spies; documents about microphotography,
invisible ink, and secret codes; a worn file about a Nazi parachutist who became
a double agent; and the transcriptions of interrogations from before and after
the war.
Even though the threads of espionage stitched this novel together, my desire was
not to expose those who betrayed their country—or those who came to a country
bent on destruction—as much as to celebrate the redemption and resiliency of
children removed or evacuated and sent to live in another place around the
world. Those kids who have the opportunity to begin writing a new story.
What happened to Brigitte Berthold?
That question has haunted Daniel Knight since he was thirteen, when he and
ten-year-old Brigitte escaped the Gestapo agents who arrested both their
parents. They survived a harrowing journey from Germany to England, only to be
separated upon their arrival. Daniel vowed to find Brigitte after the war, a
promise he has fought to fulfill for more than seventy years.
Now a wealthy old man, Daniel’s final hope in finding Brigitte rests with
Quenby Vaughn, an American journalist working in London. He believes Quenby’s
tenacity to find missing people and her personal investment in a related WWII
espionage story will help her succeed where previous investigators have failed.
Though Quenby is wrestling her own demons—and wary at the idea of teaming up
with Daniel’s lawyer, Lucas Hough—the lure of Brigitte’s story is too much to
resist. Together, Quenby and Lucas delve deep into the past, following a trail
of deception, sacrifice, and healing that could change all of their futures.
Inspirational Mystery
| Suspense
[Tyndale House, On Sale: May 9, 2017, Hardcover / e-Book,
ISBN: 9781496417282 / eISBN: 9781496417312]
Writing historical and time-slip fiction is really just an excuse for Melanie
Dobson to explore ghost towns, interview fascinating people, and spend hours
reading old books and journals.
Melanie is the award-winning author of
fifteen historical romance, suspense, and contemporary novels. Three of her
novels, Chateau of Secrets, The Silent Order and Love Finds
You in Homestead, Iowa, have received Carol Awards, The Black Cloister
was named the ForeWord Religious Fiction Book of the Year, and Love
Finds You in Liberty, Indiana won best “Fiction of Indiana”.
Melanie
received her undergraduate degree in journalism from Liberty University and her
master’s degree in communication from Regent University. Prior to her writing
career, she was the corporate publicity manager at Focus on the Family and the
owner of Dobson Media Group.
Melanie met her husband, Jon, in Colorado
Springs, but since they’ve been married, the Dobsons have relocated numerous
times with Jon’s work including stints in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina,
Colorado, Berlin, and Southern California. Along with their two daughters, Karly
and Kiki, they now enjoy their home in the Pacific Northwest. The entire Dobson
family loves to travel and hike in both the mountains and along the cliffs above
the Pacific, and they enjoy serving together with the orphan care ministry in
their church.
When Melanie isn’t writing or playing with her family, she
enjoys teaching fiction writing, line dancing, and reading historical novels.
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