Prague Counterpoint; Munich Signature; Strangers in the Night

 

Book 2 of the Zion Covenant series finds Elisa and Murphy still at cross purposes, but at least they finally figure it out by the end. 

Walter Kronenberger, a former journalist, became an enemy of Hitler's Reich when he refused to allow his son Charles to be killed. Charles was born with a harelip, and rather than let the surgeon correct it, the Gestapo wanted him dead. Walter and Charles were both sterilized against their will, and Walter's pregnant wife died as a result of the abortion issued by the Nazis. Walter is killed, but his boys, Charles and his twin Louis, manage to escape and find their way to Leah, who protects them. Eventually Elisa returns to Vienna and is able to help get Charles out while sending Leah and Louis to Tyrol to escape to Paris over the Alps. 

Things continue to get darker in Europe in the third book. "Peace in Our Time!" the newspapers cry as Prime Minister Chamberlain reneges on the promise to protect Czechoslovakia against Germany. For the Jews living in Prague it's devastating. 

The ship Darien leaves Hamburg with over 700 Jews, bound for Palestine--until Britain says "no more" due to riots by the Arabs. Darien tries to go to New York, where it's also turned away. On board the ship is the Holbein family: Klaus, Maria, and their five little girls. The Holbein's grandmother, Bubbe Rosenfelt, an American citizen, left Germany on the Queen Mary and meets Murphy and Charles Kronenberger, who are on their way to New York. Murphy gets involved in the story of the doomed ship and the grandmother desperate to be reunited with the only living family she has left. After being turned away in New York, the ship heads for Cuba without any success. It was so heartbreaking. Well, to be honest, everything about these books is heartbreaking. 

Onto something a little more lighthearted. Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner's love story was one for the ages. So in love, but unable to live together, like Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The story of how they met, fell in love, married, and broke up was passionate and tumultuous and lots of fun. Webb did a great job of really bringing it to life.