A historical fiction novel told from the perspective of a son fighting on the battlefields of Europe during World War II and his mother, struggling with worry and uncertainty about her soldier son while she tries to keep a semblenance of a normal, happy Christmas holiday back on the homefront .Norma Hayes has always tried to make Christmas special for her family, but 1944 will make that more difficult with money being tight and wartime rationing making everything hard to come by. Aware of his mother's hardships and the worry from having her eldest son at war, second son, Dennis, is determined to buy his mother a special gift this Christmas, a lavendar blue dress he hopes will bring her comfort as a symbol of special times gone by and the hope of a brighter future with the family reunited at war's end. Meantime, on a battlefield far from home in Holland with his 101st Airborne battalion, her soldier son catches a familiar scent of lavendar which briefly transports him back to the homefront to the perfume scent his mother wore, giving him a short respite and reuniting the family once again if only in his imagination
Praise for Home and Away
”It’s 1944 and teenager Dennis Hayes longs to join his older brother Glen, who is fighting in Europe..When his family receives word that Glen has been wounded, Dennis realizes that going to war is not so glamorous. Christmas isn’t the same without Glen, but the Hayes family members hope and pray that they’ll be reunited soon. Hughes’s faith-filled, old-fashioned story feels like it could have been written during the period in which it takes place.” –Library Journal
”It’s 1944 and teenager Dennis Hayes longs to join his older brother Glen, who is fighting in Europe..When his family receives word that Glen has been wounded, Dennis realizes that going to war is not so glamorous. Christmas isn’t the same without Glen, but the Hayes family members hope and pray that they’ll be reunited soon. Hughes’s faith-filled, old-fashioned story feels like it could have been written during the period in which it takes place.” –Library Journal
”Home and Away is far and away the best story I have read this year. Awesome and moving.” –bestselling author, Obert Skye
Author Dean Hughes
Dean Hughes is a bestselling and prolific writer who published his hundredth book in 2014. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Weber State College and master’s degree and PhD from the University of Washington. He has attended post-doctoral seminars at Stanford and Yale Universities and taught English at Central Missouri State University and Brigham Young University.
Dean Hughes is a bestselling and prolific writer who published his hundredth book in 2014. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Weber State College and master’s degree and PhD from the University of Washington. He has attended post-doctoral seminars at Stanford and Yale Universities and taught English at Central Missouri State University and Brigham Young University.
My review: Home and Away: A World War II Christmas Story
5 STARS
I enjoyed these characters. I want to see more about them. It made the war seem real and showed what the families back home went through too.
The story was told from two sons perspective. Glen the oldest is away on the battlefront in 1944.
Dennis is a fifteen year old who works and goes to school. The war changes the lives around them so much. Both Glen and Dennis grow up faster.
Dennis wants to buy his mother a special Christmas gift this year. He is willing to work longer and more often.
There family is from a hard working family with good points and bad. The father is a mechanic and the mom is a housewife. With four children. Things are tight around the house and with rationing makes it hard to get the things you need.
There is a secondary character that I would like to know more about her. She meets Dennis and helps him but by doing that helps herself too.
I admit to crying in a few places. I cared about these characters. The images of the battlefront really happened to so many people in that war and every war.
I have not read a book by Dean Hughes in along time but I now want to go and read some more books by him again.
I was given this ebook to read by Shadow Mountain Publishing and Edelweiss. In return I agreed to give a honest review of Home and Away A World War II Christmas Story
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