On the Wings of Hope by Ella Zeiss

Title: On The Wings of Hope

Author: Ella Zeiss

Release Date:  May 24, 2018

Length:  363 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: BLake Union Publishing

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**** My Review ****

In love, we discover who we want to be. In war, we find out who we are…

I don’t know if I’m the only one who feels this kind of sadness every time I read a book with content from the time of the war, any war. And for days I can’t bring myself to read another story. It feels like I need time to think about everything and everyone who has perished in the heat of war.

So much pain, so much suffering, so much loss, so much death inevitably awaken in me a feeling of anger, a feeling of sadness, and disgust at everything that one human being is willing to do to another.

This story follows the lives of two families during World War II. Two completely different families, yet so similar at the same time. The same fate, the same pain, and the same hope unite them in their harsh destiny. The price of war is always paid by the innocent, no matter which side they are on.

Let’s start with the first part, there you will meet Yvo and Harry, two innocent children, forced to face the cruelty of war too soon. Two innocent creatures who are forced to fight with everything they have just to survive another day. The two children and the infamous camp. Here for the first time, we will see that the first victim of every war is the truth, and immediately after it, humanity.

Broken families, babies torn from their mother’s arms, emaciated old people begging for a piece of bread – all the bitterness of the war gathered in several chapters. But also hope, hope that shines in their pale eyes. A hope that is too small to wish for a better tomorrow and a reality that is too painful to be accepted.

And how can anyone accept a reality in the death camps, where the value of human life does not exist? Even people are only ordinary numbers. Numbers of the tools for work that decrease with each passing day. Just as the hands that work daily become rougher over time, so the human being, due to the way of upbringing, creates a shell and becomes rough under it, or at least that’s how we console ourselves.

In the second part, your heart will bleed when you see how those same people, those who survived hell, try to collect what little is left of their lives and try to continue. Tears will flow down your cheeks when you read how they rejoice in small things, a roll of raisins, a straw mattress, and the opportunity to stand outdoors and feel the sun on their face.

And that’s when the reader will think it’s good, better days are coming. But no, the author cleverly reminds us that the price must be paid, regardless of whether it is deserved or not. And amid all that blackness, a gentle love shines quietly, slowly develops, and gives comfort, but also hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I just don’t know how the author manages to write On the Wings of Hope with so many emotions, and so many feelings. I did not observe the writing style, but the emotions touched me. An incredible story that managed to shake me and make me cry…

And after you finish the last page, you will think about all those innocent victims of war. Those on the front line, but also the many who stayed in the background and still lost the same or much more.

And precisely because of that, this story is not at all easy to read. If you are looking for an interesting story to relax after a busy day, skip this one. But if you want to expose yourself to a whole range of emotions that will touch you so deeply, then you must not miss this heartbreaking story of loss and hope.