Springtime of the Spirit-Maureen Lang

Springtime of the Spirit
Maureen Lang
Tyndale, Mar 1 2011, $12.99
ISBN: 9781414324371

In the fall of 1918, German Major Christophe Brecht returns from the trenches in France to a defeated nation though neither he nor the other soldiers with him understand how they lost the Great War as little of the combat occurred in his homeland. He and others are angry at the Kaiser as he makes his way to Braedon just west of Munich. When he finally reaches his home, he finds out that his sister Nitsa has left for Milwaukee to be with their uncle.

Annaliese Duray believes the time for political and economic reform in Germany is now. She is not afraid to speak her mind about taking care of the workers, but not the way the violent Communists want to do. Christophe who loves Annaliese finally finds her in Munich where she pushes for the disenfranchised to have a say in the country. However, as an army sent from Berlin arrives allegedly to keep the peace by preventing the rabble-rousers from taking power in Munich, Christophe believes inner and community harmony comes with God while Annaliese assumes equality for all is the only way to achieve national healing and well-being.

This is a strong historical thriller with a romantic subplot anchoring a profound look at a defeated Germany just after WWI. Christophe and Annaliese are fully developed protagonists who know the cost of the war first hand but in different ways. He saw it on the not so quiet Western Front while she saw it on the home front. Readers will fully relish Springtime of the Spirit as the hero finds sustenance in faith after the failure of the state; while the heroine finds her mojo in her belief in an equality state in which gender, race or religion is irrelevant as is a free will God.

Harriet Klausner