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An Owl's Whisper
From the official website for the book:
IN THE SHADOW OF EVIL, TRUTH IS THE RISKIEST CHOICE.
Open An Owl's Whisper and enter Eva’s world—one of truth and lies, refuge and peril, loyalty and betrayal, innocence, guilt, redemption.
Eva Messiaen is a young woman in 1940s Belgium when Hitler’s invasion and occupation eclipses continental Europe in a shadow. In those black times she is a beacon of light to her friends, but they don’t know her dark secret. Though she wants only a normal life, her controlling Uncle Henri demands she dedicate herself to his cause—remaking the world. Initially, Eva accepts losing her youth to responsibility and the savagery of war, but an atrocity changes everything. It exposes the hollowness of Henri’s vision and spurs her to strike at the Nazis. She has the moxie to set their web of evil ablaze, but does she have the wits to escape its flames unscorched?
An Owl’s Whisper, built on themes of guilt and redemption, tells Eva’s powerful story.
IN THE SHADOW OF EVIL, TRUTH IS THE RISKIEST CHOICE.
Open An Owl's Whisper and enter Eva’s world—one of truth and lies, refuge and peril, loyalty and betrayal, innocence, guilt, redemption.
Eva Messiaen is a young woman in 1940s Belgium when Hitler’s invasion and occupation eclipses continental Europe in a shadow. In those black times she is a beacon of light to her friends, but they don’t know her dark secret. Though she wants only a normal life, her controlling Uncle Henri demands she dedicate herself to his cause—remaking the world. Initially, Eva accepts losing her youth to responsibility and the savagery of war, but an atrocity changes everything. It exposes the hollowness of Henri’s vision and spurs her to strike at the Nazis. She has the moxie to set their web of evil ablaze, but does she have the wits to escape its flames unscorched?
An Owl’s Whisper, built on themes of guilt and redemption, tells Eva’s powerful story.
341 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 28, 2011
20 people are currently reading
241 people want to read
About the author
Michael J. Smith
48 books2 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 2, 2013
this book had a slow start and it was hard to get into at first. the use of the F word was not necessary for the enhancement of the story. I just wonder how much of that word was really used in that time period. I really didn't like the ending so much. so abrupt.
April 23, 2016
This book was pretty good during the war portion but got really slow afterwards. And there was a totally mystifying one-night-stand while Eva was in Paris before travelling to the States that kept question marks flying around my head the rest of the book.
August 10, 2016
It told the story of the use of young orphaned girls as spies during WWII and then morphed into a war bride story. It was OK.
August 30, 2012
great read! couldn't put it down!
May 11, 2012
This book was okay in the beginning but the there started to be swear words. I don't like the use of swear words or the Lord's name in the books I read so I didn't finish it.
December 27, 2016
Intriguing Read
I am adding my words to other reviewers who praised this book. This is a well written, engrossing, thought provoking book.
I was drawn into the story word by word until I had trouble putting it down. I especially appreciate the author drawing knowledge of the times from people who lived through the historical events depicted in this book. The narrative rings true historically, aside from any fictional plot elements. (My parents were both WWII vets.) While I do not know if the youth spy organization depicted existed, history does describe the Nazi youth organization where youths were indoctrinated and taught to report anyone, including family, not fully loyal to the führer. They, too, were not told the true results of their choices.
The detail work in the writing is so very fine! It adds a richness I savored. For example, notice how the name on the tin holding Criquette's writing ties into her past. It is not pointed out; it's just there.
Main character Eva's storytelling is absolutely wonderful and adds many layers to the story. The stories have many insights—some as useful for us as for the characters—along with being a way for us to see what Eva is experiencing and dealing with. We eventually learn how much she was revealing through her fables. It was a kind of play therapy for herself and her listeners. May we all be wrens, especially as we face our own nations' instabilities and wars.
Above all, even the book's mystery, are the intiguing questions the author raises about accountability, how we respond to what we are taught, and how we deal with what we learn independently. While this is a historical novel, the theme of misinformation's impact echoes the trending topic #fakenews. Do we know if the information we rely on to make choices is valid?
Finally, the analogy of the goose who turned out to be a wren at heart, abandoning the life of a goose, is one I suspect many of us can relate to, even if the consequences of our life as a goose are not nearly so dreadful as what main character Eva dealt with.
I am adding my words to other reviewers who praised this book. This is a well written, engrossing, thought provoking book.
I was drawn into the story word by word until I had trouble putting it down. I especially appreciate the author drawing knowledge of the times from people who lived through the historical events depicted in this book. The narrative rings true historically, aside from any fictional plot elements. (My parents were both WWII vets.) While I do not know if the youth spy organization depicted existed, history does describe the Nazi youth organization where youths were indoctrinated and taught to report anyone, including family, not fully loyal to the führer. They, too, were not told the true results of their choices.
The detail work in the writing is so very fine! It adds a richness I savored. For example, notice how the name on the tin holding Criquette's writing ties into her past. It is not pointed out; it's just there.
Main character Eva's storytelling is absolutely wonderful and adds many layers to the story. The stories have many insights—some as useful for us as for the characters—along with being a way for us to see what Eva is experiencing and dealing with. We eventually learn how much she was revealing through her fables. It was a kind of play therapy for herself and her listeners. May we all be wrens, especially as we face our own nations' instabilities and wars.
Above all, even the book's mystery, are the intiguing questions the author raises about accountability, how we respond to what we are taught, and how we deal with what we learn independently. While this is a historical novel, the theme of misinformation's impact echoes the trending topic #fakenews. Do we know if the information we rely on to make choices is valid?
Finally, the analogy of the goose who turned out to be a wren at heart, abandoning the life of a goose, is one I suspect many of us can relate to, even if the consequences of our life as a goose are not nearly so dreadful as what main character Eva dealt with.
June 6, 2016
Interesting WWII story of the redemption of a person who does some wrong while thinking she's doing right. I did have one complaint while reading, and that is that several things the protagonist, our main point-of-view character, does are done "offscreen" as it were, unknown to the reader until much later in the book. Some of these things are hinted at, but it's a bit frustrating that the protagonist hides things from the reader as much as she does from the other characters. It makes it feel like part of the story is missing, or that the author is teasing the reader along until these mysteries are solved. Then there is a rather long detour away from the protagonist in the middle of the book. Although the combat section has a lot of action, I found myself bored with it because it wasn't following the main character. In the last quarter or so of the book there's a shift away from the historical-drama genre into more of a murder mystery, which is slightly jarring.
Overall I enjoyed the reading; I'll probably read it again some day. It's also made me interested in looking for more fiction that takes place during the time period.
Overall I enjoyed the reading; I'll probably read it again some day. It's also made me interested in looking for more fiction that takes place during the time period.
April 9, 2012
A friend who knows the author's mother told me about this book. There was a one-day promo on Amazon for a free copy on Kindle, so I got it. I thought this was a good story for the most part. About half of the book focused on the protagonist's tween and teen years as a reluctant Nazi spy in Belgium. The second half focused on her life in the Sand Hills of Nebraska after she married a G.I. whom she had met during the war. The author threw in an unexplained death (murder or suicide?) into the Nebraska portion. I found no mystery in that death; the answer was glaringly obvious to me. I also thought the book ended a bit abruptly. Overall, I thought the book was good. I especially liked the WWII part, even though it was gruesome in parts. We should expect that in a book that explores the use of unwanted children as Nazi spies, right? Good descriptive writing with mostly believable characters. I'd try another book by this author.
December 1, 2013
Eva's is a Nazi spy during the Second World War. Her hard life in Lefebvre and realisation that she was perhaps on the wrong side leads her to fall in love with an American. When she escapes to Withhi to America after the end of the war she feels she has escaped her past. But has she?
This was an interesting read although it did seem to get bogged down in little details at times. I felt as though the mystery at the end wasn't needed and the book could have been much shorter but still enjoyable.
This was an interesting read although it did seem to get bogged down in little details at times. I felt as though the mystery at the end wasn't needed and the book could have been much shorter but still enjoyable.
January 2, 2013
I greatly enjoyed this book, but I took one star away for the slow start and for the overuse of the word "savvy" for "understand". It was a very unlikely word in the mouths of the characters he used it with and kept reminding me of "Pirates of the Caribbean".
March 10, 2015
Fear is powerful
A sadly fascinating book. Such a time to live, during a war of such hate and cruelty. What could a child do? I found I struggled to begin and was sorry it ended.
A sadly fascinating book. Such a time to live, during a war of such hate and cruelty. What could a child do? I found I struggled to begin and was sorry it ended.
January 11, 2019
Not my usual reading fare, but I enjoyed it well enough.
April 7, 2019
More Than WWII Story
A WWII tale of good and evil, innocence lost and guilt redeemed, the complexity and simplicity of disparate lives over decades, and most of all, the triumph of love.
A WWII tale of good and evil, innocence lost and guilt redeemed, the complexity and simplicity of disparate lives over decades, and most of all, the triumph of love.
February 14, 2012
I would have given 4 stars, if not for the drag. The plot is interesting, but the book is replete with fillers that tried my patience. The book can be divided into two sections. The first part is a WWII spy thriller and the second part deals with a journey of the war bride to USA. The second part is more like a current age murder mystery.
February 26, 2012
I liked it. It kept my interest throughout. The chapters were short enough so that you could read to the end of a chapter before stopping for the night. I had to overlook some bad language at times. I do feel that for some of the characters to survive what they had to indure without becoming bitter and jaded a stronger faith in God than was presented would have been present.
February 27, 2012
A fairytale set in WWII Europe. It didn't work for me.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews