Since You Went Away

Children of the Promise #2

by Dean Hughes

Mom, when are you going to add two more stars to the banner in our window?" LaRue asked.

"You obviously haven't looked. I sewed them on this morning." All around Salt Lake City-and across the nation — the banners were showing up now. Each star represented a member of the household who was serving in the military. And already, gold stars — for those who had died in action — were beginning to replace some of the blue ones.

Picking up where the bestseller Rumors of War left off, Since You Went Away continues with Wally Thomas's struggle to survive as a prisoner of war on the Bataan Peninsula while his family begin to disperse due to the war. Bobbi and Alex Thomas are leaving for military duty at the infant stages of World War II — Bobbi as a naval nurse at Pearl Harbor and Alex in army basic training. A gripping novel filled with memorable characters, Since You Went Away will draw you into a past charged with danger, action, romance, and the importance of family and faith.

http://deseretbook.com/item/4931241/C...

Genres: Historical Fiction, Lds Fiction, Lds, Fiction, Religion, Historical, World War II

507 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

Dean Hughes is the author of more than eighty books for young readers, including the popular sports series Angel Park All-Stars, the Scrappers series, the Nutty series, the widely acclaimed companion novels Family Pose and Team Picture, and Search and Destroy. Soldier Boys was selected for the 2001 New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age list. Dean Hughes and his wife, Kathleen, have three children and six grandchildren. They live in Midway, Utah.

Reviews

[Jaclyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

One day this week, my husband and I went to breakfast with my family, and then we came home and I settled onto the couch to read. I got off the couch when it was time to get some dinner and go back to my parents' house to play games. That's how much I love Wally and Bobbi and the rest of the Thomas family. I ignored the social media posts of people cleaning up their holiday décor. I ate cold cereal for dinner that night. I only wanted to hang out with this family, and pretend we were neighbors. It was delightful.

This book will be my last completed book of 2017. Seems a fitting holiday reread to close out my best reading year in ages. 61 books is pretty great when you consider how many papers I grade and how much time Seth and I try to spend together. Here's to an even better 2018.

Happy reading--

[Chad Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great one! Right as it started to get a bit too sentimental, there were some really thrilling action scenes that got things back on track. The characters are interesting and believable, and the books have made me lookup a lot more info about WWII than I ever have before. Definitely worth the read.

[Ashlyn West · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a little bit longer to finish this, but still another great book. Some of these stories gave me 2nd anxiety. And I dont think I’ll ever get over the little brother in this book!!

Once again just so much love and tears and everything for ALL people who fought for this country!! I just think the book does such a good job of seeing the heartache people on all sides of the war felt. I can’t imagine and I am so blessed in a way that I don’t even know what I don’t know.

I love each family member in this series.

[Makenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series! It keeps you wondering what’s happening with all the characters! I love the pace.

[Capri Fullmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, loved the second just as much if not more. First book to ever make me teary eyed.

[Kylene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great...I liked it better than the first. Maybe it's because I already knew all the characters so there wasn't much need for character development. Maybe it's because the author just jumped in and got on with the cliff-hanging storyline. Maybe it was because it took place during the bulk of WWII. Probably all of the above. I found the characters' stories to be so fascinating...Wally's in particular as he was a POW of Japan in the Phillipines. The whole time I was reading I kept thinking...WOW! Major kudos to the author for his extensive research. I even googled a few places and events and sure enough...all real. The only parts I found a bit tedious was when the author would talk about homelife in SLC for the rest of the family...I was wanting to skip ahead to get back to the chapters about Wally, Gene, Alex, Bobbi, and the Stoltz family. This was definitely a great book, one I would highly recommend for fans of historical lit, WWII, and/or LDS fiction.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

By the time I began this book (second in a series of five), I was already very familiar with the main characters, the Thomas family of Sugar House, Utah. By this time, four of the children are serving in the military during world war 2. Wally is still in a prison camp in the Philippines, and his brother Alex still struggles with his role as paratrooper over Germany since he served a mission in Germany earlier and feels a strong inner conflict. Bobbi is a nurse in Honolulu and Gene is on his way to the conflict on another Pacific island. This book is realistic and sad in its view of the great sacrifices so many gave in the war effort. I'm enjoying this series.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book even better than the first volume. It really brought WW2 to life for me. I can't even imagine living through a war like that, but this gave me a glimpse of what it might be like from so many different perspectives.

[Chrisanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wally makes this book. As awful and real as it was, I skimmed the other chapters so thinly that I'm not so sure it even counts as reading. I think I rated this the highest of the entire series. And that's saying something.

[June Guymon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second book in the Children of the Promise series continues to draw you into a past charged with danger, action, romance, and the importance of family and faith. Can't wait for the next one.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series! The characters are so compelling and I cannot put it down. I learn so much about history, I love how he takes real events and weaves it into a fictional family so when you learn what really happen, you like the fiction better. Cannot get enough!

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series was educational and entertaining to read. I loved it!

[Brittany Fielding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super Good!!! But I have to admit more sad.... Got a little teary eyed! But I love these series! The only thing is that these books are massive. Worth the read though!

[Sandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Allow me to paint a picture for you.
I just left Hobby Lobby, and my family and I made our way over to Academy and when I said "I'll just wait in the car" and when my husband got puppy dog eyes (I don't think he really wanted to spend time with me, he just wanted an ally because for some reason Academy makes our four year old go nuts) and asked "why?" I said "because I need a break! I've been baking and cleaning and laundry all day and I'm still not ready for the party tomorrow!" Because, you see, tonight is Twelfth Night, and we've invited entirely too many people over to our house. Anyway. I kind of lied. I mean, I DID need a break, buuuut I also snuck in some time with this book. Which is why I was in tears when they got back to the car.

I knew Gene would die. I knew almost from the moment he set foot in the story. He was just too good. Authors like killing good people to toy with our emotions (see: Prue, Cedric Diggory, etc). So I saw his death coming from a mile away. I just didn't expect it to happen his first time out in battle. I cried super hard.

So my family gets back to the car, and my husband is laughing at me (in a sweet way, mind you, right?) because I'm losing it over a fictional character (again) and my daughter is in her car seat saying "it's okay mom, you're fine, you're fine. We can go to the library and get you another Harry Potter book" and as I'm about to tell her how sweet she is, she says "and I can play the Grover game." So then I realize she's not being sweet, she just wants to play on the library's iPad, and also I realize she thinks the only books I read, besides my scriptures, are Harry Potter.

ANYWAY. This book was so good. It got a lot heavier than the first one, there was a lot more dealing with racism in it. One of the things I like about the way he writes these books, is that he portrays the violence of war, but not in a super graphic way. We get just enough to realize the gruesomeness of it. I really appreciate that.

In conclusion, this is probably my most non book related review yet.

[Charly Troff (JustaReadingMama) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second in the series is just as good as the first. The characters are rounded out and I've already seen character development through these two books with room for more, the history is accurate and written to be so interesting, and there is constant tension and a theme of religion and God throughout. I have learned so much and fallen in love with the families; I feel their pain and can empathize with them and the struggles they faced during the war better than I ever have before. Hughes has a way of bringing up things about WWII that I've never thought about before and give me a new perspective on today's issues.

[Virginia Richins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fabulous! I liked it even better than the first. I think the first book spent so much time helping us fall in love with the characters that it gave us more time in the second book to really dive into their stories, struggles, moments of perseverance, and growth. I love how these books help you see so many different parts of WW2, many of which I haven’t thought much about. The ending of this part in the series left me with a few unexpected twists in the storyline, as well as some tears. I even found some of the lines used made me really think. I didn’t want to forget the things I read. It was simply beautiful. I can’t wait to start the next one!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enjoying this series of historical fiction about life during World War II. I'm inspired by the examples of courage and faithfulness during trials and heartache, and the important reminder to be steadfast in righteousness, even in the midst of wickedness and worldliness. I am also touched by the message of hope and strength passed on by previous generations. The blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ and strong family relationships are such a blessing during times of trial.

Here are a few quotes I liked:

"Wally knew this was his test, and the worst part of it was to have no finish line--not to know how much longer he had to hold out. He kept telling himself he could keep going a little longer and then he would be allowed to rest, even if it was out in the hot sun (p. 17)."

"There are different kinds of missions in life...but for now, we have a mission to stop what's happening in the world....God can only work through good people. We, the members of the Church, have to help lead the world back to purity (p. 39)."

"When hardship visited them in the early days of the Church, they got stronger, not weaker, and they passed their strength on to the next generation. I hope you'll never forget who you are: like the hymn says, you are children of the promise (p. 41)."

"If both of you keep waiting for the other to say something--or do something--he'll be gone, and neither one of you will know how the other one feels (p. 225)."

"There were so many ways to be a casualty of this war (p. 231)."

"She wanted to say everything, express all her feelings, and then someday share it all with Alex. But the trouble was--and her father had warned her about this--she had to be very careful what she recorded. If someone where to get a hold of it somehow, a document of that sort could be dangerous for all of them. She couldn't tell who she really was or where she had come from. She couldn't record her genuine fears and worries, even her hopes for the future. And so she wrote about her testimony of the gospel--without explaining why she couldn't go to church--and she wrote about the man she loved, without saying who he was and where he lived. She tried to say as much as possible, in hidden, careful ways, but she was soon frustrated, and she set the diary down. The Nazis had a way of controlling everything; they were not even allowing Anna to be Anna (p. 271)."

"We're all brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of God, no matter who we are....All we ask is respect and the right to believe as we choose. So why shouldn't we accord the same respect to people who believe differently from us (p. 296)?"

"We ask that we all might live and return to our families, but we realize that some of us may be asked to offer the ultimate sacrifice. Please, Father, accept this gift if we are called upon to give it, and bring us to our heavenly home, to dwell with thee (p. 372)."

"Early in the trek across Iowa, he had buried a little baby boy, and now he had buried his only other child, his firstborn son. So he took that one day off, and that's when he wrote that he felt such great despair. But here's the point I want to make. The following day, he wrote just one sentence in his journal: 'Worked on the bridge today.'....That is who we are. My grandparents grieved for a day, and then they went back to work. And things didn't get any easier....They passed on to you not only their stories but also the strength to live through times of great difficulty. We are in one of those times now, and we can sit down and despair, or we can build the bridge that needs to be built. Today is my day to mourn; tomorrow, I must be about my Father's business....We must recommit ourselves to goodness, to the struggle against Satan. Victory on land and sea is not enough; we must win a victory in the hearts of all mankind. Guns will never carry the day; only the gospel of Jesus Christ can save the people of this world (p. 452)."

"We must pull each other's wagons when they get stuck in the mud, and call upon the Spirit to give us collective strength....We must win our own private battles--the ones raging in our hearts and souls (p. 458)."

"I'm reminded of another of our brothers whose life was also taken at an early age. And I'm reminded of the women who wept for him outside the sepulchre. Christ chose to visit these women first after he arose from the dead. It was they he chose to comfort and then to send forth to spread the good news that he had risen....Sisters, Christ is with you now. He wants to comfort you. Don't wrestle too much with the realities just yet, but open your hearts and give Christ the chance to heal your pain (p. 459)."

"The women will have to be the strong ones....It's all about keeping the clothes washed and the floors swept, when it gets right down to it (p. 461)."

"After all the research, the ultimate source for understanding another time is the empathy we can call upon as we attempt to place ourselves in another circumstance. However different humans may be in many ways, there is fundamental sameness in our emotions, our needs, our fears. I try to work my way into the time by experiencing what my characters feel. That may seem a circular process--since I made the characters up--but this is the power of empathy: to know someone else's feelings by knowing one's own. That's why we tell stories--to create a life to look at, and then, in response, to reflect upon our own experiences (p. 507)."

[Debby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuation of the family story. Wally is still on the Bataan Death march, Bobbi has signed up for the navy and is in Pearl Harbor. Alex signs up for the Army paratroopers and gets sent to England and is wounded in the D-Day Invasion. Gene graduates and joins the Marines and is killed in the Saipan Invasion - his first. Anna and her family escape Germany finally, although Peter didn't make it out of Switzerland with the family. They make it to England where Anna connects with Alex while he's in hospital and they marry before he gets sent back to his unit.

Keeps you reading

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very few books make me cry. I couldn't help myself with this one. It's a book where you feel so close to the people it's like they're real. Their love, their anguish, their despair, and their hope all flood into your heart. You want so badly for it to be real because it feels so real. I can't imagine what the people who actually went through World War ll who lost loved ones, found they're heartthrob had been killed in battle, and others who actually found love and felt joy in the middle of War. I have fallen in love with Dean Hughes' books. I can't wait to read the next volume.

[Lis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book and series. There are a couple of families that are the center point of the story. The viewpoint of each character is told; how they deal with the war. It is a great look at how an individual would react and deal in a time of war. The book also gives an insider view of what World War II was like. It doesn't romanticize the war. The characters' stories are gripping. After reading this story, it feels like you know the characters' personally.

[Kati Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVE this book!! I honestly couldn't put it down and you forget everything else because these two families are so enthralling! I admit I had to put the book down a few times because I was crying to0 much to be able to read the words, but that just shows how much emotion it captures! Definitely a 10/10 book!

[Kristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The plot thickens.......
It was educating to read so much about WWII in the Pacific, D-Day and escaping the Nazi's. I thought about my own Dad and Mom who were married while Dad was home on leave from being stationed in the South Pacific in 1944.
I'm enjoying this read more than I thought I would.

[Tiffany Ball · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 2

Overall I really like the book. However, the scenes discussing Company E from the 506th Regiment bug me a lot. I feel the author took way too much artistic liberty. He went through such great lengths to research this time in history, it is almost unjust to change the names of the men who were there... Again, overall, I think the book is pretty good.

[Melissa Falkner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful book. Now that we know all of the characters more I feel such a part of their story. I think it was when more poignant to read as the war in Ukraine has just started and my daily life has had more focus thinking on how war impacts families. Although this book held more sad parts, it was beautiful and so well written. I loved it.

[Krista Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so addicted to this series. I could not put this book down. The characters are so relatable and the author really knows how to transport the reader into the story. Can't wait to get started on the next book!

[Tawny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite lines:
1. "I know it is all very frightening, but think what it means to put yourself in danger for someone else's sake. It's what a Christian should do" (153).
2. "One of my professors used to say that people read novels to find out where we fit in the universe" (172).

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters just keep getting better. The story more complex. It is a perfect mix of love and war. I thought it was a little cheesy when Anna shows up at the hospital. I felt like that was a little far fetched, but in 500 pages I can take one little cheesy moment. Can’t wait for book 3.

[Anna Larson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am really enjoying this series. I’m listening to them with my husband and we are both intrigued. I can tell they are a little outdated but at the same time I feel like it has been enjoyable to see how culture and society has changed in a lot of thinking about women, war, race, and religion.

[Kendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely excellent book. It was a continuation of the first one, it moved slightly slower and was not quite as easy to get through, but it had more action and more emotion. I shed a few tears at some parts that struck too close to home. A worthy sequel that is as good as I remember it.

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. The first half was a but slow bit quickly picked up. Such good themes and I was sooooo endorsed. The Thomas family seems to real and feel really involved in their lives.