Tricia Goyer Reviews

Added September 26, 2005

Night Song

A Story of Sacrifice

Author: Tricia Goyer
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: September 2004
Genre: Fiction: Christian/Mystery/Historical
Format: Trade Paperback
Price: $12.99
ISBN: 0-8024-1555-5
Reviewer: Phillip Tomasso III

Like many people, I have always been fascinated with stories about World War II. A lot of that fascination I have found, though it appears morbid, revolves around the horrendous abuse Hitler poured out on Jewish people. The fascination, I believe, is that I am clearly dumfounded. At times I find the fact that the holocaust happened impossible to believe, conceive, accept, or understand. One sad truth is that the events of the holocaust did happen. Sadder still is that people today-based on daily news events-are capable, and it is quiet probable, of repeating that portion of the past.

Night Song, by Tricia Goyer, is a multifaceted tale. Though it touches on the horrors, it does not dwell on them. Though it is a story cast in darkness (darkness caused by Hitler), there is plenty of encouraging light. Night Song is an ultimate tale of survival, how people survive, how friendships survive and how love survives.

Nick, an American medical student, and Evie, a German from Austria living in America with her family are in love. After seeking permission from Evie's father, Nick plans to propose, asking Evie if she will be his wife. Before the right moment, Nick's world is turned upside down. Evie's family must return to Austria, too. Nick enlists in the service as a medic, hoping to be close to Evie at all times, but as most know, things never work the way things are planed.

Jakub is more than a 14-year-old boy with a 12-year-old brother, Daniel, who lives with his mother and father. He is also a Jew. Both he and his brother, however, are also talented violinists. Daniel, though, is clearly the family prodigy. Working toward adulthood, life is normal until one day during the war when everything changes. Their father is arrested and hauled away by the Secret Service. Daniel's fingers are smashed when a Nazi soldier uses the butt of his rifle like a baseball bat. The enemy ushers the remaining family away to a work camp.

Otto, a soldier with the Third Reich, dreams of one day working closely alongside Hitler. However, his knowledge of things valuable lands him an undesirable assignment with Viktor. They are charged with the task of recovering priceless instruments from Jewish people shipped off to concentration camps. Regardless, Otto is determined to excel and soon finds himself hot on the trail of a rare Stradivarius violin, once in the possession of Jakub's father. The troubling question is whether to give the violin to the cause, or to run away with it and live like a king with the money he will make from its sale.

Being home, Evie realizes that nothing is the same. While she and her family live as if nothing has changed in the world, it is painfully obvious that those around her exist without. It isn't long before she realizes that the family servant, her good friend, as well,Ilse, is part of the Resistance. Ilse needs money to fund the cause. Caught up in the desire to help, Evie is quickly passes a point of no return. With no where else to go, she continues to get in deeper and deeper until she continually puts her own life at risk for the sake of helping others.

On the American side of the war, Nick befriends another medic and the two bond. But isn't long before Nick receives disturbing news-news so traumatic that he refuses to believe it can be true. His only hope to survive the war and return home is to believe that God has a purpose behind all that is going on around him.

Separated into different camps, knowing that a large part of him has died, and feeling more alone than ever, Jakub realizes he must play the violin if he expects to survive. Rumors that the war is going to end soon are not good enough. One day at a time is the only way he can continue on. Things go from worse to unbearable when Jakub is locked away. People are forbidden to feed him even a crumb of bread, lest they be punished themselves.

Tricia Goyer sets the stage, builds the suspense, and then ties all of the storylines together the way a good writer should. Night Song is touching and profound, and both tragic and victorious. It is also haunting, yet uplifting. I read it fast, but I will remember it a long time.

Return to top of page.

This page was last updated on January 1, 2008

This page and all its contents are Copyright© 2002-2008 In the Library Reviews and the individual reviewers. Except where noted, all graphics are Copyright© Eos Development and are used with permission. All book covers are Copyright© their respective publishers and are used with permission. The In the Library Reviews logo is Copyright© 2002 by In the Library Reviews/Sharyn McGinty. Site maintained by In the Library Reviews.