The Puritans by Jack Cavanaugh

The Puritans by Jack Cavanaugh -- 513 pages

"The story of the Morgan family faith begins at Windsor Castle, on the day that Drew Morgan met Bishop Laud. For it was on that day that Drew Morgan's life began its downward direction."

Book 1 in the American Family Portrait series by Jack Cavanuagh, Drew Morgan, a young man of 18, begins working for Bishop Laud to rid Britain of those who would disrupt the unity of the church and bring Britain down from the inside. But Drew is confronted by the people who are supposed to be dangerous, and by their love for God and man. One on side, he could have everything that he has hoped for, wealth, status, and nobility, but on the other side, these people have so much more than he could have imagined.

Above All Earthly Powers by Jack Cavanaugh

Above All Earthly Powers by Jack Cavanaugh -- 384 pages

This is the third book in the series, "Songs in the Night."
Post World War II and Josef Schumacher's wife, daughter, and friends are hurting deeply. It is many years after Konrad was captured and the children that Josef had rescued were taken away. The Berlin wall has fallen and no one can get in or out.

While Elise is young and full of life, Mady has been hardened by the war and by her own losses, but finally she is reunited with her children and she puts her brain to work to form a plain to smuggle them out of East Germany to freedom.

This last book in the series is a good one, gripping and tear-jerking as our loved characters struggle through pain and recover from loss.

His Watchful Eye by Jack Cavanaugh

His Watchful Eye by Jack Cavanaugh -- 384

The second book in the series "Songs in the Night", Josef is suffering from the treatment he received in the facility in book one (While Mortals Sleep), but the youth that he mentored and loved so much are now becoming older and finding their place in the German world.

Konrad is a model Hitler Youth, athletic as well as brutal, but as he begins to see the bloody truths that have been hidden so long, he fights an inward battle. On one side Germany, on the other Josef Schumacher and everything he has told him.

Jack Cavanaugh very beautifully portrays his characters in a gripping and heart-tugging way, and as Konrad sets out to change the world, my heart was going with him.

While Mortals Sleep by Jack Cavanaugh

While Mortals Sleep by Jack Cavanaugh -- 384 pages

This story is set in Germany during the time leading up to World War II. While it gives us its share of politics and information that aid the story, this book is not about World War II.

Josef Schmacher is a young pastor who's heart is to nurture his church body, and a special part of his heart is burning for the young people in the church, the teenagers and youth who are growing up under the influence of the Hitler Youth.

When government starts clashing with belief and freedom, he must pick sides and do what he can to aid the furtherance of God's Kingdom instead of Hitler's. But doing so will threaten the health of him and his family.

This story is gripping and moving and exciting, as well as humorous in some places. I distinctly remember crying. It is a beautiful story.

This is the first of three books in the series, "Songs in the Night."

Above All Earthly Powers by Jack Cavanaugh

Above All Earthly Powers by Jack Cavanaugh - 380 pages

This is the final book in the Songs in the Night trilogy.  Instead of being set during World War II, it follows the characters through the communist occupation of East Berlin, mainly after the Berlin Wall goes up.  Shockingly, within the first few chapters two characters thought dead from the earlier books reappear.  The majority of the book follows the story of how the Mady and Elyse Schumacher, Lisette Jensen, Konrad Reichmann, and the kids known as the Hadamar Six attempt to leave East Berlin post-1961.  They are helped by a character introduced in the last book, Colonel Matthew Parker, USAAF, ret.  He came up with a scheme along with Konrad and Tomcat to get everyone out, but I won't say how and spoil the story.

In all, a good book and it was nice to see how the character's lives turned out.  However, I think the escape method used for the first five escapees was a bit far-fetched--I don't think it could have happened in real life.  The method used by the last group, though, is a east-to-west classic.

His Watchful Eye by Jack Cavanaugh

His Watchful Eye by Jack Cavanaugh - 384 pages

In the second book of Cavanaugh's Songs in the Night Trilogy, the familiar cast returns and it is nearly three years after the first book.  Josef and Mady Schumacher, Lisette, and the children have established a safe house northwest of Berlin.  Here they raise the children and assist with underground operations.  Konrad Reichmann and his friend, Neff, find themselves on the Russian front as a sniper team.  Ernst Ehrenberg is now a theoretical scientist working on the rocket program, including on the V-2.  Everyone's life re-converges during Christmas, 1943, at the Schumacher cabin.  After Neff's death, Konrad deserted.  His new plan is to find ways to make the Nazi's he once revered suffer.  However, after a death in their close-knit group, he becomes the "shepherd" to those at the cabin.  In this role, he undertakes a mission to locate a scientist code-named "Peregrine" to deliver him to the Americans in exchange for a noble cause (I can't say more without spoiling the ending).

Of the two book I have read in the trilogy thus far, I think the first is the stronger book.  While I liked following the story of the next stage of the characters' lives, it was like having three separate stories in one novel that briefly connected near the beginning and converged at the end.

While Mortals Sleep by Jack Cavanaugh

While Mortals Sleep by Jack Cavanaugh - 378 pages

This is the first book in Cavanaugh's Songs in the Night trilogy set amisdt World War II Germany.  It opens at Christmas 1939 when Josef Sshumacher, a pastor, holds a party for the youth of his church.  It is part of his plan to remind the youth that they need to place God before Hitler.  In the weeks that follow, he drives the same point home at the pulpit.  this begins to worry his pregnant wife, Mady, as she fears he will become a Nazi target, thus placing their growing family at risk.  But within months, he is actively working with the local resistance network.  The latter half of the book follows a mission he undertakes that soon goes wrong when he is recognized by his father-in-law.

In all, it was a fast-paced read that served as a reminder of what frequently occurred within the Nazi state:  Nazi fanaticals pitted against those who didn't share their ideals, a police state, total indoctrination of youth, totalitarian government, and educated adults who attempted to thwart the system.


In keeping with this month's challenge, approximately 1/3 of the book is set in the home library/study of two of the characters.