Such a delightful highlight approaches - the time of day when I go into my cocoon! Blissfully, I crawl under my crisp clean blue sheets. The overstuffed pillows stand stacked and fluffed behind me. The diffuser puffs sweet lavender oil into the air. Now for the moment I’ve anticipated - I open the cover to my wartime novel to see where in the world my newest friends find themselves. Drama in real life, love in the midst of war, I pick up where I last left off with hero and heroine.
With Love, Wherever You Are by Dandi Daley Mackall is a jewel of a read. Frank and Helen Mackall serve as doctor and nurse in the European theatre of World War II. Marriage weds their hearts; geography separates their lives. Following a whirlwind romance and wedding, deployment tears their togetherness asunder. Keeping their relationship alive depends on military leaves granted in the midst of combat; rendezvous occur in the most unusual places. As doctor and nurse, they ache for their patients; as newlyweds, they ache for each other. Will their fiery, fresh, fragile, beginning survive?
Once upon a time (but this is true) I briefly met Frank and Helen Daley. Long before I knew their story, I knew their love for life, their love for their daughter, and most importantly, their love for Jesus. Their infectious smiles remained etched in my mind as I read page after page of their unconventional wartime romance.
Author and daughter Dandi Daley Mackall says, “This novel is a work of fiction, based on the stories and letters of Helen and Frank.” She found a trunk with letters, labored hard, and created for us a story worth the telling.
Known for exceptional writing, Dandi is the award-winning author of nearly 500 books for children and adults. Her novel My Boyfriends’ Dogs is now a Hallmark movie.
As Paul Sweeney said, "You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend." I understand this feeling, for my copy of With Love, Wherever You Are now sits completed and closed on my bedside table. Sigh
If you decide to treat yourself to a superb read, you can order on Amazon. Parenthetically, this would make a delightful Mother's Day gift.
Thank you, Dandi. You did it again!
Living with eternal intentionality: What is your favorite read these days?
