Faith on the Home Front Series

by

Penelope J. Stokes

After reading Penelope J. Stokes' Blue Bottle Club, I was thrilled to find her Faith on the Home Front series, consisting of Home Fires Burning, Till We Meet Again, and Remembering You. These novels are set in the WWII period, taking place mostly in Mississippi, with snatches of war action in Europe.

Stokes presents interesting characters and usually realistic romance, intertwined with great lessons in faith and Christian growth. The series introduces us to a variety of main characters: Libba Coltrain and her cousins Willie and Mabel Rae Coltrain, Link Winsom and Stork Simpson, and of course Thelma Breckenridge, the cafe owner who pulls everyone together and is the spiritual beacon. Libba is struggling to free herself from her overpowering father by planning to elope with a cowering artist in a soldier's uniform. When she sneaks out to a dance with her cousins, she meets her match and a challenge to the "love of her life" in the handsome Link Winsom. We find that both of them aren't as self-assured as they like to have everyone think, and thus begins their relationship with each other and with God.

Over the three years covered in the novels, we see the characters experience underhanded business dealings, handicapped children, death in families, prison camps, physical and emotional scars of war, and God's love expressed through His people.

I appreciated watching characters like Libba and Link develop through the struggles of growing love and the uncommon pressures that war places on them. While the plot sometimes stretches a bit thin to make people come together and bring them to realize their need for God, it shows how God does work in extraordinary ways and He reaches out to everyone.

One small annoyance was the author's tendency to recap in great detail past events which just occurred a few chapters before. This is especially noticeable in the third book, Remembering You. Still, I enjoyed these novels, thinking about the characters and even dreaming about them when I slept at night! I hope I will retain the lessons learned by the characters to apply to my life. I've recommended them as a "must-read" to my mom, which is a high standard!

Also by Penelope J. Stokes:

The Blue Bottle Club, The Amethyst Heart, Faith: The Substance of Things Unseen, and The Amber Photograph