Smorgasbord Book Promotions – Book Review – #Historical #Family #Romance – Three Years of Her Life by C. E. Robinson

Delighted to share my review for the debut novel the historical romance – Three Years of her Life by C.E. Robinson

About the book

This debut novel is an indelible portrait of family love, trust, commitment, and unrelenting prejudice. A stirring tale that rides the line between historical fiction and romance., inspired by a famous musician’s hidden secret in Germany.

Three Years of Her Life, set in New England and Central Europe, is similar in concern and significant issues to bestselling America epic books of the Great Depression, The Great War and the U.S. South. People and places focused, the novel’s heartwarming and heart wrenching themes mark history in unsettled times.

A mystery woman’s photo, in question, is in famous grandfather’s gold pocket watch for over fifty years. It devastates Elizabeth’s estranged grandmother, and she convinces Elizabeth to find the link. At a loss how, Elizabeth’s on track to be a nurse not a detective, she gets help from Erik, the doctor who captures her heart. He becomes obsessed with uncovering her grandfather’s secret, and discovers more in Germany than the family can take. Now he shares a family heritage. When Elizabeth tries to stand up for Erik and her grandfather, it backfires.

Complicating her own life, Elizabeth falls into an entanglement with her guitar teacher. It’s only a longer-for connection to musicians, her absent father and dead grandfather, but it causes uncertainty. She’s now torn between two very different men. And what happens if and when she lets one of them go? Erik tips the balance for Elizabeth’s decision. He proves his character by risking his life transporting East Berlin hospital patients to the West through the Berlin Wall. But, what if border guards trap him in East Berlin? Unbeknown to Elizabeth, before Erik leaves on the mission, he sets up her future. And, he’s dead serious about the plan.

My review for the novel March 25th 2023

The story is set during the Cold War when there were still a great many prejudices resulting from the 30s and 40s and particular the pre-war years in Germany. Two people fall in love on opposites sides of these prejudices and their romance is opposed and challenged.

For Elizabeth, now a dedicated nurse, it is heartbreaking that the man she has fallen in love with, is so disrespected by her grandmother who brought her up and her extended family. She also has to face the disapproval and opposition of Erik’s mother, who feels her son should be married to a Jewish wife and follow tradition.

They both set out on a quest to discover more about Elizabeth’s grandfather’s origins in East Germany and the whereabouts of Erik’s great uncle. This leads to danger and unexpected revelations that will certainly cause frictions within the families.

With all the uncertainty that surrounds the couple, both begin to have doubts and for Elizabeth her love of music leads her into a relationship that becomes more intense than she internded. However the author handles each of these challenges with great skill and takes her characters through these missteps and brings them to a place they can be happy.

Interesting characters, great family dynamics and the controversial issues dealt with extremely well.

I know there is a sequel in the works and look forward to reading. I can recommend to readers who enjoy romances and also mid-20th century history.

Read the other reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK

About C.E. Robinson

A former nurse practitioner, Christine ventures into the world of fiction to write books. Her debut novel, THREE YEARS OF HER LIFE, a historical fiction, comes from her love of researching family history. A background as a published poet, experience in writing fiction, non-fiction and screenplays is an advantage in her writing career. Christine lives in Southern California. Available later this year, a sequel to THREE YEARS OF HER LIFE, BEYOND THREE YEARS OF HER LIFE. The plot explodes and the characters evolve, moving forward. Even their victories create consequences.

Connect with Christine: Amazon: USA – UK – CA – AUS – IN –  Follow Christine: Goodreads – Blog – Facebook – Twitter – LinkedIn

 

Thanks for dropping in today and I hope you will be leaving with this lovely book from C.E. Robinson