The Face of Heaven by Murray Pura - Review of the second book in the Snapshots in History series

Lyndel Keim finds two runaway slaves in their barn and promises to help them and keep them safe. She gains the help of her brother Levi and his friend Nathaniel King. Reluctantly her father lets them stay in the attic until they are healthy enough to move on. They soon have visitors among which is the owner of the slaves and have to turn them over. Lyndel, Levi and Nathaniel are all heartbroken but not as bad as they are when they find one of the slaves hung in a tree on their property. The Amish community agree to have a proper burial and bury him in their cemetery.

Nathaniel, who has become Lyndel's beau, is so distraught that he decides to join the Union and fight against slavery. Lyndel finds that she can't sit at home and do nothing while Nathaniel is doing all he can so she leaves to go nurse the wounded. Nathaniel and Lyndel work closely in the field and soon they are joined by Levi and a few other young members of their community. They are all now under the bann and not allowed any communication with family.

Murray does a fantastic job of pulling you into the story and telling what it must have been like on the front lines. Nathaniel and Lyndell were lucky to be able to see each other during the war and they showed such faith and dependence on God throughout. I shed some tears while reading the first book, The Wings of Morning, and I shed some more while reading this one. I expect to shed some more when the third book, Whispers of a New Dawn when I get it.

I do not think I could have been as strong as Lyndell, or any of our ancestors, could you? I am so to be thankful to them and to our military who continue to fight for our rights. Thank you Murray for sharing these stories with us, they make us stop and think about how lucky we really are today.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the NetGalley  <http://www.netgalley.com/> book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”