The Soldier's Return by Laura Libricz
Publication Date: September 2017
eBook & Paperback
Series: Heaven's Pond Trilogy, Book Two
Genre: Historical Fiction
The year is 1626. A senseless war rips through parts of Germany. Ongoing animosity between the Catholics and the Protestants has turned into an excuse to destroy much of the landscape situated between France, Italy and Denmark. But religion only plays a minor role in this lucrative business of war.
The young dutchman, Pieter van Diemen, returns to Amsterdam in chains after a period of imprisonment in the Spice Islands. He manages to escape but must leave Amsterdam in a hurry. Soldiers are in demand in Germany and he decides to travel with a regiment until he can desert. His hope of survival is to reach Sichardtshof, the farm in Franconia, Germany; the farm he left ten years ago. His desire to seek refuge with them lies in his fond memories of the maid Katarina and her master, the humanist patrician Herr Tucher. But ten years is a long time and the farm has changed. Franconia is not only torn by war but falling victim to a church-driven witch hunt. The Jesuit priest, Ralf, has his sights set on Sichardtshof as well. Ralf believes that ridding the area of evil will be his saving grace. Can Pieter, Katarina and Herr Tucher unite to fight against a senseless war out of control?
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MY REVIEW~~~oOo~~~
The second book in Laura Libricz's "Heaven's Pond Trilogy", The Soldier's Return, pulls no punches when it comes to describing some of the more horrifying aspects of war in the early 1600s. Granted, there were no air strikes or nukes, but plenty of damage was done to the countryside and the people living there nonetheless.
The whole Catholic vs Protestant issue was cooking on high heat and littlle bits of land would go back and forth from the control of one religion to the control of another. And wo to the Catholic who found herself in a Protestant village, and vice versa. It was as bad back then as it is these days between gangs in many areas. And interactions could be just as deadly.
And Ralf, the Jesuit whom I grew to dislike intensely in the first book of the trilogy, The Master and the Maid, doubled down on his fanaticism when it came to ferreting out 'witches', which a rather disproportionate amount of the time were Protestant sympathizers. If the suspect in question did not give an answer that Ralf wanted, he would apply various 'methods of persuasion' to 'drive the devil out' of said person. I remember a vivid description of thumb screws...and he just got nasty from there.
Herr Tucher and Katarina (the titular master and maid of the first book) were still at Sichardtshof farm, trying to hold things together for the little group of people living and working there. Not an easy job when army after army comes through. In those times, the soldiers were not paid their promised wages very often, and scant if any rations were provided, so they took what they wanted from farmers and villagers - food, drink and women. I am glad the author did not resort to the crass terminology that seems to be prevalent in some modern erotic romances, but the scenes are quite disturbing nonetheless. That is not a criticixm, but an observation.
Pieter had gone back to Amsterdam shortly before his father passed away, ran into all kinds of trouble shortly after and after a stint in jail in the Spice Islands, returned but had to leave town fairly quickly again. He wanted to go back to the farm (probably the closest thing to family he had left), and joined up with various military units on the way south to Sichardtshof. He changed units as often as needed to suit his purposes. Unfortunately, he did not resign or ask for re-assignment first...which tends to upset the commanders of said units. Deserters faired no better, and probably much worse, than they do today.
Reading the book, which was difficult to stop, I felt like I was there - slogging through mud, feeling fear for the women and children on the farm when soldiers and 'camp followers' marauded through.
I do wonder about the title, a wee bit. The story seemed to have as much or more to do with the goings on at Sichardtshof itself, than with Pieter's return to the farm. For me it's one of those 'it would be interesting to know someday', but had no bearing on my enjoyment of the book.
The Soldier's Return is not always an easy read. Don't get me wrong, the story is wonderful ... but life for the people living in that area and at that time was not.. There was not a 'HEA' ending, but the core group of characters (Tucher, Katarina, Isobel, her father and Pieter) were still standing. If you are a reader, The Soldier's Return is a satisfying, filling read.
And now I'm really looking forward to the last installment of the trilogy, Ash and Rubble, to see how Isobel fulfills the White Witch's predictions for her!
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Laura Libricz was born and raised in Bethlehem PA and moved to Upstate New York when she was 22. After working a few years building Steinberger guitars, she received a scholarship to go to college. She tried to ‘do the right thing’ and study something useful, but spent all her time reading German literature.
She earned a BA in German at The College of New Paltz, NY in 1991 and moved to Germany, where she resides today. When she isn’t writing she can be found sifting through city archives, picking through castle ruins or aiding the steady flood of musical instruments into the world market.
Her first novel, The Master and the Maid, is the first book of the Heaven's Pond Trilogy. The Soldier’s Return and Ash and Rubble are the second and third books in the series.
For more information, please visit Laura Libricz’s website and blog. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, >Instagram, Pinterest, >LinkedIn, and Goodreads.
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GIVEAWAY!!!
GIVEAWAY!!!
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(Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the author and publishers via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours in exchange for my honest review.)
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This book helps me fulfill the following 2018 reading challenges:
TBD
Thank you for the review, LuAnn!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Laura! It was a pleasure to read The Master and the Maid as well as The Soldier's Return!
DeleteThanks so much for hosting The Solder's Return Blog Tour! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the book!
ReplyDeleteAmy
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