I generally love reading historical fiction, but found this novel began with an overload of history. This was somewhat confusing getting to grips with the warring factions in the country which was multi-layered, flitting between the various time periods.

Overlooking this very complex war between the three factions, it’s a fascinating novel about survival, love and loss in war torn countries abutting Bosnia. The author’s knowledge and skill in transcribing the events is admirable as too are the main protagonists Katrina, the American, and Lucien, the Croatian Captain. Having finished the novel I confess I am still slightly confused about the roles of the different nations in the war, but the characters were real enough and it certainly warrants a second read.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Are you looking for your next historical fiction read? Look into the Last Bridge Across Mostar. This was a good read.

Dangerous Times

Katrina Winslow and her family are missionaries in Bosnia. They have an orphanage in town and care for the orphaned children of three different descents. Muslim, Serbian, and Croation. When Katrina takes a walk in the woods and returns to find her parents murdered and many of the orphans she must gather the rest of the orphans from the woods where they escaped and keep them safe.

She has help from a young Croation soldier named Lucian. He had become friends when earlier she found him wounded in the forest and her family took him in until he healed from his injury. Lucian took Katrina and the children to a cave where they could hide. He says he will return to bring them food.

When Lucian does not return Vita, a young Muslim woman comes to the cave and brings food to Katrina and the orphans. She tells Katrina that she should not trust Lucian. Katrina later finds out that she cannot trust Vita in a horrible betrayal.

When Katrina once again finds Lucian, it is a race against time and possibly the end of Mostar when the three fractions war against each other and Katrina and the orphans are caught up in the battle. Will the children be saved? Can Lucian help Katrina save the orphans, can he even save Katrina or himself.

The book was interesting in the story, I did like the romance between Lucian and Katrina. It had a lot of history of the country and of the war. There was a lot of technical war talk which I just kind of skimmed through to get to the rest of the story.

If you like war stories, you will like this one. It was not a fantastic read for me, it was just okay.

I received a copy of the book for free to read and review. The review and the words are my own.

I won’t share a one star review on goodreads but I won’t hesitate to review it in an academic journal if it goes to print as it is, this book is so filled with historical inaccuracies that it shouldn’t be published. There is fiction and then there is a moral responsibility to not conflate the events of multiple wars and then blame the wrong country for the attack on Mostar. Serbs were guilty of many things in the war but Mostar was Croatians, to the general public exposed to this it contributes to an ongoing blame game that ignores the very significant nuances of victimhood with a complete disregard to the lived experiences of an entire region. I desperately tried to find a positive to give the author but the characters are one dimensional and the writing style is off putting.

Though it's historical fiction, this novel gives a real feeling of what the war must have felt like to the inhabitants to the city and country. It was extremely tense and frightening. No character was spared the fear, tension or trauma of the war, so there were few happy endings. There wasn't a side for the reader to "root" for. My only criticism was the heavy reliance on the main character on praying in various situations-then again she was a missionary's daughter and the writer is involved heavily in religious orgs. I could have used a lot less of that.

1992: war-torn Bosnia

This recreation of what life could have been during this grueling time is brought to us through the eyes of American Katrina Winslow who is accused of spying and had to risk her life to protect war orphans caught in the crossfire as the Serbians plot to destroy Mostar. While Croatian Captain Lucien Brezac helps Katerina to save the innocent. Their story is heart-pounding......

What a thrilling novel that tells us the experience in the Balkans. It may be a fiction but the events are historic. This well-written story places us front and center in the conflicts of several Yugoslavian republics. The prose brings to life the terrifying realities of war as Katerina and Lucien navigate the treacherous web of intrigue and violence. Flipping the pages rapidly to see if they will succeed in the quest to save the children and Mostar from destruction couldn’t have been done fast enough. This is one exciting journey that smoothly sails from the beginning till its closing chapter. Embarking on a journey of love and survival with Katerina and Lucien was a chilling experience and a hard one to fathom.

As the story navigates through unknown regions it was quite challenging to follow I wished I had a map in front of me I really couldn’t visualize where I was and who were all those characters one I definitely remember Slobodan Milosevic.. We come across a lot of characters to keep track of, so pay attention or you will have to reread some parts as I did.

The varied reasons for the country’s breakup ranged from the cultural and religious divisions between the ethnic groups this story does an excellent job highlighting this fact. You will come across a lot of praying, I guess being in their shoes I would have perhaps done the same...

No doubt this is a difficult read but so is war. The author tells us that she took liberty in the timing and events for the sake of the narrative and all inaccuracy is on her. After all this book is a fiction not a dissertation and we should take it as such.

I picked up this book because of its title. As a Bosnian, I was intrigued to see a foreigner writing about the war in my homeland. The story follows Katrina Winslow, an American missionary whose parents opened an orphanage in Mostar during the Bosnian War (1992-1995). The narrative centers on her struggle for survival as she tries to protect the orphans in a war-torn city. The story is fast-paced and easy to read, and I especially appreciated the emphasis on religion. The characters frequently rely on and place their trust in God or say prayers, which is a refreshing rarity in contemporary novels. Additionally, some of the surface-level historical facts about the war, which are easily available on the internet, are accurate, and I appreciate that.

However, there are several aspects of the book that I didn’t particularly like, most of which relate to the finer details of life in Bosnia that would be familiar to someone actually living there. From the Prologue, it's clear that the book sets a certain tone, with a side practically chosen from the start. Additionally, there are a few inaccuracies. For instance, the crescent moon and star were originally symbols of Constantinople and were later adopted by the Ottoman Empire.

Regarding the depiction of Bosnia's three constituent peoples, I’m not sure if the inaccuracies are deliberate for the sake of the story. There is no ethnic difference between Muslim, Catholic, and Orthodox Bosnians; we are a single ethnic group with three different faiths. Everyone is fair-skinned, and plenty of Bosnian Muslims have blue eyes (myself included). And since when are Romans blue-eyed, anyway?

The portrayal of the hijab (or as we typically call it in Bosnia, simply a headscarf) is also misleading. In Bosnia, wearing a headscarf has never been a definitive symbol of being Muslim. The majority of Bosnian Muslims, even practicing ones, do not wear headscarves. And we certainly did not wear abayas in the 1990s. There was practically no way to distinguish who belonged to which group unless you engaged in conversation. The idea of “wearing Muslim attire” during the war as a means of protection is simply not accurate. Moreover, it is absolutely impossible to distinguish a white American woman from the local population just by her appearance. Bosnians are Europeans, and sadly, it seems the author does not know that.

That being said, I found it difficult to fully enjoy the story. The numerous inaccuracies and misinformation frequently pulled me out of the narrative, making it hard to connect with the characters or care about their fates. I also did not appreciate the element of American heroism near the end. It feels like much more research was needed to craft a story that truly aligns with the facts, culture, and traditions of the region. Unfortunately, too much of it was neither true nor realistic. While I can understand the need for slight adjustments to historical details for the sake of storytelling, the liberties taken here were simply too excessive. I found it fascinating that the author managed to make Muslims the villains even in a historical event where they were the victims (according to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia).