Review: Heart-stirring and beautifully detailed
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 21, 2013
In 1941 Seattle, young Grace Vandenberg's life was turned upside down when she discovered that her boyfriend Joel had time-traveled his way into her life directly from the year 2000. Convinced that their futures couldn't be aligned, Joel left her to return to his century, but Grace, refusing to give up on the power of love, is determined to follow him. In a mind-boggling new era of cell phones and computers Grace settles into a blissful life with Joel, but her now perfect world is shaken anew when a trip to a newly-restored historic theater sends her all the way back to the year 1918. As she witnesses her teenage parents' first meetings and falls in love with a handsome Army captain, Grace must make sense of the life she's stumbled into and come to terms with the cold truth: she may never see Joel or the new millennium ever again.In The Show, the direct sequel to his debut The Mine and the third in his Northwest Passage series, John A. Heldt proves himself once again as a masterful storyteller. He has, for the third time, woven heart-stirring romance, beautifully detailed history, and the ever-complex device of time-travel into what may be his most satisfying novel so far. While The Show is a perfect compliment to is predecessor, it stands handsomely on its own and offers new insights on yet different topics of life: love, loss, motherhood, and family. Grace was a stellar supporting character in The Mine and it's a delight to see her take center stage here. She blossoms into a very strong, capable heroine with a passion that the reader will instantly appreciate. Plucky and resilient, she illuminates the power of the female spirit as a wife, mother, daughter, and friend. She is supported by a highly memorable cast from the earliest part of the 20th century: sassy twins Lucy and Edith, compassionate Uncle Alistair, and the kind, charismatic Captain Walker, among many others. Against the believably rendered backdrop of 1918 their story cocoons the reader easily as it unfolds.It takes a special talent to juggle the many facets of The Show. Heldt continues to handle the element of time-travel well, always delivering it in a pleasingly realistic way, and he shows consistent ability with the depth of detail that is required when writing about different eras. Succeeding further yet with genuinely felt romance, myriad emotions, and profound life lessons, The Show easily finds its home in the reader's heart with little intention of traveling away anytime soon.(Review  Casee Marie, originally published on May 21, 2013 at LiteraryInklings.com. I received a copy of the book for the purpose of review.)