The Leaves Are Falling: A Novel
A gripping novel with complex characters who wrestle with some of the most difficult questions of the human experience,The Leaves Are Fallingis the kind of book that stays with the reader for a long time. --Jennifer Fulwiler, Author,Something Other Than GodIn this paradoxically gentle and powerful novel, Lucy Beckett explores the mysteries of providence at work in the lives of several characters - some of them victims of the atrocities of the Second World War, especially during the Soviet massacre of the Polish officer class at Katyn,Russia, and some of them survivors. It is the story about a boy who is spared, about his father from whom he is separated, and the old man whom the boy becomes. It is about faith and disbelief, grace and truth and the nature of love in a season of desolation. Throughout, the author writes with masterful skill, with unfaltering believability. On every page the reader will encounter a profound understanding of human nature. Beckett is one of the greatest Catholic novelists of our times. --b>Michael D. O Brien, Author,Father Elijah: An ApocalypseLeaves Are Fallingpresents the reader with haunting portraits of two of the most terrible atrocities of the Second World War. The first is seen through the eyes of Josef, a young Jewish boy whose family are murdered by Nazi death squads, while the second story unfolds around Josef's father, Jacob, a Polish Army doctor captured by the Soviets and taken to a place called Katyn. Meticulously researched, Lucy Beckett recreates the bustling streets of Vilna, the Soviet prison camp and the dreary streets of post-war London, charting the political and spiritual struggles of ordinary people caught up in horrific events beyond their control. This book is a stark reminder of the evils unleashed upon an unsuspecting world by both the Nazis and the Soviets, but it is also a moving testament to the courage and humanity of the survivors. --Fiorella de Maria, Author,Do No Harm