Germany, 1505In the dark of night, Katharina von Bora says the bravest good-bye a six-year-old can muster and walks away as the heavy convent gate closes behind her.Though the cold walls offer no comfort, Katharina soon finds herself calling the convent her home. God, her father. This, her life. She takes her vows–a choice more practical than pious–but in time, a seed of discontent is planted … planted by the smuggled writings of a rebellious excommunicated priest named Martin Luther. Their message? That Katharina is subject to God, and no one else. Could the Lord truly desire more for her than this life of servitude?In her first true step of faith, Katharina leaves the only life she has ever known. But the freedom she has craved comes with a price, and she finds she has traded one life of isolation for another. Without the security of the convent walls or a family of her own, Katharina must trust in both the God who saved her and the man who paved a way for rescue. Luther’s friends are quick to offer shelter, but Katharina longs for all Luther has promised: a home, a husband, perhaps even the chance to fall in love.
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There are some books I love because they made me think. There are others I love because they made me cry (Tale of Two Cities comes to mind). And then there are the books that that I love because, usually in more ways that one, they made me blissfully happy.
“Loving Luther” is one of those books. In the words of Elizabeth Barrett Browning: “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…”
First off, the skill of this author to whisk me away to another world is nothing short of breath-taking. It is written in first person, which is something I tend to dislike and find slightly jarring. So I think it says a lot about her writing that I DID NOT EVEN REALIZE this book was in first person until I was six chapters in, had taken a break for dinner, and was coming back to re-enter the story. Only then did I suddenly notice the “I” in the narrative, and was surprised and slightly jarred as I normally am by that POV. It was at that point that I realized the author had so quickly and perfectly dropped me into the story in the first chapter that I hadn’t even had a chance to notice the “I”. I wasn’t seeing the words at all. I was walking around in 16th century Germany.
Then of course there is the subject matter. Katherina von Bora is a historical character I’ve always been interested in, and in general, I’m always drawn to stories based on real people/events. But ONLY if they are done well. And this one was most certainly done well!!
The author did a splendid job of giving us Katie as she was, in the world that she lived in. Never once did I feel (as happens far too often in modern fiction), that I was inside the head of a 21st century heroin who had somehow wandered through a time warp and ended up in the “olden days” with all her modern ideas and viewpoints intact. Katie, the nuns, Luther, and the rest of the characters all felt as if they deeply belonged in the time and place they lived in. And they were all so very, very REAL. Their wit and their sorrow, their struggles and their triumphs, their relationships and their growth. All of it made them so perfectly human and so entirely relatable, without ever resorting to the annoying modern trope of making them think, speak, or act like they belong in my own century. Beautifully, beautifully, done.
The depth of research and writing on display in this book is truly inspiring. It completely captured my attention from the very first page, and delighted my senses as I followed Katie’s story from her childhood, all the way up to her relationship with Luther. I was fascinated and entertained, and exhilarated by the adventure. I had my heart wrung by the sorrow, and laughed out loud at the humor. Pittman has brought to life a woman in history who I have always admired, and I was so very happy to meet her, fully fleshed out, on the page. Bravo!
Amazing