I have just finished reading Lynn Austin’s CHASING SHADOWS, and what a story of what the Dutch people dealt with during WWII and how they risked their lives to help others. Lynn’s descriptions of her characters, their lives, their joys and pains, the terrors of the war, and their faith that helped them endure almost have the reader feeling like they are living the story too. I thoroughly and whole heartedly recommend this book.

I received an advanced e-book from NetGalley and an advanced hard copy from the publisher.

Chasing Shadows by Lynn Austin was another great book for fans of WWII historical fiction. It is essentially about the lives of three women who live in the Netherlands and who are determined to live through the Nazi occupation.

Lena is a farm wife and mother whose family is determined to help those fleeing the Nazis wrath and death squads. They shelter a Jewish couple and take in the newborn child of a Jewish couple who must go into hiding. Having the child with them would be dangerous, so Lena takes the child to raise until the end of the war.

The child’s mother, Miriam, is a violinist who immigrated to Holland where she thought she would be safe. She finds love there, living in Leiden, but circumstances require she and her husband to flee for their safety.

Ans is the daughter of Lena and her husband and is itching to go to the big city. However, she is caught in the Nazi takeover and must use all her ingenuity to survive and serve in the Resistance movement.

This story is so heart-breaking, but yet shows the endurance of people when they must do the unimaginable in order to survive. I read this book in record time because it was so very interesting.

Lynn Austin has a love for the Netherlands, and this love is evident in her newest book, Chasing Shadows. The reader is taken back to WWII. Ana is tired of living in a small farming community and her faith has faltered. She is ready to spread her wings. She moves to a university town where she becomes a companion to a woman who lost everyone she loved in WWI. When the Germans invade the Netherlands, both women work with the resistance and help Jewish families. As she helps others, Ana's faith begins to grow. Her parents, Pieter and Lena, fight the Germans in their own way. Elisheva and her husband, trust Lena enough to give her their baby hoping they will survive in hiding and be able to be reunited again.

Many of the incidents in this book are based on true accounts of Dutch christians. These courageous people depicted in this book embody what it means to overcome evil with good and to love your neighbor as yourself

Chasing Shadows by Lynn Austin is a historical fiction novel set in the Netherlands during WWII. After neutral Netherlands was invaded by the Nazi’s, many brave people valiantly stood up to the evil by risking their own life to safe the lives of others. Austin’s story is told through the lives of three ordinary women. Lena is a wife and mother who works along side her husband on a farm. Ans, Lena’s daughter moves to the city and gets involved in the Dutch Resistance delivering underground newspapers, ration cards, and fake IDs for Jews in hiding. Miriam is a young Jewish woman who has to go into hiding separated from her husband and young child.
The novel’s prologue begins as the war is ending and then goes back six years earlier to 1939. Even though the reader knows that the war will end, I felt this approach to such a heart wrenching story gave the reader hope that all would end well for the characters.
Lynn Austin has a way of getting Biblical truths across to her readers without being preachy. Her characters are real, ordinary people who live out their faith in their actions. This novel has a strong message of trusting God and drawing on Him for the strength to come through difficult times.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

If only I could give it more than 5 ⭐️!
I’ve been reading WWII novels for about 45 years, and this book is among the best! I was thoroughly engaged in the story, and in the lives of the women it followed. I pre-ordered extra copies to use as gifts, something I seldom do without someone specific in mind. Although this pandemic now hasn’t even been close to what the Dutch endured then, I identified with them, and was emotionally involved for at least the last third of the book! I learned from their stories and believe I will face my future with more courage!

Review will be live here on June 9, but I did really like this one!
https://novelpastimes.com/2021/06/09/book-review-chasing-shadows-by-lynn-austin/

A tough book to read, but worthwhile, as this stuff really happened, and we need to be reminded of it so we don't repeat our history! Great character development in Ans, Eloise, and Miriam, but especially Ans.
Love how the Dutch people helped so many Jews!!
Definitely recommend this book!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance e-copy of this book. All opinions are entirely my own!

With over 3 million copies of The Hiding Place in circulation, chances are you've read or heard of Corrie Ten Boom and the way her family served the Dutch Resistance at great personal cost. I had Corrie's story in mind when I decided to read Lynn Austin's newest novel. Chasing Shadows is set in the Netherlands (1939-1945) and is told from the perspective of three fictional women: Miriam Jacobs, Lena de Vries, and Lena's daughter Ans. I'm keen on World War II books and movies because they often tell of people facing moral dilemmas, acting with extraordinary bravery, or trusting in God for deliverance—all three are found in Chasing Shadows. As with all her stories, Austin reached beyond my mind to touch my heart. First, in how her Christian characters demonstrate what it means to truly 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Then by penning my favorite scene in which Ans is facing an accuser and suddenly recalls sweet words her parents had taught her as a child...

“I am not my own, but I belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. . . . He watches over me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head . . . He also assures me of eternal life and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto Him." (HC 1)

Chasing Shadows is a story that Austin fans won't want to miss!

I received this book from the publisher through the NetGalley review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Three women face great hardships and dangers after the Nazis invade the Netherlands in 1940. How will their faith be tested, and their families be threatened, as they take enormous risks to protect others, and to survive themselves. In this engaging World War II story, author Lynn Austin challenges readers to trust in God when facing seemingly impossible challenges and heartbreak.

Austin has penned a moving, intricate, and lovely work of Christian fiction that is excellently researched with an underlying message of hope.

Lynn Austin has written another stellar read. She covers the Occupation of the Netherlands during WW2 and the resistance. The story follows 3 women's,a mother, her daughter and a Jewish friend through the challenges and horrors of war. Her book was not overly graphic without sidestepping the evil that existed. The tension between faith and hardship will encourage and convict any reader.

Wearing their faith and living it, these valiant people of the Netherlands gave it all for others during World War II.

We meet some of these people and follow them as the darkness envelopes and doesn't want to let go. Those who have already fled their own country to flee the hate of a people, and now are on the run again.

Through the words of this author we meet all kinds of people, those that will do anything to save their own skin, and other that selflessly give the ultimate for others.

This is a fictional story, but based on facts, and the world needs to remember so that history does not repeat!

I received this book through Net Galley and Tyndale House Publishers, and was not required to give a positive review.

I'm always glad to be able to read and review a Lynn Austin book, and thanks to NetGalley, I was able to receive an advance copy. This book was another journey back to World War II, only this time in the Netherlands. As the author often does, she introduced us to a few prominent characters whose lives would be intertwined. Each of these characters has to survive Nazi occupation and learn to trust God in ways they had never imagined. While Lena is the first character introduced, I felt that her daughter Ans was more the main character. Ans began the story leaving home and church, but the events of the story brought her back to God and a good relationship with her family. Each of the main characters had harrowing experiences that were vividly described in the story, but also shared thoughts that showed how their faith was growing. This book challenged me to think about how I might respond in similar situations. While the story couldn't end up with everyone living happily ever after, it did demonstrate God's goodness even in the tragic times. I highly recommend this book for those who love historical fiction or for those who think they don't.

Lynn Austin’s Chasing Shadows is a fascinating book about the treatment of the people of the Netherlands during World War II. I love how even during an evil time in history, the Dutch didn’t give up and still had faith in God above.

I love the combination of historical fiction and Christian fiction that this book has. Lynn Austin does a wonderful job with the research she has put into it to bring her characters to life.

*Note this is a review for netgallery.com. I had gotten an advance copy of the book in order to review it for others on netgallery.com and also for my blog.

Lynn Austin's obvious passion for the Netherlands (and cycling) and her resplendent ease at the research and excavation of the all-too-human stories set against the backdrop of WWII make her the perfect voice to wrap around the similar yet very different experiences of three dimensional, humane, compassionate and romantic women who must rise to challenges of love and sacrifice they never could have imagined.

This is Austin in her comfort zone: focusing on the triumphs and travails of generations eager to pass on their wisdom and relinquish the mistakes of the past but finding redemption in the promise of stepping into the unknown.


This is vintage Lynn Austin and a wonderful addition to the canon of WWII fiction that compels and lures the reader with vignettes of everyday heroism.

At times romantic and heart-twisting, it is a treatise on friendship, music, faith and longing.

No one in the world excels at Inspirational Fiction like Austin does . It makes me downright GIDDY that this book exists.

(also shared on twitter and insta)

I love the way this author brings history alive in this WWII novel about the Netherlands. Ordinary people did extraordinary things to survive the Nazi occupation of their country. Based on true events and lives, the author wove a story that is hard to read at times but well worth it. The faith and determination to help others was amazing. Highly recommended!

The cover of this Chasing Shadows totally caught my eye and is perfectly Dutch! Lynn Austin's newest novel does not shy away from depicting the atrocities of war, not only committed on Jewish citizens but also the non-Jewish people of the nation of the Netherlands. The bravery and faith of that generation is both remarkable and inspiring. The story is centered around three women, whose lives are intimately and dramatically interwoven, and their fight to survive persecution, protect their families and resist the occupation.

While reading, I was reminded of John 1:5 which reads, "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Loving your enemies and letting God's light shine throughout the darkest of times, letting go of the illusion of control and fulling trusting God were themes prevalent throughout the pages. Lynn Austin touched on something that I have not encountered in much of the WWII fiction that I've read...her characters struggled with how God would feel about the lying, stealing, sabotage and law-breaking they engaged in during the fight against the evil slowly permeating every acre of their country. I feel like this would have been a very real dilemma, fighting back vs. keeping the 10 Commandments and added dimension as well as a thought provoking element to the story.

While I could not help but root for these characters in their fight against the Nazi occupation, I never felt totally immersed in the story. I think that wass a bit of a defense mechanism on my part. I remained oddly detached to the story...but many readers have said the opposite. Despite my detachment, the story was engaging, the characters were loveable and the sacrifices great. I would read it again.

If you are a fan of WWII fiction, Lynn Austin or Melanie Dobson I think you would enjoy this book.

Thank you, Tyndale House and Net Galley for the free DRC of this book. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This book didn’t engage me much until about halfway through, but then I didn’t want to put it down! I’m a big fan of Lynn Austin’s writing.

Chasing Shadows dealt with WWII and its effect on the people in Holland or the Netherlands. Some of the main characters began working for the resistance sometime during the war, and the trials they and other civilians suffered were difficult to read about. It really opened my eyes to the sufferings these people went through in order to resist the evil of the Nazi regime.

I received this book from the publisher via net galley in exchange for an honest review.

Classic Lynn Austin. Beautifully written, excellent character development and a very satisfying story line that will capture your attention from the first chapter. Savor this novel. You will not be disappointed. Five stars.

I have always been a Lynn Austin fan, I was excited to see she had a new book available to read thanks to net galley and Tyndale house publishers, I was given the opportunity to read this wonderful novel early.
Based during World War II in the Netherlands, when the Nazis occupied the country. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, it was hard to read at times, as I think would be understandable considering how truly Cruel and evil the Nazis were to the Jewish people. There were many times I stayed up late or couldn’t wait to get back to the book to find out what happens, The characters stories and lives pulled me in. I truly appreciate the different views we got, from a Jewish family perspective, from a Dutch family perspective, the resistance perspective and we even get a perspective of a Dutch policeman who joined the Nazi party. I had many conversations with my husband about the Dutch policeman, because even in today’s world you can say what choice was I given I had no choice, and you hear stories of people who collaborated with the Nazi party in order to save their own lives by saying they had no choice, but the reality is we all have a choice whether that’s to be selfish or not, good over evil, or are others lives less valuable than ours.
There are so many angles to the war that we get to witness in the story. This novel was well written, and it was very informative because even though it was a work of fiction it was based off of real events and from the authors note in the back real accounts and even some of the people were based off of real people. Lynn Austin says in the back of her book she hopes that she hopes her novel grows our faith and that we can see Jesus in everything even in the hard stuff, and I definitely had to put the book down many times to reflect on our Lord and why things happen, and sometimes we don’t always get the answers we want but Jesus is still there.
Again thank you to net galley and Tyndale house publishers for this advance copy, and to Lynn Austin for writing this novel!