All We Thought We Knew captured my attention with the multiple viewpoints and historical fiction aspects. Michelle Shocklee is a new to me author and she did not disappoint.

The story is told in three viewpoints from Ava has just lost her new husband in the attack on Pearl Harbour and takes a new job at Camp Forrest a nearby military base, Gunther who is an internee at the miliary base - a medical student detained for his nationality and Mattie who has lost her twin brother in the Vietnam War.

The viewpoints and storyline weave well together with elements of mystery which are slowly unravelled.

The author deals with themes of family, loss, war, cancer and grief sensitively and the thread of faith through the story is also nice to read.

I will be looking out for more ofntrhbauthor's books in the future.

Thanks to Tyndale House and Netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me a copy of this book to read for a honest review. I absolutely loved this book! I devoured it. This was one I could not put down.

“God doesn’t mind us asking questions when hard things happen, but when we start telling him who should live and who should die … well, that simply isn’t something we should ever do.”

Martha Ann ‘Mattie’ Taylor, Gunther Schneider, Nash McCallum, and Ava Delaney held up a mirror to some of my responses and reactions in the past and gave me an opportunity to pivot and make changes for the future. I think the line that had the deepest impact was the reminder to see others for who they are, not where they came from.

I also appreciated the author highlighting:
✔️the damage of resentment and selfishness
✔️how to navigate the loss of someone we don’t truly know
✔️the far-reaching effects of our choices and the damage consequences play

I loved a front-row seat to Mattie’s growth and marveled at the power of God in working with her disbelief and orchestrating Nash to come into her life and help her trust and continue grieving. We’ve all commented in anger that we’ll never do something again. We’ve all stormed away from people and places. Perhaps we even doubt God’s existence. The author shows us how God’s grace works and how faith takes root and changes all our ‘nevers’.

I appreciated a chance to Google Camp Forrest and copy the following quotes into my journal:
“Hope for today. Hope for tomorrow.”
“…didn’t want darkness and despair to win.”

Tullahoma, Tennessee is home to more than one miracle in this book. You must read this fantastic historical fiction with a light/sweet romance to find out! You’ll be reminded about “all you thought [you] knew” and realize the danger of presumptions

I was gifted this copy by Tyndale House Publishers and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Imagine when you think you know all, but actually you don't know anything. This is a story about a woman who was so sure she knew her family’s story . . . Now she wonders if she was wrong about all of it. Suspense, thriller, and beyond imagination.

Family, and war, that is the theme here, really from beginning to end, and sadly loss.

So much hurt and bitterness, and injustice. With so much out of our control, and yet, this story does span decades, and wars.

Interment camps, and death, fighting prejudice, and heartache, even when already being held.

Animals here hold the key to some healing, and love how the author gave us an injured war dog, and a gentle horse!

Ava Delaney, who is she? Well, she is the one that holds this story together, and she shares her journey with her daughter in a way that is hard and special.
Don't miss this story that spans from WWII to Vietnam, beautifully woven by Michelle Shocklee!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Tyndale House, and was not required to give a positive review.

If you are a fan of historical fiction like I am, then this new book by Michelle Shocklee, All We Thought We Knew is a book you will want to add to your to-be-read pile when it comes out this fall. This is an encouraging inspiring christian historical story about Prisoners of War, working at Camp Forrest in Tennessee, a horse farm that becomes a horse therapy center for war vets, relationships, cancer, death, redemption, and grace while focusing on a dual timeline set during the Vietnam War and WWII.

I learned so much about history while enjoying the relationships between the characters and seeing them grow in faith as I read this book. I usually don’t highlight a lot in fictional reading, but this one I had many. Here are a few of those:

I still love football, and maybe I’ll coach someday, but right now, I’m a solider. That doesn’t mean I can’t share the gospel with people though.
The disciples were regular guys- fishermen, mostly – and they went out and changed the world by spreading the Good News.
There isn’t anything wrong with safety, you know. People can still speak up for what’s right without putting themselves in danger. But sometimes, someone has to do the hard things and make sacrifices to make sure the people they care about are safe.
Mattie, there comes a time when we have to accept that life and death are not in our hands. We in the medical profession do our best, but we aren’t God.
I needed to know the entire story. No matter how much it might hurt or frighten me.
While war is never best, it is sometimes unavoidable. Our military personnel need our respect, our appreciation, and our prayers.

As.always I love this author's books.
I.waa very excited to see this one and jumped for joy at receiving this wonderful adventure.

This book had it all: slow burn romance, family dynamics, three perspectives converging, a bit of a mystery across different time periods, and two wars! The author has done thorough research, and to have this as well as beautifully developed characters was *chef's kiss*.
Keep the tissues handy. And while Shocklee is a Christian author and this falls under Christian Fiction, it wasn't overt - it was more what was kept out (language, explicit scenes) than what was added that made it so easy to read. Grateful for this ARC from Netgalley and Tyndale, I'll definitely be chasing down more from this author.

All We Thought We Knew follows the lives of Ava, who lost her husband in the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Mattie, who lost her twin brother in Vietnam. Ava, desperate to escape the house while living with her embittered mother-in-law, takes a job at a nearby military base, and has a surprising encounter with a German doctor-in-training who has been detained due solely to his nationality. Mattie would like to stay away from her Tennessee home forever, but she is summoned back by her estranged father who tells Mattie that her mother has cancer and needs her. Both women search for answers, and for peace, in the midst of difficult circumstances. Though Mattie does not get exactly what she wants, she does find much more than she expected.

Not all novels can successfully weave together two lives and two time periods, but this one does so admirably. The characters are well developed and interact with one another in believable ways. The use of clean language is always appreciated.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

✅ Dual-Timeline Novel
✅ WW2 + Vietnam War
✅ Slow Burn Romance
✅ Suspensful historical fiction - I couldn’t put it down!

This book is absolutely one of my favorite books of 2024 so far! Michelle Shocklee is a master of writing and it is obvious as she weaves a beautiful and heart-wrenching story of hope and perseverance through some of life’s most difficult trials. I was so moved by what I was reading that I couldn’t put the book down. I read the entire novel in one day! The characters felt real and the faith was inspiring and motivating. It was enthralling to read about WW2 and the Vietnam War through the eyes of people that history often forgets (or completely leaves out)! Their perspective gives you a better-rounded view of what it was like to live - and to suffer - during that tragic time. The romance was beautiful and I loved that it was a slow-burn. It helped the story feel that much more real as if you were transported back in time and were witnessing the growth of these relationships yourself. I so highly recommend everyone pick up this novel and read it.

Another enjoyable story by Michelle Shocklee! This one is pretty sad throughout, but still good, and ends well also. There's a bit of mystery to the story, and I had my suspicions about what had happened, but I was not totally correct... :) This story deals with some tough issues in history, including the internment camps during WWII, and the Vietnam War, but handles them well. This story also has romance, for those of you who enjoy romance!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance e-copy of this book! All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

All We Thought We Knew by Michelle Shocklee combines the world of World War II and the Vietnam war. This is definitely a unique and different perspective. I have not read many stories about the Vietnam war. My uncles do not like to talk about it, so I know they do not want to share the horrors that they had to endure. I know this was the Hippie era where there were many protests across America and college campus. But other than that, I really did not know much about this time period. I would have liked to see more of a justification for Mattie not wanting her brother and friend, Nash, to join the Marines to go fight in Vietnam. It was covered, but slightly. I wanted a little more depth to this aspect of the novel. This is a timeslip novel, so there is two time periods that depend on each other in order to solve the mystery by the end of the story. A little bit of romance in both periods. A horse farm as the setting and a camp in other. Shocklee does a wonderful job at bringing the settings to my imagination. Overall, All We Thought We Knew by Michelle Shocklee ventures into the Vietnam War Era and ties a thread to the World War II era. From heroic characters to characters with doubts, Shocklee invites readers into a world of questioning why readers believe what they believe. It is okay to dive deeper to cement pre-conceived ideas.

I received a complimentary copy of All We Thought We Knew by Michelle Shocklee from Tyndale Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

All We Thought We Knew

Ava never thought she would be widowed and living on a ranch with her unfriendly mother-in-law. However, many servicemen, including her husband, died during WWII. In order to spend her time productively she gets a job at a local POW camp. She is surprised how pleasant some of the inmates are-particularly the German orderly from the hospital who speaks English so well.

Years later, Mattie is bitter about her twin brother’s recent death in the Vietnam War. She comes home to help her fatally ill mother. At her mother’s request she reads some of her mother’s private letters. These letters contain a big surprise!

This book is a thoughtful romance that shows how people can be different than expected and love can bloom in surprising places.

I received this book on NetGalley after I saw it at the TLA conference in San Antonio,Tx. If you enjoy reading historical fiction then this is the book for you. Especially if you like reading about World War 2. This books shows how three lives are intersected. 2 of the people we learn about, Ava and Gunther, experience the horrors of World War 2. Gunther is studying to be a doctor in the states when he gets detained in an internment camp just for being German. It is there, at one of the military stations, that he meets Ava. She isn’t like the other Americans and they form a bond. This book goes between their story and the story of Mattie. Mattie is opposed to the Vietnam war and when she lost her brother to the war she withdrew from her family until she finds out that her mom is sick. She comes home to make amends and spend time with her mom only to find out there’s a huge family secret. A secret she learns by reading letters her mother had kept. This is a powerful story of forgiveness and how tragedy can bring healing to a family. The author has done her research and the story is heartfelt. Keep a box of tissues near you! I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys WW2 fiction. I will definitely read more books by this author!

I thought this was a very well written book. I have enjoyed Shocklee's other books in the past and was looking forward to reading this one. I have to admit, I wasn't sure why it seemed so important to share a secret that I thought didn't need to be shared. Shocklee does a great job taking us on the journey step by step, to help the reader understand why or why not somethings do need to be shared.
With themes of forgiveness, understanding each other, and listening to others stories, All We Thought We Knew is a read that needs to be read slowly to savor it. The only problem is you will end up reading it quickly because you need to know what is going to happen next.
If you have liked her other books, I strongly recommend this one.

ALL WE THOUGHT WE KNEW by MICHELlE SHOCKLEE is a beautifully written novel with unforgettable characters and a strong Christian message.I particularly like the way the author shows how the Jews were treated by the Nazis, even in the prisoner of war camps in America. With Anti-Semitism so entrenched in society it is important for us who profess to be Christians to stand for the Jews as never before.
The two timelines, 1942 and 1969, flow really well together as we follow the lives of Ava Delaney in 1942 and Mattie Tayler in 1969, both taking place on Delaney’s Horse Farm in Tullahoma.
Mattie is an angry young woman, blaming her father and her brother’s best friend Nate McCullum for not stopping her twin Mark from joining up to fight in Vietnam. She leaves home a week after Mark’s funeral trying drugs and free sex…..
She is called back home by her father when her mother is dying. She finds Nash, who has lost an arm in the war, working with her father on the farm. She finds it hard to get over her anger, although she feels guilty for running away when she should have been there to look after her mother.
There are a lot of secrets in this family which she is gradually learning - things are definitely not as they seem - especially when she reads the letters in her mother’s shoebox…..
In 1942 Ava Delaney’s husband Richard dies at Pearl Harbour and she is left living on the Delaney farm with his angry and disapproving mother, Gertrude. In order to get out of the house she takes on a job at Camp Forrest working for Dr Colonel Hew Foster. …..
Gunther Schneider, a medical student at Columbia’s Medical School, is arrested and sent to Camp Forrest where he starts out as an orderly in the hospital and is promoted to the clinic when he saves someone’s life…..
We are caught up in the characters’ emotions as the various secrets unfold. I like the hope and unconditional love that comes through so strongly
I specially like the part horses play in the story….
I am not going to tell you any more for fear of spoiling things for you.
I was given an ARC of the book by NetGalley from Tyndale House Publishers. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

An emotional book that had a complex storyline but had my attention from the beginning. Such depth and understanding of people, families and community is displayed by the characters. A huge reminder to seek truth all the time.