All four of these stories are connected by their ties to Longview, Washington. A small town on the Columbia River, it's the setting for two of the stories and the hometown of most of the characters. The stories are set around Christmas at different years during WWII.
Coming Home - David was at Pearl Harbor, but he wasn't where he was supposed to be. He feels that he should have died with his friend and is ready to end his life. He's reminded of a promise he made to his friend, that he should visit the man's family and decides to fulfill the promise. He fits into the family easily, and his friend's sister, Rachel, has fallen in love with him. David feels that they wouldn't love him if they really knew him and he feels the same way about God. He's going to have to let go of his hatred and accept God's love to move on with his life.
Remember Me - Erik is shot down somewhere around the Solomon Islands and has to try and survive. He hasn't heard from home in some time and is afraid that his fiance has found someone else. As he fights to simply stay alive, Mary Ann is working at the Boeing plant in Seattle. She's far too trusting and gets herself into trouble. Erik's going to have to trust God to help him through while Mary Ann looks to God for protection.
Shadow of His Wings - Melody is pregnant. She married Collin before he went off to war, but she was already pregnant. Her parents didn't take the news well and told her that God would never forgive her. Collin doesn't want to trust God and mocks his friend, John, when he brings up the Lord. John's mother, Ginny, has taken in Melody and is standing by her and showing God's love. On the other side of the world, Collin and John fight for their lives as their plane is shot at and they have to try and make it to safety.
Parachutes and Lace - Clara is working with the Red Cross and is fortunate to be stationed close to her fiance, Michael. He's unsure of the future and wants to marry Clara, but she's obsessed with having a wedding dress. She puts him off numerous times and does everything she can to get a dress. Eventually, she'll come to see what's really important.
I started this book and really liked it. The first story was nice and had a great ending. The next one wasn't as good, because there's the hint of a resolution, but we never see the reunion. The third one had me disappointed as there really isn't any resolution at all. We never read any interaction between Melody and Collin. The fourth one was definitely my least favorite. I found Clara to be a selfish woman with her priorities WAY out of order. Even after she realizes the truth, she ends up getting what she wanted anyway, so she'll never know if she would have been happy with the hardship or not.
Overall, this was an okay set of stories, but the lack of resolution was something that was disappointing. I think an epilogue at the end would have been easily written wrapping everything up in a nice little bow. A celebration after the end of the war or something. I've read books by Peterson that were much better than this. I'd give it 3/5 stars.
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