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    Like a River From Its Course
    Like a River From Its Course
    Like a River From Its Course
    Audiobook14 hours

    Like a River From Its Course

    Written by Kelli Stuart

    Narrated by Romy Nordlinger

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Winner of the 2017 American Christian Fiction Writers' Carol Award–Best Christian Fiction of the Year

    An epic novel exposing the ugliness of war and the beauty of hope. The city of Kiev was bombed in Hitler's blitzkrieg across the Soviet Union, but the constant siege was only the beginning for her citizens. In this sweeping historical saga, Kelli Stuart takes the reader on a captivating journey into the little-known history of Ukraine's tragedies through the eyes of four compelling characters who experience the same story from different perspectives.

    Maria Ivanovna is only fourteen when the bombing begins and not much older when she is forced into work at a German labor camp. She must fight to survive and to make her way back to her beloved Ukraine.

    Ivan Kyrilovich is falsely mistaken for a Jew and lined up with 34,000 other men, women, and children who are to be shot at the edge of Babi Yar, the "killing ditch." He survives, but not without devastating consequences.

    Luda is sixteen when German soldiers rape her. Now pregnant with the child of the enemy, she is abandoned by her father, alone, and in pain. She must learn to trust family and friends again and find her own strength in order to discover the redemption that awaits.

    Frederick Hermann is sure in his knowledge that the Führer's plans for domination are right and just. He is driven to succeed by a desire to please a demanding father and by his own blind faith in the ideals of Nazism. Based on true stories gathered from fifteen years of research and interviews with Ukrainian World War II survivors, Like a River from Its Course is a story of love, war, heartache, forgiveness, and redemption.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOasis Audio
    Release dateJan 23, 2018
    ISBN9781621887812
    Like a River From Its Course
    Author

    Kelli Stuart

    Kelli Stuart is a freelance writer and editor and is currently working on two nonfiction projects. Kelli lives in St. Louis, Missouri, where she and her husband, Lee, recently celebrated the birth of their first son, Sloan Alexander.

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    Reviews for Like a River From Its Course

    4.5/5

    108 ratings23 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Amazing. It shows perspective of Ukranian occupation by Nazis during WW2 through many angles. Each of them was unique in its own way.
    • 5/5
      A slow start but so worth it! a fine cast of characters that capture your heart!
    • 5/5
      Title: Like a River From Its CourseAuthor: Kelli StuartPages: 352Year: 2016Publisher: KregelMy rating is 5+ stars.When I think of WWII, it rarely enters my mind of how other lives in other nations were affected. So as I started the novel from Kelli Stuart I simply was pulled into the lives of the characters based on her visit to the Ukraine in 2003. There Kelli met a real people who lived through times of trial and heartache, learning to live again when the insanity of Hitler’s regime was finally over.I love the way the author moved the story along by introducing four main characters each with their own chapter and dates. As I read, I couldn’t put the book down because as a reader the author tells a compelling story that looks at the life of individuals in the scenes with the war as the backdrop. There were many brave, courageous and daring people who faced life with raw honesty and in many ways counted the cost of their choices, doing whatever was required to stay alive.Readers will read about a father and his daughter, a Nazi soldier who is but a boy, and a girl whose abusive father throws her out of his house to live amongst the wolves. It touched my heart and wasn’t hard to mentally envision real people suffering for lack of the basic needs or from the abuse of either the German Army or the Red Army.My heart and mind will long remember this novel because it is written about the humans we are, both the good and the evil. I will remember the old woman character who teaches a young woman with a son how to be ready to face the world not by looking inward, but at what others are living with or through during the war. I will remember the love of parent s that lost their sons during the fighting and the depth of their grief described. I will remember how at one point the parents who never had any training in or were taught about God are now seeking to see if He is indeed real. Or the Jewish girl who knew she had to help another girl reach a new life before her captors might snuff out her life.I hope you read this novel and share it with family and friends as well as visit the author’s website. There you will read what she did while in the Ukraine and who she talked to. I think how wonderful God gave her that moment to get their stories before they passed away as they left words of wisdom and a life with a testimony. I pray we will all be as faithful to God even in our times of not understanding, grief or some other experience. I pray too that we leave behind a legacy that will spur others to be courageous in the face of evil, be there for those who are downtrodden and teach others about the God we love and serve!Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. 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.”
    • 5/5
      Really enjoyed the story line and how the author provides descriptions that make you feel like you’re really there with the characters
    • 5/5
      This was a beautiful story! I really enjoyed the narrator!
    • 5/5
      The real raw emotions if each character ! Great book. I cried! I was angry! I was fearful! I was touched ! I felt the power of unconditional love. So happy Sergio left his memories in a journey. I could identify with the inner peace hound here ! Thank you . I want to rest that’s book again and again! ..,
    • 5/5
      A very different perspective—actually, several different perspectives—on the effects of the War on various civilians of different nationalities. So many times while listening to this book, I felt “why in the world are wars ever waged?” The amazing, but believable resilience of the characters was an inspiration in our current dark times.
    • 4/5
      There are many books which tell a fictionalised account of WWII and this is definitely up there with the best. Based on real life accounts it tells the story of a horrific massacre in Ukraine and those involved on both sides. Each chapter moves between the different people and it takes a while to get into the format but it's worth persevering. Heart-wrenching at times it is also full of the human capacity to cope in the most dreadful circumstances.

      At times the pain is so raw it is hard to read but it's important that events such as these are known about so well done to the author for bringing this out of the shadows. It was good to include the perspective of the Nazi officer as well as the victims.

      I had vaguely heard of the events in Ukraine but not the full horror and so was glad to be informed and this book will live with me for a long time to come.

    • 5/5
      Written with an intimate perspective and strong imagery, Stuart brings the horrors and tragedies of the German occupation of Kiev squarely in the reader's cross-hairs. Written from the perspective of the four narrators, I was able to really appreciate the conflicting emotions, divided loyalties and the hardship that such a devastating event can have on both the innocent populous and the individuals that comprise what is typically referred to in inhuman terms as the "war machine". I have always felt that fiction, used correctly, can convey our history in a way that ensures that the passage of time does not dim the raw emotional effects of certain horrors and atrocities that we should ensure are retained by future generations. Stuart has done a fantastic job of transporting this reader back in time with a vivid portrayal of the Babi Yar massacre, the self serving interests of certain Russian liberators and the overall message that the human cost of any war is one that comes with such insurmountable costs. As written by Stuart, the following quote explains the choice for the title and the overall effect of the story: "I think of our life before the bombs, the river of our days flowing so calmly in a direction that I thought would last forever. In a flash, that river was turned, unexpected and quick, dragging us along this unforeseen path. Like a river from its course, life has swirled away from all I expected or planned. Sluggish and slow, this river carves a new path. There are calmer waters that wait." Under Stuart's pen, one is able to see the light of day beyond the horrors of war with the realization that life can and does go on.
    • 4/5
      There are a lot of books set in World War II out there. As time has passed, these have shifted from first-hand accounts to the imagined tales created by subsequent generations. This book falls into the latter group, but it has clearly been very well-researched. The common thread is the Ukraine - three of the main characters come from that country, and it is there that the story begins to unfold. After the massacre at Babi Yar, their lives are thrown into turmoil. Some find themselves in Germany, either by choice or under duress, and those left behind struggle to move on. The separate threads of the character's stories interweave in a very convincing way, arriving at a neat conclusion at the end. I really enjoyed this as a slightly different perspective, centred around a place rather than a specific group of people.
    • 4/5
      World War II story set in the Ukraine focusing on two Non-Jewish familes and the trials that they went through during Nazi occupation. It doesn't seem to matter how many stories are told about the Nazi regime- the horrors are endless. This book sheds light on the plight of all people during Nazi occupation showing how their lives were ruined as well as the Jewish ones. Of course Jews had it the worst being lined up along a ditch and being shot- 34,000 people. Horriffic. Non-jewish young people were sent to Germany to basically work as slaves ripping families apart. Well written and captivating.
    • 5/5
      Like A River From Its Courselife has swirled away from all I expected or planned.Sluggish and slow, this river carves a new path.There are calmer waters that wait.Thank you for sending me a copy of this book to review. I have treasured every chapter. This, a story filled with every emotion a human can feel. I have read many books about the war but non based on the people from the Ukraine. I believe it is our duty to know all the different aspects so that we may learn never to take our life for granted.Kelli Stuart has add so much more for us to think about by telling of this story. The hope that never dies, no matter what, is the message I will take away with me from this book. I will recommend this book to everyone, for we have no idea just how precious life really is until we see just how blessed we are.
    • 4/5
      Reviewed for Library Things Early Reviewers: i enjoyed "Like a River From Its Course"' by Kelli Stuart. The novel has many powerful moments, along with strong imagery. I was more engrossed with the second half of the novel as I found by then the book had found its flow. I was glad to learn about how ordinary people, who are not Jewish,survived in war time. I also enjoyed learning more about the war in the soviet Union, something I know little about. Maria was my favorite character. She is strong yet realistic, in many ways an ordinary teenager growing up in unordinary times. One of my favorite lines is from her "How can my worth as a person possibly be determined by something as small as geography." Frederick, a Nazi, also is a strong character in this novel. He provides a dramatically different view point. Ivan makes an interesting comparrison between his son Sergi and Frederick," They're young men who have simply been programmed differently". There are a few things I'd like to mention. I did find the print itself rather light and I didn't care for the font.I had trouble with Luda's instant attraction to Hans, a German soldier,a Nazi, after being raped by Nazis. It seems too unlikely. I never quite get over that and, therefore, found their love story unbelievable. Something else that bothered me was since Maria and Anna both spent over 3 years in Germany, why did they not get to see each other? Were they at opposite ends of the country? That is not explaned or dealt with."Like a River From its Course" does not shy away from the many horrors of war. What stood out for me was noteably Babi Yar and the murder of the nightclub girls. It is a strong novel and worth reading.Thank you for providing me with this book.
    • 3/5
      This is a novel about Ukraine in World War 2. It is interesting because I've rarely read anything that talks of how things were in Ukraine during this period.In some ways I enjoyed the book, the viewpoints of the different characters and their experiences gave varying views of the situations that occurred. However I found the characters a bit cardboardy and unrealistic.One thing did jump out at me thought - would it really be possible to buy kiwi fruit in a Ukrainian market during WWII?
    • 4/5
      Like A River From Its Course My grandparents all emigrated from the areas around Kiev in the early 1900's but if they had remained they could have been shot at Babi Yar. the violent and heartrending pages of the massacre were riveting. Kelli Stuart's research with many Ukrainian people enabled her to create the well drawn characters in the book.Goodness and evil,hope and despair,and somber truth are all woven into the dialogue. Certainly not a "Holocaust Light" novel. With many thanks to LibraryThing for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.I will recommend this book to my circle of readers.
    • 5/5
      The first thing that comes to my mind is “WOW WHAT A BOOK”! The writing of this novel was a labor of love and it shows! When we read about events in history, we the read the facts and highlights of that time. We don’t take into consideration the people that lived through the occurrence and even if we do it is only skimming the surface. The author did an incredible job of taking us deep into the experiences of those living during WW2 in the Ukraine. Their suffering from the war was great without being added to the fact they were suspended between fighting regimes of Hitler and Stalin. What makes it even more intriguing is that the book is inspired by the combined true accounts people that survived this dreadful time. Ms. Stuart took 15 years of research and interviews with survivors!I liked how her four characters showed the diversity of experiences from the varied viewpoints of people in different walks of life. This is so beautifully written that all their stories weave together. It is not disjointed or confusing.The author opens your eyes that war is very complicated. Every person involved is an individual with their own emotions and struggles. The problems they were dealing with before the war are still there and made even more complicated by the fighting.Ivan has a family he desperately wants to protect. While trying to help a neighbor, he becomes a part of the Jewish prisoners march to death. He barely escapes but the horror he witnesses thousands being killed emotionally devastates him. He returns to his family a shell of a man.Masha, his daughter, is only 14 years old when the war begins. The devastation of her city and starvation were overwhelming for her close knit family. Then one day the thing her parents had feared, happened. She was captured and taken to a concentration camp.Luda’s life was a nightmare before the war with her abusive, alcoholic father. She is only 16 and manages to escape to the home of dear friends who welcome her. When it looks like her life is taking a turn for the better, she is brutally raped my Nazi soldiers and ends up pregnant.Frederick is the enemy, a young boy that has been raised to be part of Hitler’s killing machine, a Nazi soldier. He is totally committed not only to the cause, but also to try and win the acceptance of harsh and unloving father.I liked that I was able to see the character’s not only through the war but how they lived afterward. I have never read a book like this! If I could I would give it 6 stars!!I received this book free from Kregel Publications in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have stated are my own.
    • 5/5
      Kelli Stuart has created a powerful novel that plunges the reader into the midst of war with all its terror and heartbreak. Like A River from Its Course details what was to me a little known aspect of WWII — the invasion and occupation of Ukraine by Nazi Germany. The first person accounts by four of its characters recall true stories told to the author during her research. While the book is dark, glimmers of courage, sacrifice, faith and hope shine to allow the triumph of good over evil. This one is a highly recommended read.Four perspectives are shown in Like A River from Its Course — 2 female voices, 2 male, 3 Ukrainians, 1 German, 3 young people and one adult — making this novel a complete narrative of experiences during the years of Nazi occupation of Ukraine. There are good and bad actors on both sides of the conflict, blurring the lines of just who is an enemy. It is easy to blame institutional evil, but this novel puts a face on those who perpetrated cruelty and those who fought to retain their humanness. There is a recurring theme of father/child relationships and how they shape views of self and others. The contrasts are telling. Faith does not play a big role in the characters lives due to the nature of the Nazi and Soviet cultures of the time. But when the days of the war become desperate, seemingly without hope of any kind, some of the characters reach out to God to try to make sense of their worlds and to find a purpose for their pain. Other characters cling to the resolve to survive and others give in to the darkness that engulfs their worlds. I found the reactions of the characters very true to life.Very well-written and extensively researched, Like A River from Its Course is literary fiction at its best. The unique first person, present tense perspective keeps the reader engaged and in the midst of the emotions, motives, and actions of the characters. Not necessarily an easy read due to the brutality exposed, it is, nevertheless, an important novel. Like A River from Its Course was a great introduction to a new to me author. I look forward to reading more from Kelli Stuart.Highly Recommended.Audience: adults.(Thanks to Kregel for a review copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
    • 5/5
      Learn intimate details about people during WWII, the author must have spent years researching for this book. It's fabulous. I plan to read it again. The people we meet have stories to tell and those stories are raw...they will tug at your heart. The events were horrific...at times I had to put the book down and just thank God that I am so blessed. Reading this novel has left an impression on my heart that won't go away. I received a copy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
    • 3/5
      Not a bad book, but one with significant faults, Well researched but lacking the gravitas of say, Jonathan Littells's 'The Kindly Ones', any by Ben Pastor or Philip Kerr's 'Gunther ' novels. Interesting but with narrative problems well outlined by Mr Bazett below. Worth a read but be prepared to be frustrated. jm
    • 4/5
      Like a River from its Course begins intensely with a bombing raid, so the book is immediately arresting. The tragedies and horrors that unfold as the Germans invade the Ukraine are reflected through four characters experiencing a myriad of emotions and reactions. Three of the narrators are Russian citizens and one is a young German Nazi. The author personalizes the stories in such a way as to cause the reader to experience events as the characters do. I felt the horror. I felt the fear. And later, I also felt the hope. The book is well-written and obviously well-researched. Though the characters were fictional, their experiences were compiled from those of real people. The reader feels this in the way the stories are told. My only complaint is that I was left hungry for more information. Stuart obviously knew the history of the Babi Yar event quite well, but it was also clear that she knew other historical truths about the war in the Ukraine that she only shared a bit of in the book. The Ukrainian nationalists or rebels were mentioned only once when a character expresses the opinion that they were worse than the Nazis. The author also mentions, almost as an aside, that some in the Red Army could be trusted and others could not. No other details were given about this, and I was disappointed that the author didn’t share more. While each character is fully fleshed out and their experiences detailed and well-told, the overall war raging around them was not always as clear. Nevertheless, it was a fascinating, emotional read that kept me turning the pages well into the night. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in WWII historical fiction. In fact, I already have a friend in the wings waiting to borrow it.
    • 5/5
      An eye-opening story told in the first person of several different people, people from different countries, trying to survive the evil sent to persecute in the persona of Adolph Hitler.These are individuals on both sides, Germans and Ukrainians, and we put names to these people and look into their everyday lives. The main German in this story is Frederick Herrmann, son of an Evil man who is trying to become the man his father wants by becoming even more evil. He is killing men, woman and children, and no regard for human life, all to win his father’s approval?We all know of the atrocities, or at least heard of some, that were committed during WWII in Europe. This story puts faces and we get to know some of them personally, and your heart will break as we journey with them. This is a story of survival, and love, both parental and personal, and strength from God, but who will be alive in the end.I loved that there was an epilogue in this book, but was surprised, guess I should have known, about how these slaves were treated by their own country when they survived.A poignant story that will linger with you for a long time, and it should be remembered so that history will not repeat, but we do no seem to learn our lessons, and turn blind eyes to atrocities.I received this book through Kregel’s Book Blogger Tour, and was not required to give a positive review.
    • 5/5
      Moving, beautiful story of Ukrainians under Nazi occupation in World War II. After signing a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union, the Nazis broke their agreement after only two years. We see the story from the viewpoints of two families; a girl with an abusive father; and several Germans, including one young soldier who proves a disappointment to his highly-placed Nazi father. The Babi Yar massacre and its aftermath hang over the whole novel. These characters were so lifelike; their emotions and feelings were so true. The story speaks of faith in God and the resilience of the human spirit despite adversity and devastating loss. The story is filled with love, forgiveness, compassion and triumph over evil. The writing was exquisite. The author interviewed Ukrainians who lived through that horrendous period; many of her characters are composites of the people whose stories she was told. I thank LibraryThing for my copy in exchange for my honest review.
    • 5/5
      Title: Like a River From Its CourseAuthor: Kelli StuartPages: 352Year: 2016Publisher: KregelMy rating is 5+ stars.When I think of WWII, it rarely enters my mind of how other lives in other nations were affected. So as I started the novel from Kelli Stuart I simply was pulled into the lives of the characters based on her visit to the Ukraine in 2003. There Kelli met a real people who lived through times of trial and heartache, learning to live again when the insanity of Hitler’s regime was finally over.I love the way the author moved the story along by introducing four main characters each with their own chapter and dates. As I read, I couldn’t put the book down because as a reader the author tells a compelling story that looks at the life of individuals in the scenes with the war as the backdrop. There were many brave, courageous and daring people who faced life with raw honesty and in many ways counted the cost of their choices, doing whatever was required to stay alive.Readers will read about a father and his daughter, a Nazi soldier who is but a boy, and a girl whose abusive father throws her out of his house to live amongst the wolves. It touched my heart and wasn’t hard to mentally envision real people suffering for lack of the basic needs or from the abuse of either the German Army or the Red Army.My heart and mind will long remember this novel because it is written about the humans we are, both the good and the evil. I will remember the old woman character who teaches a young woman with a son how to be ready to face the world not by looking inward, but at what others are living with or through during the war. I will remember the love of parent s that lost their sons during the fighting and the depth of their grief described. I will remember how at one point the parents who never had any training in or were taught about God are now seeking to see if He is indeed real. Or the Jewish girl who knew she had to help another girl reach a new life before her captors might snuff out her life.I hope you read this novel and share it with family and friends as well as visit the author’s website. There you will read what she did while in the Ukraine and who she talked to. I think how wonderful God gave her that moment to get their stories before they passed away as they left words of wisdom and a life with a testimony. I pray we will all be as faithful to God even in our times of not understanding, grief or some other experience. I pray too that we leave behind a legacy that will spur others to be courageous in the face of evil, be there for those who are downtrodden and teach others about the God we love and serve!Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. 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.”