#Book Review #Come Down Somewhere #Jennifer L Wright # Tyndale House Publishers #Christian Historical Fiction

MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW

A captivating Christian historical fiction novel of two girls Olive Alexander and Jo Hawthorne during the time of Roosevelt and the Trinity nuclear bomb test in 1945. Olive's father dies seven years ago in a farming accident. His brother, Olive's Uncle Hershel moves into the ranch house since then along with her brother Avery. Soon the Army takes her ranch house and the big house is no longer their own. The Alexander ranch was spilt into three parts during the project, the part of the land requisitioned for the test, part with the house - leased by the army to house construction crew and the smallest part left over for the family to use. Olive was not happy that she had to sacrifice by relocating to Alamogordo, because of war efforts while her mother and Uncle Hershel got to stay. She was not angry with the army but everybody else for pushing her out and treating her like a toddler rather than a useful part of the family. The US army promised that when the war and the government is done they would give the land back eventually. Every memory she had of her father, her life and family centered around the ranch that is her home, in New Mexico.

Still in 1945, Almogordo was called the Rocket city - Jo Hawthorne comes to this podunk town in the middle of New Mexico. This place was the epicenter of the future where it was the Hollowman Air Force and the New Mexico Joint Guided Missile Test Range is based. Tearfully, this place had marked an end of Jo Hawthorne's life. Meanwhile, Olive meets Jo Hawthorne where in school their paths meet. Olive didn't like attending classes living in Alamorgodo. Jo lived in with her Grandma back in California where her mother died when she was a baby. Olive gets angry to Jo Hawthorne blaming her father Army Sergeant for prancing onto their family land saying it's legal. Olive felt awful and offended to come and stay with her own  grandmother to take away the financial burden. Therefore, one day she stays in Delaware Avenue vowing never to return to Alamogordo High. Olive and her family never went to church whereas Jo Hawthorne was a church attending girl. Nobody could separate Jo from her faith.

The war tensions rose as hundreds and thousands in Japan, evaporated or was left for worse to die. Only memories of Hiroshima left before her. Olive felt homeless, an outcast, this sheer contempt, hurt, rejection and hatred for Jo Hawthorne. Life becomes bitter and angry for Jo Hawthorne as she learns her father is suffering from cancer, it wasn't just her father, Olive Alexander was a part of it too. Even before trinity Jo's father had never been a part of her life. She was thinking it's his work in the army that kept him away from her or it had been her. Olive's mother and grandmother dies and her brother and uncle disappears. But Olive stayed at the ranch for a few years. Olive disappeared and the ranch becomes abandoned. Jo goes looking for Olive and drives back to Alamorgodo. Olive thought it was impulsive and illogical having to lose Jo, which was more than anything. They both decide together to go a mission trip to help suffering people. Jo cared enough for Olive to go back looking for her. Jo's father dies leaving his will, the house on Michigan avenue in California for her. 

Jennifer L Wright captures the two teenage girl's Christian friendship, life situations of the characters, hopes, grief and heartache around the WW2 war very well. Based on many aspects of the pages are true this is a must interesting and emotional read for historical novel fans. 

I just reviewed the novel Come Down Somewhere by Jennifer L Wright. Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers and NetGalley for an advance copy for my honest review.

Book Description

For fans of WWII fiction comes a powerful novel by Jennifer L. Wright about two young women coming of age during the Trinity nuclear bomb test in 1945.

Sixteen-year-old Olive Alexander has lived on a ranch in the Jornada del Muerto region of southern New Mexico her entire life. But when World War II begins, the government seizes her family’s land for the construction of a new, top secret Army post.

While her mother remains behind, Olive is forced to live in nearby Alamogordo with her grandmother and find a place in a new school. When Jo Hawthorne crosses her path, Olive sees a chance for friendship―until she learns that Jo’s father is the Army sergeant who now occupies her beloved ranch. Already angry about her new reality, Olive pushes Jo away. But as she struggles to make sense of her grandmother’s lapses into the past and increasingly unsettling hints about what’s happening at the ranch, she slowly warms to Jo’s winsome faith and steady attempts at friendship . . . until one devastating day when the sky explodes around them and their lives are torn apart.

Seven years later, Jo returns to Alamogordo, still angry and wounded by the betrayals of that fateful day. Determined to put the past behind her once and for all, Jo hunts for answers and begins to realize the truth may be far more complicated than she believed, leading her on a desperate search to find her friend before it’s too late.

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tyndale House Publishers (September 6, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 416 pages