Angels in the Gloom (#3 in the Reavley Family WWI Series)

by Anne Perry (read Mar 2006)
This is the third in Perry's World War I series. It continues the Reavley family's search for the"Peacemaker," the person responsible for their parents' murders two years earlier and author of a satanic plan of world peace. Perry writes an intriguing story that gives a real feel for the horrors of the war and the courage of the people who lived through it. Joseph Reavley is seriously injured and is sent home to recover under the care of his sister Hannah, who is married to a naval officer.

At one point in the novel Hannah and Joseph received word that the ship captained by Hannah's husband had been sunk. In addition to Hannah's husband it was feared that their brother Matthew was killed as well.
"Have faith in God," Joseph answered. "But don't blame Him for anything that goes wrong, or imagine that He ever said it wouldn't. If He promised you that Archie and Matthew would come back, then they will. But I don't think He did. I think He said we would have all that we need, not all that we want."
"All we need for what?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"To realize the best in ourselves," he answered. "To practice pity and honor until they become part of us, and the courage to care to the last strength we have, to give everything."
She frowned, "Do I want all that? Wouldn't 'pretty good' do? Does it have to be 'perfect'?"
He smiled, widely, a warm, genuine laughter inside him. "Well, decide what you don't want, and tell God you'll do without it. Maybe He'll listen. I have no idea."
"You still think He's there? she said perfectly seriously. "Will you think that if they're gone?" She wanted an answer the gravity was there in her eyes.
"It's still the best option I know," he answered her. "Can you think of anywhere else, any other star to follow?"
"No. I suppose the alternative is just to stop trying. Sit down. There are times when that seems a lot less trouble."
"You have to be pretty certain you like it where you are to do that!"

Even though this book is technically a mystery, the mystery is not as pronounced as the real life drama. It's interesting to look at the war from the English perspective. At this point in the series, the US is dealing with problems of their own with the Mexicans. I highly recommend all 3 books in the series.

A few more favorite quotes from the book:
"Everybody admired those who did not complain, but the denials of truth cut them off from each other, making help impossible, to receive or to give."

"Doubt was not a sin; intelligence demanded it now and again."

"We all need a little space. A little room to cover our mistakes and let them go. It's a lot easier to do better next time if last time isn't printed in your neighbor's eyes."

"These are our sons and brothers! They're doing this because they love us. They believe in home, the laughter and the tolerance we stand for, the things of labor and decency. If we don't keep it a good home, if we soil it with bigotry and intolerance, if we learn how to hate and destroy, if we forget who we are, what are they dying to save? What is there left for those who survive to come home to?"

"To judge kindly is a virtue, sometimes the difference between love and self-righteousness, but to miss the truth altogether, to fail to see evil, allow it to grow until it poisons everything. It is a kind of moral cowardice that leaves the battle to others while calling itself charity. In the end it is not courage, honor or love, simply evasion of discomfort to oneself."

"But the things Christ taught are still true. . . Honor is still worth living or dying for, no matter how tired or hurt or frightened you are, face forward and seek the light, even if it's gone out and you can't remember where it was, keep going. It's always right to care. It's going to hurt like hell at times, you'll think it's beyond bearing, but if you let go of that they you have lost the purpose of existing at all."

". . . my alternative is to betray the good I believe, and I can't do that out of loyalty to anyone. If I were to, then I would have nothing left inside me to offer to the men in the trenches, to those I love, or to myself."