Kirjahaku

Based on the author's discoveries about her great-grandfather, this stunning debut novel that "powerfully portrays the inner struggles of ordinary people moved to do extraordinary things" (Booklist) takes place over three days during World War II when members of a German family must make "the sometimes impossible choice between family and morality" (Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand). When World War II breaks out, Edith and Oskar Eberhardt move their family--their daughter, Marina; son-in-law, Franz; and their granddaughters--out of Berlin to the quiet town of Blumental, near Switzerland. A member of the Fuhrer's cabinet, Oskar is gone most of the time, and Franz begins fighting in the war, so the women of the house are left to their quiet lives in the village. But life in Blumental isn't as idyllic as it appears. An egotistical Nazi captain terrorizes the citizens he's assigned to protect. Neighbors spy on each other. Some mysteriously disappear. Marina has a lover who also has close ties to her family and the government. Thinking none of them share her hatred of the Reich, she joins a Protestant priest smuggling Jewish refugees over the nearby Swiss border. The latest "package" is two Polish girls, and against her better judgment, Marina finds she must hide them in the Eberhardt's cellar. Everything is set to go smoothly until Oskar comes home with the news that the F hrer will be visiting the area for a concert, and he will be making a house call on the Eberhardts. "With jaw-clenching suspense and unexpected tenderness" (Jacquelyn Mitchard), The Good at Heart is an "engaging...rich...evocative" (Library Journal) portrait of a family torn between doing their duty for their country and doing what's right, especially for those they love.

Jesus Christ - Yeshua, to his friends - is not happy. Two thousand years after his death, he sees Earth heading toward oblivion. Ever eager to save humanity, he asks Mary Magdalene (Magda) for help. It's time to tell the real story of our time together, he says. Time to correct all the misinformation, misogyny, and lies spread by Peter, Paul, and the Roman Catholic Church. Still pissed that she's been called a whore for almost two millennia, Magda resists - but ultimately, out of love for Yeshua, reluctantly agrees. Through Magda's words, Yeshua - to most today a symbolic, practically mythological Biblical figure - comes back to life as a man of flesh and blood, one wholly devoted to spreading his message of radical equality. Magda tells of her travels with Yeshua and his followers around Galilee, where they are menaced at every turn by Roman rulers. She relates tales of miracles and murder, jealousy and acceptance, misogyny and female empowerment. She describes her relationship with Yeshua, clarifying centuries of speculation about whether or not they were in love. And, painfully, she reveals the truth about who orchestrated his death. But Magda's narrative does not end there. Her life with Yeshua has taught her that she has more strength than she ever imagined, and she begins to tap into a spiritual power that is uniquely her own - the power to connect people. Magda's true role in the history of humanity, it turns out, is just beginning to unfold.