Review: The Cherry Harvest by Lucy Sanna

The Cherry Harvest

by Lucy Sanna

Publisher: William Morrow

Pages: 336

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  The war has taken a toll on the Christiansen family. With food rationed and money scarce, Charlotte struggles to keep her family well fed. Her teenage daughter, Kate, raises rabbits to earn money for college and dreams of becoming a writer. Her husband, Thomas, struggles to keep the farm going while their son, and most of the other local men, are fighting in Europe.

When their upcoming cherry harvest is threatened, strong-willed Charlotte helps persuade local authorities to allow German war prisoners from a nearby camp to pick the fruit.

But when Thomas befriends one of the prisoners, a teacher named Karl, and invites him to tutor Kate, the implications of Charlotte’s decision become apparent—especially when she finds herself unexpectedly drawn to Karl. So busy are they with the prisoners that Charlotte and Thomas fail to see that Kate is becoming a young woman, with dreams and temptations of her own—including a secret romance with the son of a wealthy, war-profiteering senator. And when their beloved Ben returns home, bitter and injured, bearing an intense hatred of Germans, Charlotte’s secrets threaten to explode their world.

Kritters Thoughts:  World War II is underway and this family has been hit hard on their farm as they don't have workers to get the cherries off the tree as the usual employees have gone to help in the war effort where there is more money.  Kate is ready to escape this farm and head to university and "make something" of herself.  She doesn't see a future for herself on the family farm, so she will do anything include be tutored by a Nazi war prisoner to pass her tests to get into school.  Her father will invite them into their farm and home to ensure that the harvest happens and they can make an income.

I thought this was an interesting concept and I loved most of the story.  The one thing that I didn't love was the few moments where this book took a little bit of a weird romantic turn - don't want to give too much away, but I would have loved this book without a few of the sexy times moments.  

The thing that I loved were reading the impact of the normal American citizen from World War II and I had no idea about how they were using the German prisoners of war to help farmers keep their farms in working condition.  I love that about historical fiction - learning something new!


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.