From the award-winning author of Catching the Wind, which Publishers Weekly called “unforgettable” and a “must-read,” comes another gripping time-slip novel about hidden treasure, a castle, and ordinary people who resisted evil in their own extraordinary way.
The year is 1938, and as Hitler’s troops sweep into Vienna, Austrian Max Dornbach promises to help his Jewish friends hide their most valuable possessions from the Nazis, smuggling them to his family’s summer estate near the picturesque village of Hallstatt. He enlists the help of Annika Knopf, his childhood friend and the caretaker’s daughter, who is eager to help the man she’s loved her entire life. But when Max also brings Luzia Weiss, a young Jewish woman, to hide at the castle, it complicates Annika’s feelings and jeopardizes their entire plan until the Nazis come to the estate and find both Luzia and the treasure gone.
Eighty years later, Callie Randall is content with her quiet life, running a bookstore with her sister and reaching out into the world through her blog. Then she finds a cryptic list in an old edition of Bambi that connects her to Annika’s story . . . and maybe to the long-buried story of a dear friend. As she digs into the past, Callie must risk venturing outside the safe world she’s built for a chance at answers, adventure, and maybe even new love.
Hidden among the pages of Melanie Dobson’s Hidden Among the Stars are treasured bits of everyday life, ephemera which, like those found in the books in her heroine’s bookstore, hide meaningful clues that unravel a stunning family mystery. Dobson’s master craftsmanship breathes life into her characters as she builds the plot and wields words in such a way as to remind readers that yes, there are still beautifully written novels. A silver thread of the love-of-others entwines with a golden thread of the love-of-God, tying past and present storylines. This novel is poignant, resonant, and with a breathtaking twist that—long after the last page—will have you asking yourself, ‘What would I have done?'
Sandra Byrd, author of Lady of a Thousand Treasures