“Upon the Mountains” concludes Gale Sears’ LDS historical fiction series which began with “Autumn Sky” and continued with “Until the Dawn.” In this final installment, we go into the era of World War I.
Nephi Erickson strongly feels the pull to enlist in the war. He’s been looking for work and has had little success, but if he enlists, he’ll be able to support his wife and daughter, and they could even save enough for a little bit of land. He’s got it all worked out in his head, but his wife, Alaina, isn’t convinced. Her brother James is fighting in the war and she has frequent nightmares about him. The thought of sending her husband over there as well is just too much, but Nephi’s mind is made up and she knows she can’t change it. She’s expecting again but doesn’t tell him, thinking it would make matters too complicated.
Meanwhile, her sister Eleanor is studying to become a doctor, and is the only woman in her class. Her male classmates give her a hard time, telling her to go back to the kitchen and get out of the surgery, but she’s the best student among them. Her studies into a harsh strain of influenza bring her into the good graces of her teacher as they try to discover ways to treat this new disease, mutated from the old influenza they treat more commonly.
Out on the battlefield, men are facing horrors they never could have imagined. Nephi’s dream of simply filling in some time and then returning to his family are pushed to the background of his mind as he is immersed in the middle of heavy battles, seeing men on all sides of him gunned down, some blown to bits. The more he sees, the more he pulls back emotionally until he can no longer feel. He shoots and kills without remorse, but he also can feel no joy.
When the war comes to a halt and the remaining soldiers are sent home to their families, Nephi is shell-shocked, unable to interact normally with anyone. Alaina is heartbroken that he won’t even hold their new baby. Only time, love, a lot of patiences and a miracle will be able to bring this family back together.
I enjoyed this historical fiction novel, which is a finalist for this year’s Whitney Award, and I highly recommend it.
(This book was published by Covenant in 2007.)
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