"Yours is the Night" by Amanda Dykes

Private Matthew Petticrew arrives in France as part of the American Expeditionary Forces, an arrival which a war-weary France desperately hopes will help to end the turmoil. Having faced unthinkable things on the front, he is captivated by the sound of a lullaby, sung by a voice so pure he knows he must have imagined it. But rumors sweep through the trenches like wildfire, dubbing the voice "The Angel of Argonne." Raised wild in the depths of the Forest of Argonne, France, Mireilles finds her world rocked when war comes crashing into the idyllic home she has always known, taking much from her. When Matthew discovers Mireilles, three things are clear: She is alone in the world, she cannot stay, and he and his two unlikely companions might be the only ones who can get her to safety.

This was a beautiful and poignant story of WWI, from an area with which I was unfamilar: the forests of Argonne in NE France, near the Belgian border. There's the expected: trench warfare, snipers, gases; and some unexpected: aristocracy in hiding, a chaplain with no concept of faith, an angel in the wood. It has an almost fairy tale quality to it--Mira is like a princess hidden deep in the wood, though Matthew resembles more a lucky woodcutter's son than prince (which is as much or more a common trope in fairy tales anyway).  They fall in love as swiftly as in any fairy tale, but it works in this story.

As usual, the author's prose is beautiful. As there are five different points of view and all share the author's lyrical style, I did have trouble keeping track of perspective (granted, all I had to do was read the name at the chapter heading and remember it--it really shouldn't have been that hard). Chaplain George's voice was most distinguishable by his ironic irreverence. He was pretty funny, but absolutely not anyone I would entrust with spiritual lives. They were all interesting perspectives, but I wouldn't have minded if it had been limited to Mira and Matthew. Nonetheless, it's a lovely, sometimes heart-wrenching story.

Thank you Bethany House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.