review: the moon looked down by dorothy garlock

As Hitler came into power, Sophie and her family fled Germany for America. They settled in a small town and established themselves; unfortunately not everyone in the town welcomed them. One man came to believe they were Nazis and encouraged two other men to join him in tormenting the family, which included burning their barn. The identities of the men were unknown to the family until Sophie overheard three men in a diner make a slur against her. Sophie was devastated by the realization that one of them was someone who had once asked her on date. She’d turned him down not out of lack of interest, but her own shyness. On this same day, Sophie also met a school teacher who’d just returned to his hometown. He has some problems of his own to deal with, but he and Sophie just might be able to handle their situations better together.

Although I enjoyed The Moon Looked Down, the main plot is fairly predictable. You know that Sophie and Cole will fall in love and things will work out for Sophie’s family. The subplots are what made the book interesting for me. The wife of Sophie’s boss is up to no good, but it takes a while for her misdeeds to come to light. The relationship between Cole and his family is another interesting element that really could’ve been explored more. For example, Cole seemed to like and respect his brother, yet didn’t know about his brother’s fiancée until he came home. Of course, long-distance communication wasn’t as easy as it is now, but they still could’ve written the occasional letter.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Grand Central Publishing.