Written by Jennifer Mistmorgan
Release Date: 03.21.25
Genre: Christian Historical Fiction, Historical World War II
4 Stars!
Jonty wasn’t supposed to survive, but he did – now what?
The war is over. The baby is gone. The marriage that was never supposed to be real is somehow still standing. But barely. Jonty and Katie don’t know how to be married, let alone how to rebuild something that was never whole to begin with.
Jennifer Mistmorgan writes about people whose hearts are torn up and bruised, people who carry burdens and other who get in their own way—people who look an awful lot like us. These Long Shadows isn’t about love that comes easy; it’s about love that fights to stay. Love that lingers in the quiet spaces, in the broken places, in the shadows of war and loss.
Jonty. I could write a whole review on him alone. He should have died in the war—by all odds, he would have. But God had other plans. And now, standing in the wreckage of everything that was supposed to be, he has to figure out what to do with the life he never expected to have. “Jonty had no idea why God had chosen to allocate him more than his fair share of fortunate escapes and near misses, when plenty of chaps didn’t get any. But the Almighty must have a reason for wanting Jonty to grace the face of this earth. Now … he had to figure out what that reason was.” This is the kind of question that keeps people up at night. It’s not a pretty, polished faith journey—it’s the raw kind, the kind built in the dark when answers don’t come easy.
And Katie? She’s not the warm, soft heroine who instantly melts at the sight of a good man. She is distant. Walled-off. Hurting in ways even she doesn’t fully understand. And she is so real. She’s the kind of character who makes you feel frustrated—until you realize you’re just seeing pieces of yourself in her. When Jonty calls out another woman’s name in his sleep, it shouldn’t matter. She shouldn’t care. Their marriage was never real, after all. And yet, her heart shatters. That moment says more about her than pages of dialogue ever could.
And then there’s Jonty’s simple, unwavering faith: “When God makes a promise, He keeps it, Katie.” He says it because he believes it. Jonty knows beyond any doubt that when everything else crumbles, what else is there to hold onto?
This story is about survival—surviving war, surviving grief, surviving the wreckage of a life that doesn’t look anything like you thought it would. And then, somehow, learning to live in it.
Mistmorgan doesn’t give us perfect people. She gives us broken ones who don’t always get it right. But she also gives us hope. The kind that takes its time. The kind that stays. The kind that proves, even in the longest shadows, victory is still possible.
I received a digital ARC of this book from the author and JustRead Publicity Tour. I am not required to write a positive review nor paid to do so. This is my honest and unbiased review. My thoughts and opinions expressed in this book review are my own. My review focuses on the writing and story’s content, ensuring transparency and reliability.
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