Book Review: The Hearts of the Children Series

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Hearts of the Children Series
By Dean Hughes

This is a continuation of the Children of the Promise series, which took place during WWII. This series continues the story of the Thomas family during the 60's and 70's. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and Dean Hughes does a good job with researching and trying to portray an accurate description of the time period. I'm not a huge fan of LDS fiction, but these books are an exception. Hughes does a great job of developing his characters. He doesn't idealize Mormons but portrays them as real people with real struggles and faults. I found myself relating to a lot of the conversations and feelings that Hughes writes about.

I was a little bit sad to see the series come to an end. Diane was one of the most interesting characters to read about and Hughes has written another book that continues her story which I'll probably read at some point. One criticism I do have is that when I read the first series, I felt that I learned a lot about the 1940's that I didn't already know, so I was hoping to learn a little bit more about the 60's and 70's through reading the second series since I don't know so much about that time. But I didn't feel like I learned a whole lot that I didn't already know, and when he did write about historical events, those were some of the more boring parts of the book. But Hughes puts a disclaimer in his books that if you want to learn about history, read a history book - not historical fiction, and I agree with that. I still really enjoyed reading the series and would definitely recommend them.

**One interesting thing that I did learn from the series was the purpose behind the bright clothing worn during that time period. I already knew about hippies, the "movement", flower children, free love, the growing popularity of LSD during that time, etc.; but I didn't know that the reason hippies wore such bright clothing and why tie dyed shirts were the rage was because it was supposed to symbolize the experience one had while on LSD - interesting! I don't think I'll ever look at a tie dyed shirt in quite the same way :)

Up next: North River by Pete Hamill