A Name Unknown

About the Book:

Title: A Name Unknown
Author: Roseanna M. White
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Release Date: July 4th, 2017
Genre: Historical Christian Fiction

Edwardian Romance and History Gains a Twist of Suspense

Rosemary Gresham has no family beyond the band of former urchins that helped her survive as a girl in the mean streets of London. Grown now, they concentrate on stealing high-value items and have learned how to blend into upper-class society. But when Rosemary must determine whether a certain wealthy gentleman is loyal to Britain or to Germany, she is in for the challenge of a lifetime. How does one steal a family’s history, their very name?

Peter Holstein, given his family’s German blood, writes his popular series of adventure novels under a pen name. With European politics boiling and his own neighbors suspicious of him, Peter debates whether it might be best to change his name for good. When Rosemary shows up at his door pretending to be a historian and offering to help him trace his family history, his question might be answered.

But as the two work together and Rosemary sees his gracious reaction to his neighbors’ scornful attacks, she wonders if her assignment is going down the wrong path. Is it too late to help him prove that he’s more than his name?

Review:

She needed to protect and help provide for her family. What could she do, what choice did she have? She was finally seeing the good in the world, but was he just a good actor, a good spy?

A Name Unknown is a historical fiction story written by Roseanna M. White. This is set right before World War 1. England is on edge waiting for the war to come. I really enjoyed this book, it showed the evil of man and his prejudice, but it also showed the acceptance and kindness of others. This book reminded me that there are still good people in this world who God uses in different ways for his glory. 

Rosemary Gresham is a thief and a good one. She has had to survive on what she can steal and odd jobs. She is not proud of having to steal, but she is proud of her skills and the things she has done to help her family. She is not like other thieves though, she has a reason to steal and it is not just so that she can eat. She steals to feed the bellies of other children, of other people. She knows that stealing is wrong, but how bad can it be when it puts food into the stomachs of hungry little children.

One day, Rosemary gets a new job. She is hired to work under cover, and find documents to prove that a certain German man, named Peter Holstein, is a spy. She knows that this will be no easy job, but it will be worth it. Her family will finally have the money they need to buy the kids clothes and things that they need. All she had to do was find papers to prove that Peter was a spy, easy to do. Unless her heart gets in the way.

Peter was such an interesting character. He was a sweetheart. Those in his village were afraid of him because he didn’t really get out much. But he was really just shy and didn’t really know how to interact with others. I loved how he grew in the book and I adored seeing his friends and how he interacted with his staff.

Rosemary and Peter were such a sweet couple, they really balanced each other out. I loved how they could drive each other crazy for one moment, and then they would make up. Rosemary was able to pull Peter out of his dream world when he was writing. They were perfect for each other.

This was such a cool book, I loved seeing what Peter did as an author. It was so amazing to see how an author worked, and it was really funny to see his process. This is the first book that I have read of Roseanna M. White’s and I will definitely read more of her books. I would totally recommend this book.