Gabrielle Madison is an American girl born of missionaries and has spent her life living abroad. Gabrielle has just traveled from where her family has been working many years in Africa to France. Gabrielle has been given the opportunity to spend her third year of University in an exchange program it's the year 1961 in Castelnau, France. Gabrielle is excited to be back in the small town her family had once lived when she was a very young girl. Her mother has given her a special cross to wear and tells her to keep it near her heart and she will have God with her always.

Gabrielle's classes are held at the Church of St. Joseph and she quickly is befriended by the head mistress/director Mother Griolet. Gabrielle enjoys her classes especially the class taught by Mr. David Hoffmann, Visions of Man, Past and Present which is taught in French and English and covers topics from Literature, Art and History from England and France. All the young women are taken with the handsome Mr. Hoffmann but Gabrielle is most excited about their intelligent, challenging theological and historical discussions.

We soon discover while reading TWO CROSSES there is much more going on in France than what we see on the surface. The church is also an orphanage and children continually are showing up as refugees from Algiers. There is a war in Algiers between the FLN a national liberation group that wants independence from France, the OAS a French underground organization. Caught in the middle of this war are the very poor in Algeria, the Pied-Nior (French living in Algeria) and Harki (Algerian soldiers that were loyal to the French Army). We are introduced to Anne-Marie a Pied- Nior who has escaped with her daughter Ophelie but is being hunted by a leader in the FLN.

TWO CROSSES is the first in a trilogy and much of this book is setting up the story for the following books. There are many secrets revealed and we learn who all the players are and what motivates them. Gabrielle finds herself in the middle of a war she knew nothing about and she becomes a pivotal part of the rescue mission. I found TWO CROSSES fascinating and educational. I was never much for history but the way this story is presented I found myself drawn in and eager to learn more. I was caught up in Gabrielle's journey in the beginning of the novel I kept picturing Gabrielle as a child even though I knew she was twenty-one. I think it was her innocence and blind absolute faith in God that gave her childlike personality to me then as the story progressed I watched the woman/child grow and mature into a hero of sorts. TWO CROSSES is a brilliant beginning to an amazing trilogy that I highly recommend to readers young and old.

Book Summary

The glimmering Huguenot cross she innocently wears leads her deep into the shadows.

When Gabriella Madison arrives in France in 1961 to continue her university studies, she doesn’t anticipate being drawn into the secretive world behind the Algerian war for independence from France. The further she delves into the war efforts, the more her faith is challenged.

The people who surround her bring a whirlwind of transforming forces—a wise nun involved in the smuggling, a little girl carrying secret information, and a man with unknown loyalties who captures her heart. When she discovers a long hidden secret from her past, it all leads to questions about trust, faith in action, and the power of forgiveness to move beyond the pain of the past.