The Silence of God (Gale Sears)

At the turn of the twentieth century, St. Petersburg offers the best of Imperial Russia. The vast country is filled with grand cathedrals, a faithful populace, and many people who love and revere Tsar Nicholas II and the Romanov family. But as Russia becomes further entrenched in the Great War, a revolution begins brewing within her own borders.
For the wealthy Lindlof family, the only Latter-day Saints living in St. Petersburg at the time, the glitz and glamour of the Silver Age soon dissolves into mass rebellion, dividing their family and testing their faith. Life for Agnes Lindlof will never be the same—changed forever by an ideology that forces equality and demands the silence of God.
Agnes’s lifelong friend, Natasha Ivanovna Gavrilova, is the daughter of a professor and a firm supporter of Bolshevik ideals; she doesn’t believe in God at all. Yet, when the waves of the revolution wash over her family and her friends, Natasha must examine her own heart and decide for herself what to believe and what voice to listen to.
Based on an amazing true story of the only Latter-day Saint family living in St. Petersburg during the Bolshevik Revolution, The Silence of God is a rare glimpse into a fascinating period of history and a powerful, extraordinary novel of devotion and loyalty.

This book had a lot of Russian history and footnotes in it. I think it had more facts about the Russian / Bolshevik Revolution than depicting a story about the family. I love historical fiction, but this one was too much.

Upon the Mountain (Gale Sears)

World War I is raging in Europe. As America is drawn into the bitter conflict, Nephi Erickson comes to believe enlisting with the Marines is not only his duty, but also his best chance at making some much-needed money. He feels he has failed in his promise to care for his wife, Alaina, and their small daughter, Katie. As he leaves their tranquil Salt Lake City hillside home for a barren battlefield where disease can be as deadly as the enemy, Nephi has no idea that Alaina is carrying their second child-a child he may never see.
With her husband half a world away, Alaina derives some solace from the fact that her younger sister, Eleanor, lives nearby. Nineteen-year-old Eleanor-the only woman studying medicine at the University of Utah-is soon immersed in researching treatments for the influenza pandemic ravaging the world, a scourge that will soon touch her life all too closely. An unforgettable historical drama of innocence lost, of memorable characters struggling to hold on to truth and meaning in an age of turmoil, you'll be captivated by Gale Sears' poetic weaving of time, place, and powerful emotion.

I loved this story, but I had a hard time following it in the beginning. I feel that the author tried to cram too many different life stories into a too short of a book.

Autumn Sky, Until The Dawn, Upon The Mountains

This series by Gale Sears is a historical drama that follows a family through WWI. It had some slow points and some of the daydreaming done by the main character does get a little annoying but I enjoyed learning more about this time period.