The Moon Looked Down

The Moon Looked Down

3.43 of 5 stars 3.43  ·  rating details  ·  318 ratings  ·  59 reviews
The new Americana romance from bestselling author Dorothy Garlock, this time set against the backdrop of WWII.


Sophie Heller's family immigrated from Germany to Victory, a small town in Illinois, before WWII began. Now that the war has affected the town, the townspeople discriminate against Sophie and her family. When a train derails, it is an accident but the Heller fami...more
Paperback, 400 pages
Published July 16th 2009 by Grand Central Publishing (first published July 1st 2009)
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Ren
May 16, 2011 Ren rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Historical romance fans at WW I Era
Baca versi English (hardcover bo! :)) ) dan review dalam Bahasa Indonesia

Victory, Illinois, Juni 1942, awal Perang Dunia II, Sophie Heller dan keluarganya pindah dari Jerman ke Amerika untuk menghindari pengaruh Hitler dan Nazi serta membangun hidup baru. Namun pada suatu malam, lumbung pertanian mereka dihancurkan oleh 3 lelaki tak dikenal yang menuduh keluarga Sophie sebagai agen Nazi dan mengancam akan membunuh mereka jika mereka tidak segera pergi dari Victory. Sophie yang ketakutan memutu...more
Jennifer
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Jennifer
From My Blog (3.5)


All families carry secrets and unfortunately hatred and fear can be found anywhere, including Victory, Illinois, where in the summer of 1942, three young men burn down the Heller family's barn. It does not matter to these young men that the Hellers are now Americans, they only see Germans, and during the height of WWII they want action. The reasons for this and the subsequent reason for the Heller family staying silent and not going to Sheriff Allen Carter eventually are brough...more
Nicole Langan
Nothing stirs a female heart more than a handsome man with a handicap. The inherent mothering instinct is intertwined with a mixture of physical desire and deep-seated admiration. In Dorothy Garlock's "The Moon Looked Down," Sophie Heller is entranced by the club-footed Cole Ambrose. Her focus is more on the muscles under his shirt than the hitch in his gait. Cole has zero experience with women, but his confidence is buoyed by the determination to protect Sophie from the dangerous intentions of...more
Jennifer Defoy
Wow, I think for the first time in a while I'm done with a book that has just left me in awe. I loved this one.

I almost immediately was connected with Sophie, through the entire book I could feel her emotions. Fear, love, disgust, happiness, longing this book has it all. And it's not just Sophie that I connected with. I loved Cole and was almost as attached to him as I was Sophie. The other main characters (the bad guys) were also just as well written, and although I didn't want to connect to t...more
Brenda Rupp
This is a great book about the time during WWII. There is trouble for the main characters family the Hellers, as they have moved to a small town from Germany. There are a small group of men who decide to get rid of the Krauts that moved to their town. Of course the family is not about to be pushed out of their new home. There is a great love affair with Sophie the daughter in the family with a high school teacher who has come home to this town to his own problems, which he has to deal with. It w...more
Janet Eshenroder
An incredibly painful read. One of the first times I seriously wished to leave a book unfinished (an urge that arose less than 1/3rd of the way through). According to the book jacket, this author has won numerous awards for historic fiction and has been on the best seller list. I sure can't tell it by this book. Maybe historic romance is outside her genre. The story line held great potential: a German family flees Germany in 1933 (when Hitler first becomes chancellor) and starts over, building a...more
Sherry
Westernport Demented Book Club/Alternative Title

This is different than any of her's that I've read....and I think I've read all of her books. What a good book. It is such a sensitive piece written in the early 1940s during the outbreak of WWII. There is hateful prejudice and tender innocent, true love (but the love story is only a small part of the book), sibling closeness and an underlying touch of loss and extreme hurt that is often a part of most families. Disturbing in some ways but tender a...more
Anna
This book is definitely not for the faint of heart as some of the racial slurs and word choice can be offensive. That aside, I really enjoyed this book. It deals with a probable scene in America during the Second World War, espionage was a fear and the book deals with a couple of men who take that too far. While the undertone of the whole book is definitely very serious it also has a typical cute-sy romance that helps move the plot along and alleviate the stinging impact of the reality this book...more
Mahareni Maldini
Baca buku ini jd inget Rainwater-nya Sandra Brown,hmpir setipe-lah.Lbih cenderung k drama keluarga drpd k romance (mgkin krn hot scenenya udh dbabat guntingnya penerbit?).
Emang agak trpancing emosi sih bc ini,tp lebih kpd sosok Carolyn Glass yg cntik tp bitchy n full manipulasi,jg Ellis Watts yg guanteng kek bintang film tp d sini menempati peran antagonis.Dua sosok ini yg bkin aku betah membalik halaman demi halaman coz pngin tau ap yg bkal mrk lakukan n balasan ap yg akan mrk trima.Selebihnya...more
Paula
Bleh. Not impressed. This author gives TOO much detail. She repeats how the characters feel about something every time they're mentioned. For example, every time she talks about Sophie, she reiterates how and why Sophie is scared. Every time she mentions Cole, she reminds us that Cole has a bum leg. OK, I know I have a faulty memory but I can manage to remember major details of the story I am currently reading. You don't have to keep telling me that Sophie is scared. You told me that on Page 1....more
Dyana
The Hellers, A german family living in Victory, Illinois, are considered Nazis during World War II by two men who make it their mission to rid the town of this family. Cole Ambrose, born with a club foot and estranged from his father, returns to town to become the new math teacher at the high school. Sophie Heller and Cole fall in love. Then Cole must try and protect the Hellers from these crazed men. A good OK story but not well written. Lots of foul language and some sex to skip over. I have r...more
Beth
A German family during World War II is branded a Nazi and 3 men burn down their barn. A young man who is crippled and had left town to attend college returns to town to be the math teacher. The daughter in the German family and the future mather teacher gradually realize they love each other as they increasingly solve the mystery of who burned down the barn and deal with the perpetrator. A fast read- somewhat repetitive.
Laurel
I listened to this one. Based on the description on the box, I thought I was going to listen to a work of historical fiction on how Germans were persecuted in the US during WWII. Wow, was I wrong. I have no idea what audience this book would appeal to... it wasn't historical fiction, it was not chick-lit., it was not adolescence literature- it was pure schlock. Stay far, far away!
Barbara
What train derailment? The one mentioned in the summary above didn't happen in my book.

anyway, good story. Predictable with a pleasant wrap up.

Would you be eating apples in the summer in 1941 when there wasn't much cold storage? apple pie yes, but a fresh apple, probably not. It would be so mushy.

Sophie sure was fast and forward for the time.
Kerisa Ricketts
Set in the fictional town of Victory, Illinois during the summer of 1942 this is a wonderful story of trust, courage, hope, and of course love. If you have never read any of her books, I would highly recommend Dorothy Garlock. Her characters are so well written that you can really sympathize with their feelings and situations.
Renae
I really enjoyed this book. It was just the right amount of intrigue and romance and action. The last several chapters were the make me stay up late finishing it variety.

One, minor, stupid complaint was toward the end there was too much 'the stars and moon above' seriously, it was like a shot game. Once I started noticing that phrase repeated it started to irritate me. :-)
Patricia Solla
I like the stories I have read from this author. This story takes place at the time the US enters WWII. It's interesting to see the reaction and interactions of the characters. It's not a war story per se but a tale of how a nationality and a physical imperfection are treated by certain people.
Julianne
This is about a German family in Illinois during World War II. People are signing up to serve, and others are accusing this family of being German spies. Good view of what life was like in small-town middle America during this historic time.

Lots and lots of swear words.
Wendy
This was a surprisingly good book. I've never read anything of hers before. Rather violent in places (guns and knives) but a good mystery with romance thrown in. All the exclamation points threw me though, as I didn't think they were necessary.
Laurie
If you like grocery store romance paperbacks then you'll like this. The only reason I read pastthe first 30 pages was because a friend said it wasn't bad. (She gave the book 2 stars). So I kept reading, thinking it would get better. It didn't. What a waste of time.
Jody
Let me say first of all what I liked about the book. It takes place in the 1940's in the midwest which is a different time period from what I usually read. I also really liked that the male character wasn't perfect in looks. In fact, he has a crippled leg.



This book had so many great possibilites, but the writing was just bad. I don't understand why there were so many exclamation points. Why is everyone always yelling, even at innappropriate moments? I seriously don't think the author knows how...more
Glenajo
The Moon Looked Down is an enjoyable book about a German immigrant family that is targeted in error for retribution in the USA during WWII. The author uses well filled characters to convey a sense of the times and the story. Good read.
Jodi
While I don't feel that this was one of Garlock's best, I still feel the story was nice. It hit upon prejudice, handicap, as well as war time. It flowed in its own way. Yes, the exclamation points were annoying, but the story made up for the error in punctuation.
Donna
Sophie and her family are the target of some hoodlums in `1940 Illinois. Cole returns to town, falls in love with Sophie, and tries to resolve the situation.

Easy beach read.
Linda
May 07, 2012 Linda added it
I picked this randomly from a library shelf. It said the author was often on the NY Times best seller list and it looked like a nice easy read. Nice, yes....easy, yes.....boring, yes. Not sure I'd give another one of her books a try unless it was recommended by someone I respected.
Jenni
I think I have read her books before but can't remember which ones specifically. There was some cussing and adult content-but of the adult content it was "cleaner" than most.
Jane
Amid the prejudices of the 1940's against the Germans, 2 people stand up and fight for their rights against those who are small minded in a little country town.
Florence Csage
Giving this two stars was being generous. The book was disappointing. Too much detail and repetition of the characters feelings. I finished it but I don't know why. I wasn't impressed with the author's writing style.
Annika
I like the time period, I like the background, I like the theory of this story.

But the story was awful, so cheesy and predictable. Yawn.
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The Moon Looked Down (Hardcover)
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Dorothy Garlock is from Texas, but lived for a long time with her family in Iowa. Her romance novels have been translated into over 20 languages.

The mother of two and grandmother of three started her book-writing career in 1976 after working for 14 years as bookkeeper/columnist for the local newspaper. She had received 21 awards from various magazines and writer's groups. She was selected as Outst...more
More about Dorothy Garlock...
The Edge of Town (Jazz Age Series, #1) Mother Road A Week From Sunday A Place Called Rainwater (Jazz Age Series, #3) Song of the Road

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