A riveting and emotionally-gripping novel of an American soldier working as a spy in Soviet-occupied East Germany and a West German woman secretly helping her countrymen escape from behind the Berlin Wall.
In the summer of 1961, a wall of barbed wire goes up quickly in the dead of night, officially dividing Berlin. Luisa Voigt lives in West Berlin, but her grandmother lives across the border and is now trapped inside the newly- isolated communist country of East Germany. Desperate to rescue her grandmother and aware of the many others whose families have been divided, Luisa joins a secret spy network, risking her life to help bring others through a makeshift, underground tunnel to West Germany. Their work is dangerous and not everyone will successfully escape or live to see freedom.
Bob Inama was an outstanding university student with plans to attend law school when he is drafted into the US Army. Stationed in West Germany, he is glad to be fluent in German, especially after meeting Luisa Voigt at a church social. As they spend time together, they form a close connection. But when Bob receives classified orders to leave for undercover work immediately, he does not get the chance to say goodbye.
With a fake identity, Bob’s special assignment is to be a spy embedded in East Germany. His undercover job will give him access to government sites to map out strategic military targets. But Soviet and East German spies, the secret police, and Stasi informants are everywhere, and eventually Bob is caught and sent to a brutal East German prison. Interrogated and tortured daily, Bob clings to any hope he can find—from the sunlight that marches across the wall of his prison to the one guard who secretly treats him with kindness to the thought of one day seeing Luisa again.
Author Heather B. Moore masterfully alternates the stories of Bob and Luisa, capturing the human drama unique to Cold War Germany as well as the courage and the resilience of the human spirit.
It’s been awhile since I’ve had a work of fiction touch me as deeply like The Slow March of Light did. An emotional story that is based on the true story of Bob Inama, a US Army soldier that served in Germany in the early 1960’s as the Cold War rages and the Berlin Wall is erected, who finds himself in a place that is the stuff of nightmares: a prisoner in East Germany, where Soviets rule with fear and an iron fist.
I have read many historical fiction novels that include Germans and/or Germany and they always give me a cold sense of dread, knowing the dark history that swirls around this region. I felt that foreboding quite a bit in The Slow March of Light, anticipating when the proverbial ball would drop, but with Luisa’s story, though fictional, it gave flesh to all of the Germans that were against the inhumane actions of their country, and for that I am thankful. It is a remarkable reminder that even in the darkness there is light and was the perfect balance to Bob’s harrowing tale.
The author’s notes are incredibly thorough, leaving no question as to what parts of the story came straight from Bob himself and what she took creative liberties on, which surprisingly wasn’t as much as I had expected. Heather truly wanted Bob’s story to shine, which it does like a shimmering diamond, and even much of the fictitious parts of the story still held quite a bit of truth, paralleling the actual account nicely, with Heather explaining the motivation behind it all.
The amount of research that went into this novel is obvious and astounding, and I commend Heather for her heart and dedication, and for another incredible true story that has echoed in my mind since I finished the final page and I know will be forever etched in my heart. I was so inspired by Bob’s positivity, thankfulness, and his endurance to never give up hope that I have found myself being more focused and thankful for the many blessings in my life, even in the hard times I am currently enduring. If Bob Inama can go through what he went through and come out with a grateful heart, why can’t I?
“Bob could have never predicted the journey that was in store for him, but looking back, he saw the Lord’s hand in every detail. Every frustrating, painful, bewildering, and joyful detail.”
My Rating: ★★★★★
Other Resources
Interview of Bob Inama, the inspiration behind The Slow March of Light
Official Online Book Launch
About the Author
Heather B. Moore is a USA Today bestselling author of more than fifty publications. Her historical novels and thrillers are written under pen name H.B. Moore. She writes women's fiction, romance and inspirational non-fiction under Heather B. Moore. This can all be confusing, so her kids just call her Mom. Heather attended Cairo American College in Egypt, the Anglican School of Jerusalem in Israel, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University in Utah. Heather is represented by Dystel, Goderich, and Bourret.
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