A wonderful review of The Last Waltz on Meridian Magazine by Jennie Hansen.  Thank you!

Romance novels are often maligned because of the simplistic formula central to a large share of the books in this genre, but once in awhile one comes along that breaks free of the supposed mold and delivers a powerful love story that touches the hearts of even those who don’t generally read love stories. Such is The Last Waltz by G. G. Vandagriff. There will be many who will insist this book is not a romance, but rather an historical novel. They may be right because it is also a powerful story of Austria in the years leading up to World War I and continues on through the rise of Hitler’s power. The smaller print beneath the title aptly describes the content as “A novel of Love and War.”

It is the year 1913 and Amalia Faulhaber at 19 is the daughter of a wealthy Austrian merchant and great granddaughter of a Count. She moves in aristocratic circles and is trained for little more than flirting and snaring a suitable husband with a title. She is shocked and embarrassed when her fiancé, Prussian Baron Eberhard von Waldburg breaks off their engagement in order to return to Germany and a commission in the army.

Keeping her broken engagement a secret from all but her grandmother and an uncle, the impulsive young woman courts social ruin by becoming involved with a Polish doctor, Andrzej Zaleski, who has already been claimed by another woman. This is a time of great political intrigue and the rise of fascism, communism, and socialism. It’s a time that saw the destruction of monarchies and the rise of dictators representing the various political factions in Europe . It is a time too when Vienna was the apex of European society. From her uncle Amalia learns a great deal about the socialist movement sweeping across Europe . She also becomes keenly aware of the tenets of democracy from his friend, Baron Rudolf Von Schoenenburg, and from her doctor friend, she learns of independence and democracy. A quarrel and harsh words send her fleeing to Berlin and the baron, who in spite of his noble sacrifice loves her. Their hasty marriage precedes three years of heartache and a solidification of her emerging views on democracy.

Schoenenburg and Zaleski continue to play a prominent role in her life as she faces personal loss, the end of the war and the devastating aftermath, growing political involvement, motherhood, and at last the rising threats of Stalin and Hitler. Torn between the love of two heroic men and her love for her country, she meets life, love, and war head on.

Published by Shadow Mountain , this novel is not specifically LDS but there are strong religious overtones as Amalia seeks a personal relationship with God beyond what she can find in the structured churches of her childhood. She comes to accept man’s responsibility instead of blaming God for the wars and cruelty of the turbulent time in which she lives. Through her work in hospitals and associations with other nurses and her wounded patients she learns that God works through human hands.

As Amalia faces struggles with her family, betrayal, love, madness, obsession, patriotism, and a world torn by conflict, she grows and matures from a sheltered, impulsive teenager to a mature woman of nearly forty, secure in her beliefs and values. She also learns lessons concerning the differing facets of love, passion, fidelity, and sacrifice.

Though I read an advance review copy of this epic tale, I found few errors or typos, so I expect the bound volume will be excellent in this regard. The background has been researched with tremendous care by the author who lived in Austria as a young woman on a study abroad program and through her years of fine tuning the story which followed. Passions ran high during the time period Vandagriff portrays concerning the different political movements in Europe prior to and during the World Wars, and she has presented these philosophies and the wars that resulted in an understandable and accurate fashion. Her characters are strong and likable, yet flawed in ways the reader can visualize and accept. The plot and theme carry brilliantly throughout the entire almost six hundred page novel without the repetition or sags often seen in novels of this length.

The Last Waltz is a book to savor. It educates; it is filled with action; the tender love story is mirrored in the political conflicts of the day, it is filled with points to ponder, and it entertains. The only fault I found with this novel is its length. It is difficult to find time to read a novel this size, and the fact that it is a hard story to set down, can conflict with getting anything else accomplished. Yet I found it worth the time expended and I recommend this book to all readers