Fifteen-year-old Matt arrives in England from the United States looking forward to a quiet Christmas in Glastonbury with his aunt, uncle, and cousins. What he gets instead is a time-hopping adventure. He, and his cousins Luke and Annie (and Annie’s little black dog), receive an unexpected visitor who sends them on a quest to rescue a family of refugees in World War II’s Nazi-occupied France. With help from courageous members of the French underground, the three cousins must navigate a dangerous landscape with German troops around every corner, and crafty Gestapo agents on their trail. With their courage, faith, and determination tested at every turn, Matt, Luke, and Annie must decide what is worth fighting for.

Fans of WWII stories, escape adventures, time travel, and portal fantasies will find things to enjoy. It’s a bit like Narnia, except instead of a magical land and a wardrobe, the teens are sent back in time through a portal on Glastonbury Tor. The book is aimed at YA readers, and is appropriate for middle and high school audiences. It will be best enjoyed by Catholic audiences and other readers who don’t mind blatantly Catholic themes.

The Glaston Secret is solidly in the realm of fantasy, with elements such as a Christmas creche that grants wishes, a magically appearing time-portal, a vanishing stranger, and a smartphone that miraculously maintains its battery life for three whole days without being charged. (Just kidding; they keep the phone turned off.) Intermingled with this fantasy are real bits of WWII history, told through the eyes and stories of fictional characters. If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to live in a country appropriated by Nazis, Matt and his friends will give you a glimpse.

WWII is one of my favorite eras of history, because so many unsung heroes risked their lives to fight an evil that was attempting to swallow up the whole world. In The Glaston Secret, Foley gives the reader a peek into who some of those unsung heroes might have been, the kinds of dangers they faced, and the sacrifices they made. Placing three modern teens into those circumstances alongside them makes one wonder, “What would I have done in that situation?” and perhaps, “What would I do if I faced this kind of situation today?” What do we believe is worth fighting for?

To my knowledge, the story is not based on real events, but is an amalgam of fantasy elements and different kinds of escape stories that happened during the period. Some elements of the adventure seem more likely than others, but where credulity is stretched, it is made up for with entertaining feats and interesting characters.

A big theme that runs throughout the story is the power of prayer. Matt and co. are challenged to trust in God’s providence—especially when they have reached the limits of their own capabilities and are faced with what seems impossible. As in life, the ways God responds to their prayers are not always what they want or expect. One of the things I appreciated was the honesty of the characters who did not have much interest in faith—including two of the main characters. It left plenty of room to explore the kinds of questions that naturally arise when we encounter hardship and suffering. It also allowed for believable growth throughout the story as the characters were faced with various dangers and their own mortality.

A good deal of this theme of reliance upon prayer is focused on Our Lady, the Rosary, and various Marian apparition sites and devotions. Foley summarizes several of the stories surrounding Marian miracles throughout the book. For this reason, Protestant (or other) readers who are squeamish about Catholic devotion to Mary may not appreciate the tenor of this story. Those who are not bothered, or are open to learning more, may learn something new.

Family is another theme that comes through in the friendship amongst Matt and his cousins, as well as tensions in their extended family. They also learn an interesting story about their grumpy Great Aunt Gwen that becomes quite personal for them in their journey.

What stuck out to me in Aunt Gwen’s story, as well as in the behavior of one rather hostile member of the escape party, is the old saying, “Hurt people hurt people.” In other words, humans have a tendency to act out of their wounds, and in so doing, hurt others. Everyone experiences pain, but we all get to decide what we do with that pain. Do we let it bring out the worst in us? Or do we allow it to become a bridge between ourselves and others? This is an important theme that merits reflection, for young and old alike.

It is worth noting, for parents of younger readers, that such things as concentration camps and other characteristically Nazi punishments are mentioned in the story, though not described in great detail. Readers new to this era of history may have a lot of questions about the reality and brutality of what happened to those captured by the Nazis. This book would best be a supplement to learning about World War II and the Holocaust, rather than an introduction.

On the series website, Foley mentions that The Glaston Secret was born of a desire to create a story that “would combine history, adventure, and religious themes” in response to noticing a lack of “moral children’s literature” available today. He has certainly created such a story, and it is largely enjoyable. However, some readers may find the story’s tendency to spell out its morals to the teenage main characters (often via older and wiser adults) a tad irksome. That said, these instances are mostly brief interludes, with the exception of one rather long conversation amongst some of the adult escapees toward the end of the story. If teen readers can handle giving these interludes about as much attention as they do when an adult does something similar in real life, it shouldn’t interrupt the narrative for long. There is enough else to continually engage the reader that these moments ought not to discourage adventure-lovers from diving in! (The first few chapters set up quite a bit of backstory and may feel a bit slow at first, but once the adventure begins, there is plenty to entertain.)

Because of how Marian-forward the story is, readers of other faith backgrounds may not be comfortable with the blatant Catholicism, but open-minded readers will find enough to enjoy. Protestants who are not put off by the Marian emphasis can appreciate the strong themes of the power of prayer and reliance upon God’s providence. Secular readers in particular may find some of the instances of answered prayer convenient, though God can—and does—sometimes work in these ways.

The Glaston Secret will most appeal to lovers of a rollicking escape yarn and fans of World War II stories. Fans of adventures that pit the forces of good and evil against one another will get their fix. Readers who enjoy ensemble casts that grow (and grow…and grow…) will have plenty of characters to fall in love with—including Annie’s little black dog! Catholic readers will appreciate the Marian themes, nods to Catholic cultural traditions (like the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany), and the tiny glimpse into the Church’s contribution to the underground efforts in Nazi-occupied France.

And for those who don’t want the adventure to end, The Glaston Secret is book one in an ongoing series called The Glaston Chronicles—and though it wraps up nicely, book two picks up right where book one leaves off! The next adventure awaits…