Waiting for Elijah: A Walk Through Time
​ Finalist: Author of the Year in Historical Fiction
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Review Submitted by Kravitz and Sons
(Available for bookstores to purchase on Ingram Spark)
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Sheila Jeanette Wood’s Waiting for Elijah: A Walk Through Time is a captivating and emotionally resonant novel that brilliantly bridges historical fiction, intergenerational drama, and spiritual awakening. It is an ambitious, multilayered work that unfolds with elegance and precision, positioning itself as a standout title in today's diverse literary landscape. From a reviewer’s lens, this is the kind of book that not only captivates readers but also commands attention on the shelves of every bookstore.
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At its core, the novel follows Phoebe Friedman, a woman whose journey of grief leads her down a trail of buried family secrets after her grandfather's funeral. A mysterious heirloom and an unexpected murder in 2005 set off a chain of discoveries that take Phoebe—and the reader—through four generations of her family’s history, stretching from modern America to pre WWII Europe. Wood deftly navigates this historical timeline, unraveling the hidden past of a Jewish - German family involved in resistance work during the Holocaust, and the legacy of trauma, courage, and redemption that spans decades.
The author’s strength lies in her ability to create deeply human characters while maintaining a narrative that is simultaneously suspenseful and reflective. Phoebe is a compelling lead, flawed determined, and emotionally grounded. Her arc unfolds organically as she confronts not only her family's
complicated history but her own sense of identity. Through her, readers explore profound themes: the cost of silence, the power of generational memory, and the enduring impact of personal truth.
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What elevates Waiting for Elijah beyond traditional historical fiction is its spiritual and metaphysical undertone. Wood, drawing from her background as an intuitive healing coach, introduces concepts of ancestral healing, karmic inheritance, and the energetic connection between past and present. These elements are woven seamlessly into the plot, offering depth without overpowering the central mystery. It’s a rare narrative fusion that appeals to both readers of literary fiction and those drawn to spiritual themes.
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In terms of commercial and in-store potential, Waiting for Elijah is an ideal candidate for prominent
display in physical bookstores. The striking title and emotionally evocative cover immediately pique interest, while the subject matter aligns well with key consumer categories—such as historical fiction, women’s fiction, Jewish heritage, and inspirational literature. Booksellers would find this title especially well-suited for curated displays themed around “family secrets,” “legacy and lineage,” or “WWII narratives.” It is also a strong contender for seasonal promotions tied to Holocaust Remembrance, Jewish Book Month, or spiritual healing collections.
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From a market perspective, the novel speaks to an ever-growing demographic of readers seeking substance, soul, and authenticity. Its crossover appeal makes it valuable not only to traditional fiction readers but also to faith-based and metaphysical audiences which expands its reach well beyond one genre.
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In sum, Waiting for Elijah: A Walk Through Time is a beautifully crafted, emotionally intelligent, and spiritually resonant work of fiction. Sheila Jeanette Wood has delivered a memorable novel with strong literary merit and clear commercial promise—one that belongs not only in the hands of readers, but also on the shelves of every well-curated bookstore.
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SHORT REVIEWS
I loved this! The writing is great and it's not too heavy on the suspense which always keeps me turning the pages. I love the evolution of Phoebe's character as it gives a sense of credibility to the story. Plus, the ending is worth waiting for!
Rose Curiel, Author of SO MANY WOMEN
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An incredible family saga told with compelling, page-turning prose. It's an emotional rollercoaster of a book as Phoebe investigates the world family business deals. “Waiting for Elijah” will certainly end-up on the New York Times’ bestseller list for historical fiction.
James R. Strode, Author & Poet
Waiting for Elijah is an excellent 20th century historic fiction. It is paced slow enough to allow the reader to piece together the clues, yet also has enough excitement to keep you on your toes. Though it does take a while before anything happens, it's worth reading through because the payoff at the end is worth it.
Odella Glenn, Influencer & Author
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The Writing of This Book
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On any other day of the week, I would say that writing a book was not on my bucket list. However, the day I began to write these words they seemed to take on an energy that transported me to places, events, people and times that I felt connected to. I became fully engrossed in the process as the episodes unfolded and words graced the page. It then became a labor of love for me as the characters evolved and lives intersected.
I believe in the power and ingenuity of the human spirit. I believe that we are all striving to become our true essence and I believe that this must happen with the help and understanding of those souls who have preceded and will follow us in all lifetimes. This book provided for me an avenue to express the timelessness of the soul’s evolution and the influences we all have on one another, even those that we have yet to meet.
I hope that you enjoy this book about WWII survival and the characters’ perceptions of struggle, accomplishment, and choices made. But more than anything, I hope this book will guide you to think about your own journey. I hope that amid the chaos of worldliness that swirls around you, you will find some time to snuggle in, contemplate, and relate to your own power as an individual among many.
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"Waiting For Elijah " touches on several aspects of war that resonate long after the war ends. The WWII war machine, as it has been called, was put into practice in almost every aspect of peoples’ lives even before the moment that war was declared. Remnants of life and death, industry, evil, love, but most of all survival instinct, remain from WWII. We remember this one because of its intensity and breadth, notwithstanding the evils that were inflicted on Jewish lives. This book about WWII survival follows boots on the ground initiative and is more about people, especially families and energetic family connections, than it is about the battles of war. It is about daily living at its most robust amid fear and discouragement. It is about the resilience and the willingness of humanity in all its forms to rise above hate and ensure that the best is just around every corner. It is about the talents and ingenuity displayed on many levels to ensure good outcomes. It concentrates on directed effort for optimal results and it connects people energetically at all levels. It is about living and meeting the challenges of life, even those we have little control over. And most importantly, it is about trust in one’s own spirit and the spirit of others as they remain strong enough to persevere and reach the finish line.
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Some of the metaphysical concepts of science and spirituality that are touched on by this book include reincarnation, channeling, tarot adaptation, soul lineage, ancestral DNA memory, universal (to include family) energetic connections across geography and time, entanglement, emergence of synchronicities, and genetic transfer of talents. My complimentary healing techniques include medium, Akashic Records reading, emotional detox, intuitive healing, and past life regression.
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“Waiting for Elijah: A Walk Through Time” has a beginning, and a middle. It also has the continuing ending of a story that is embedded in experiences, and that is transmitted in ancestral memories, waiting to emerge as we perceive and experience events today. Our own memories may resonate within stories told over the years by our grandparents and great-grandparents. In a moment’s recollection we seem to know, we just know that this has happened before, because we recognize it. Deep within our essence lies our truth and this truth may be colored by information that casts a shadow. What we see, feel, and experience, we “know”, what our ancestors tell us we believe, and what lands on us from stories cloaked in clouds of deception - that is what we must sort out.
In “Waiting for Elijah”, that is exactly what the characters do. They do it by living within the scope of those that came before. The questions raised in this book call us to examine who we are through the actions, inclinations, and choices made by our influencers. As the story builds on itself, with each new question asked and each new discovery made, it becomes evident that connections span both time and geography.
Revelations come across as mysteries and are wrapped within the mission of discovery. This discovery is directed towards unearthing the radical truth about family, survival, and the means by which people’s lives were saved. As modern-day descendants visit the times and places that were a part of their ancestors’ lives, the mystery unfolds page by page. What took place in 1933 that so profoundly affected Phoebe’s life today? What influences remain within her energy that drive her to discover secrets long held and perpetuated by her family and their contacts?
WWII is the backdrop, not the set of this drama, but the energy around it pervades across time. We revisit it and feel in our patterns of consciousness the emergence of synchronicities that reside in the subconscious. As generations think they are free from the horrors experienced during this war, we seem to revisit the need to return to oppression – country against country – man against man - and witness a disrespect for sovereignty. We see very clearly that as oppressive efforts and untruths pervade the airways, we are faced with a choice - lie down within the oppression or flush out the truths and stand within human rights energy. The exercise of free will takes on a demonstrative role in “Waiting for Elijah’”.
This book strongly argues with loss of life based on cultural practices, and it brings forth a resounding resilience and fortitude of civilian feet on the ground during WWII. The ingenuity around building networks, the subterfuge, the use of artistic talents, and technical abilities all contribute to the foundations for survival, both internally as spirituality-directed humans and externally as instruments of peace. Over time, Jewish lives have benefited from every person’s meditation around forgiveness that has helped fuel a process of healing.
“Waiting for Elijah” reminds us that past influences guide the decisions that we make daily. It encourages the creativity that we use to survive and prosper anew, while still giving homage to those who came before us and molded our very existence. This book deals with some hurdles in life but primarily focuses on the light that allows us to move through lives - past, present, future - and gives us the abilities to develop useful life-affirming and supporting tools necessary to flourish.
The characters grow as they hope to survive, as they help others through the Resistance during WWII, and as they look toward future years within their own immediate families. We become witness to the universal energetic connections that we all have, one to another. And we are confronted with the knowledge that the choices we make are for the continuing propagation of karma, karma that pushes us to seek resolution within and across all lifetimes.
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Sheila J Wood
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