This novel came to me highly recommended. Which, in my world means that at least two people I know read it and like it. It did take me a few pages to get into it. (I understand Hannah’s change in narrative voice, especially after I finished the novel – “I see what you did there,” went through my mind at the end. But it threw me off at the beginning.) However, once I was about three chapters in, I was hooked and devoured the thing in two days. Not joking, 564 pages in two days.
The details, oh Mon Dieu! I was in France. I could hear it, smell it, taste it. (Yes, I’ve been there, so it was reminiscent.) My heart ached with the devastation of war so painstakingly described. About three-quarters of the way through, I felt suspicious regarding the origin of the story. I kept thinking to myself, “who in the world could make up a story like this?!” I jumped back to the author’s note and discovered that the novel is, in fact, a compilation of true stories about heroic French women from WWII. This endears my heart to the novel that much more, knowing it was meant to honor the bravery and sacrifice of real-life women.
The story follows a family, already broken from WWI, as they endure and resist the German occupation of WWII. Sisters Vianne and Isabelle approach the conflict very differently, often disagreeing strongly on how to survive and deal with the oppression. They both, however, must endure and bravely face individual dangers and suffer gut-wrenching loss as they navigate the horrors of war. There are rich and complex love stories embedded in the novel. But the unbreakable, often contentious and deeply wounding, bond between sisters stood out above the others for me. An authentic representation of the power of family ties, this is a novel as much about forgiveness and love as it is about survival, courage, and the resilience of the human spirit. It is sure to grip your heart, compel you to pull your loved ones close, and realize how much you have to be thankful for in your own life.
