This is my first book by Justine Saracen.

My first historical fiction in . . . um, six days. Heh. Figured it’d be longer. Then I saw that graphic novel set in Germany, and Shaken to the Core, then Trigger Mortis all the way back from the end of April. So this is actually my third Historical fiction novel this month. 13th this year. Let me see. My third war novel of the year. 8th book that involved military or ex-military. Third spy book of the year.

Right, got distracted there. Long ago I used to devour books like this – spy books in general, war books, military books, and specifically spy books set during WWII (roughly 77 set during WWII, not all of which were spy books (26 spy books set during WWII); roughly 49 historical fiction spy books). Somewhere along the way I kind of moved past these specific types of books, to a certain extent, but it’s still of interest.

This is the first book I’ve read set in Belgium during WWII; at least I believe it is, though I know I’ve read war books set in Belgium before. Or, at least, in land that would become Belgium, since Waterloo occurred on land that was, at the time, part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

This book is a lot more a historical fiction spy thriller set during World War II than it is a lesbian book. As the afterward noted, ‘The story of the French and Belgian Resistance during World War II is inspiring and tragic, and the sexual preferences of its heroes would have been irrelevant.’ That’s not to say that this is a book that overlooks sexual preferences, but that it does not tremendously matter what someone’s preferences were. Like how Sandrine Toussaint, regardless of her likes/dislikes/wants/desires, was forced to ‘lay with’ a man for the benefits that doing so would help keep up spy operations; and how Antonia Forrester ‘lay with’ a woman on the last night of training because . . . I believe the reason given was ‘for comfort’ or something like that. Dora, the woman Antonia slept with, certainly wasn’t a lesbian – even if she initiated the contact; she just wanted ‘comfort’. It’s actually unclear if anyone in this book is a lesbian, or, for that matter, heterosexual. From the hints dropped, Sandrine might be bisexual (not because she slept with a German; but because of some of the comments regarding her husband); Dora would have been whatever term is used for someone who will sleep with anyone breathing; and Antonia . . . just might be a lesbian. Potentially. At least she turned down advances from men, but not from women.

Right. So. As the book description notes, Antonia Forrester was a nurse at Dunkirk during the evacuation. She’s injured but survived, unlike all of the other nurses, I believe, she was with. After a period of recovery from massive injuries, Antonia joins the OSS and is trained. She’s shipped off to Brussels, since she had spent some time there as a kid. She’s to contact the resistance there, and try to help as best she can. Unexpectedly, to me, she wasn’t actually going alone nor the leader of her 2 person force – she is, though, the only one to make it to Brussels.

Because of circumstances beyond her control, Antonia is cut off from command, and from her ‘target’ resistance fighters, though she is able to hook up with some Jewish fighters (and, eventually, with the group she was originally supposed to hook up with).

Sandrine Toussaint is a high class woman living in a chateau near Brussels. After faking out the Germans when they came to inspect the place as a possible headquarters, thereby keeping it in her own hands, Sandrine worked on delivering people (downed pilots, Jewish people, etc.) out of occupied lands. The leader of her line was captured shortly before Antonia arrived, and so she suggested that if anyone came by asking about that individual, they would likely be Gestapo, and so should be ignored/diverted (which is how Antonia ended up being unable to hook up with the 'correct' resistance group for months).

Time flies quickly in this book. One moment it’s June 1940, the next it’s some time in 1941. There are some rather riveting scenes, though there is a certain distancing that comes from passing through so much time in a short work. None-the-less, this was an enjoyable book, and a nice return to a genre I used to devour.

June 16 2016
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I devour historical lesfic like other people devour their paranormals. And when it comes to this genre, Ms. Saracen is an automatic buy for me. Her name on the book is like a seal of quality, authenticity, and a rollicking good read.

Antonia Forrester (what a strange name for an Englishwoman) is a nurse who is injured in Dunkirk. While recovering from her injuries, she is recruited as an operative to infiltrate Belgium. But the plane is shot down and she is lost and alone in enemy territory.

She eventually manages to hook up with the local resistance groups and thats when the action begins.

Everything about the book lived up to my expectations except for one thing--the characterization of Antonia, which I find a bit lacking, especially at the start of the book. I don't know if the author is given a maximum number of pages to keep to (BSB books are almost invariably 200 pages only in length). A lot happens in the book, so the happenings take up most of the pages. I would have loved to get into the head of Antonia more. She could have been such a fascinating character. Why would a nurse who just cheated death jump from the frying pan into the fire by skydiving into occupied Brussels? I never did find out. I did not feel her desperation when she landed all alone behind enemy lines. These were some instances which could have been milked for their emotional impact (I want my angst! lol) but weren't--a missed opportunity, imho.

Sandrine fared better. In fact, the story really perked up when the two characters meet. The romance was quite well developed. The interactions between Antonia and Sandrine are a joy to read. There was something about their romance that I thought was a little out of place or more accurately, out of time. It was the concept of marriage and the exchange of rings. Too 21st century to fit in a 1940s f/f relationship, perhaps?

Sandrine's last minute intervention w/Rommel was a genius bit of plotting--truly vintage Saracen, and something I always look forward to in her books. It reminded me of the man-on-the-cross incident in Vulture, and the BSB reference in Sarah. I'm sorry but I have such high standards for Ms. Saracen. I was expecting--I wanted a Leni, or a Sarah, or any of those larger-than-life characters in 100th Gen/Ibis. After reading those books, the characters stayed with me forever.

Despite my rants, I quite look forward to her next book about Russian pilots. Ms. Saracen is currently without peer. She's the only lesfic author who writes lesbian romances into historically accurate stories that have engrossing, thrilling, realistic plots, and her historical fantasies are bold, somewhat heretical, one-of-a-kind mixes of history, mythology and fantasy.

4.5 stars

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I picked this book to read because of the title, it peaked my interest. I also thought that I'd read something quite like "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein. I'm glad I chose to read it, but when I did I found out that this book was absolutely nothing like "Code Name Verity", and I don't say that in a bad way. It was a very different novel, and not just because this one was set in Brussels Belgium.

On the surface the novel seems to be about two women, Antonia, an English nurse who becomes a British spy, and Sandrine, a resistance fighter in Brussels, she works with the Comet Line, an underground railroad that takes downed pilots and others being hunted by the Germans and their collaborators, either to Spain or Switzerland. Sandrine is also sorta in charge of the Brussels to Spain line.

But, really, I found the book to be about much more than those two women. There was also the Jewish partisans subplot. I really liked those characters and their story. And the other characters of the Comet Line were great too. (As were the antagonistic characters). I even found myself liking Suzie the dog. She even had a bit of a growth journey of her own during the novel. Sort of...

I thought that the author did a pretty good job stringing together all the different things the two women did. There were some big time jumps here and there, and even during those the novel's narrative hung together very well.

There were two things that I found a little problematic though. The first was quite a little thing. Towards the end Sandrine just totally disappears from the narrative. No explanation or anything (not to mention Laura seems to transport in for a couple of lines and then transport back across the country). The other, bigger, thing was the Sandrine/Antonia relationship. It just seemed off to me. A little too fast and a little too easy. In the main historical part of the story the build up and weaving of the story was so intricate. And by comparison the romantic relationship just seemed rushed and as I said-- slightly off.

Still, it was a thoroughly enjoyable book. I've read a few World War Two historical novels and I son't think I've ever read one set in Belgium. It was a nice change of pace.

I got this advanced galley through Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books. ( )