Historical Fiction

Very good and detailed book showing the progression of the changes caused by the Nazi regime. These were very brave women! I believe the author did a good job making it as true as possible. ( )

Las mujeres de la Orquesta Roja
Jennifer Chiaverini
Publicado: 2019 | 627 páginas
Novela Drama Histórico

El círculo clandestino que combatió a Hitler desde el corazón del Berlín nazi.

Mildred Fish, una joven recién graduada, se casa con el brillante economista alemán Arvid Harnack, al que acompaña a su país natal, donde un prometedor futuro los está aguardando. Los recién casados se crean una nueva y enriquecedora vida llena de amor, amigos y trabajo dentro del floreciente ambiente cultural e intelectual del Berlín de 1930. Pero el imparable ascenso de una nueva y malvada facción política cambia para siempre su destino.

Mientras Adolf Hitler y el partido nazi, a base de violencia y mentiras, se hacen con el poder, Mildred, Arvid y sus amigos deciden resistir. Mildred recoge información para compartir con sus contactos estadounidenses que incluyen a Martha Dodd, la vital y moderna hija del embajador de Estados Unidos en Berlín. Además sus amigas alemanas, Greta Kuckhoff, escritora en ciernes y Sara Weitz, estudiante de literatura, arriesgan su vida para recoger información de periodistas, militares y oficiales de los más altos rangos del régimen nazi.

Durante años la red de Mildred lucha en la sombra para acabar con el Tercer Reich desde dentro. Pero, cuando un operativo de radio nazi detecta una señal rusa, la célula de Harnack queda expuesta, con fatales consecuencias.

Inspirada en hechos reales, Las mujeres de la Orquesta Roja es una historia emocionante e inolvidable sobre gente normal que se resiste a permitir que el mal triunfe, sacrificando sus propias vidas y su libertad para luchar contra la injusticia y defender a los oprimidos.

While the story was based on historical figures, who did amazing acts to resist the Reich, it was hard to follow for a good part of the book. In my opinion, there were too many principle characters, making it difficult to follow the story as the author switched from one character to another. Aside from that, it was an interesting story and was well written. ( )

Historical fiction that portrays the gradual rise of fascism in Germany prior to World War II, starting in 1929 and ending in 1946, from the perspective of the courageous women of Die Rote Kapelle (the Red Orchestra), one of the resistance groups that actively opposed the Nazis.

The novel follows four women, three of whom are real people. Mildred Fish Harnack is an American who meets her husband, Arvid, during her college studies in Wisconsin. She follows Arvid to his homeland in Germany and becomes a teacher. Greta Lorke Kuckhoff is a German who studies in America, where she meets Mildred and Arvid. After returning to Germany, she meets her future husband, Adam. Sara Weitz is Jewish and is one of Mildred’s students. The Red Orchestra is a resistance group that includes their husbands, other family members, and friends. Martha Dodd, spirited daughter of the U.S. Ambassador to Germany, serves to lighten the mood in interacting with the main characters, though she is not an official member of the resistance.

This book is character driven. The female characters are particularly well-developed. Some of the male characters are not as well defined, but they are not the primary focus. The plot is provided by the course of events leading up to WWII. This novel is a detailed, well written, and historically rigorous depiction of how a group of Germany’s residents become activists, how they try to save their country from a malevolent regime, and how they attempt to convince outside forces to join them.

It is a long book at over 600 pages, but I highly recommend listening to the audio, which provides a slow immersion into the historical era. It allows the reader to get well-acquainted with these admirable people and feel their frustration as their lives change, gradually losing freedoms and bearing witness to the rising violence during Hitler’s ascension to power. The reader of the audio book, Saskia Maarleveld, does an excellent job with female and male voices and a variety of accents.

Resistance Women is an inspiring story based on real people that faced death to take a stand for their beliefs. It is a sweeping epic that provides perspective on how ordinary people can become heroic. It is historical fiction at its best. ( )