Courage. It’s what Virginia and Violette harness as they navigate life during the war in Sisters of Night and Fog by Erika Robuck. The more books I read that are set during WWII, I have to come expect the story to be heavy. This book is no different. It’s a nice, long read that alternates between the lives of Virginia and Violette as they navigate the changes in their young lives that are significantly impacted by the invasion of the Nazis.

The story opens when Virginia and Violette are young adults and follows them into marriage, adjusting to life during a war with rations, curfews, and living in a state of fear, to resisting the enemy. Virginia is an American married to a French man. She is a strong woman who welcomes any opportunity to actively support their allies. Violette is only 19 years old when she marries her soulmate. She suffers a lot for such a young woman and her suffering motivates her to take on the Nazis. She is recruited by Britain’s Special Operations Executive, a secret war operation that trained her to be an agent to gather intelligence to fight the Nazis.

This story highlights the great work of Virginia and Violette as well as describing the unimaginable horrors and suffering of people during the war. While there are moments this book made me smile or even laugh, it also broke my heart and brought me to tears. It’s an important story that will stay with me.

It wasn’t until I finished this book that I realized it’s described as biographical fiction, rather than historical fiction. As I gather from the author’s note at the end of the book, a significant amount of this story is true. I realize it’s a fictional book; however, these courageous women and their astounding stories are real. The research that went into learning the lives of these women is impressive! Clearly Erika immersed herself into the heroic lives of Virginia and Violet.

I purchased the audiobook from Audible. Narration by Caroline Hewitt is amazing! She makes the listening experience very enjoyable as she navigates all of the dialects and accents effortlessly. Her talent for narrating this story is extraordinary!

I have photos and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog ( )

In yet another historically based novel, courage encounters the consummate evil. Nicolette and Virginia are resistance fighters in France during WWII. Nicolette is a widow with a young daughter and Virginia, an American, stands beside her French husband during the invasion of the Nazis. Their harrowing stories are told in alternating chapters until they are captured and meet at Ravensbruck, the notorious prison camp with conditions that are utterly deplorable and Nazi guards who relish in inflicting the harshest possible punishments to human beings who are little more than living skeletons.

Their stories are told in graphic detail to ensure readers understand the risks they willingly undertook to help and provide comfort to those most in need of their services. The strength of the convictions of all resistance fighters to fight a wickedness beyond comprehension deserves lasting attention and our profound respect. ( )

Initially, I had to keep putting this book down (due to "life") so it was hard to get into the story. But once I did, I was sucked in! I kept stopping to Google more information on these women, fascinated by their story, strength, determination, and will to live, and to help others.
I love HF, and this was another great story that opened my eyes to more brave people who made a difference in the war. Amazing story, amazing research, amazing wriing! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book. ( )

Great subject matter and, having read in-depth on the two women in the book, I was looking forward to this. However, despite the plethora of information available to the Author, that could have made this a truly outstanding read, it felt more like snooping though their personal diaries. I really didn't like the writing style used in this novel, and put it down after a few chapters. ( )

Interesting premise, terrible, cliche-ridden writing. May have to visit ophthalmologist from rolling my eyes so much. Did not finish. ( )