Sisters in Arms by Kaia Alderson (2021)

 

I LOVE reading historical fiction. More times than not I learn new things, in addition to enjoying a good story. Sisters in Arms has both covered. It is the story of the 6888^th Central Postal Directory Battalion (known as the Six Triple Eight), the only all-Black female battalion deployed overseas during World War II.

The story beings in 1942 with the formation of the U.S. Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (soon to become the Women's Army Corps or WAC). Forty black women were allowed to enter the first WAAC officer candidate class. This is when we meet our heroines Grace Steele and Eliza Jones, two women who could not be more different but grew to respect one another.

This well-written, engaging novel follows Grace and Eliza from the WAAC application process, through basic training until their discharge at the end of the war. It is a story about dreams, friendship, courage against all odds, and the prejudices the women faced from white officers, enlisted men, and the general population. Unfortunately, some things have not changed. Some of the supporting characters actually existed and others are fictionalized but based on actual people.

I would recommend this to any history buff.

3.7 stars on Goodreads, 4.3 on Amazon

For more info on the WAC and the Six Triple Eight Battalion, check out https://history.army.mil/brochures/wac/wac.htm and https://history.army.mil/html/topics/afam/6888thPBn/index.html

Our Darkest Night by Jennifer Robson (2021)

 

Our Darkest Night is Robson’s sixth book and I have read all of them but this one I couldn’t put down. The story takes place in Italy during the German occupation, a dark time which brought out the best and worst of mankind. Antonina Mazin is a young Jewish woman who lives with her father in Venice, her mother in the equivalent of a nursing home. When Jewish roundups seem imminent, Antonina’s father sends her away with a friend of a friend, Niccolo Gerardi.

Antonina Mazin becomes Nina Marzoli and goes to live with Nico on his families’ farm, posing as his Christian wife. Nina was training with her father to be a doctor and has no knowledge of the work required to run a farm. Guided by the last words of her father, “Eat the food they give you. Do the work that is expected of you. Never complain.” Nina slowly adapts to life on the farm.

Nico’s neighbors are leery of the girl Nico suddenly married and their distrust is shared by the local Nazi official who has a vendetta against Nico. Karl Zwerger becomes obsessed with Nina and learning everything about her in his quest for revenge. As the charade becomes a reality, can Nina and Nico survive until the end of the war?

Jennifer Robson has a doctorate in British history from Oxford and relies upon conventional research sources as well as personal recollections for her books. She doesn’t shy away from the horrors of the time. Robson’s writing style brings the characters and historic events to life.

4.18 stars on Goodreads, 4.5 on Amazon

This book is not available at EPL. Ask any of the reference librarians to get it for you from an area library.

Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy by Larry Lofts (2019), 940.54 L

 

Code Name Lise is the true story of Odette Sansom, a British spy operating in occupied France during World War II, who fell in love with her commanding officer, Captain Peter Churchill. In 1942, Odette’s British husband is off fighting and she leaves her three daughters behind to become a SOE agent and spy for her adopted country. Peter and Odette are eventually captured by the German secret police. The pair are sent to Paris’s Fresnes prison, and from there to concentration camps in Germany where they are starved, beaten, and tortured. No matter how bad it gets, Peter and Odette never give up hope, their colleague’s whereabouts, or their love for each other.

The author seamlessly weaves together the growing romance between Odette and Peter and their many missions which put them in the crosshairs of the secret police. Although non-fiction, Code Name: Lise contains all the elements of WWII spy thriller.

3.94 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon