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The combination of the WWII setting and my mixed feelings remind me a little bit of Sarah's Key, which #historicalfiction, #WWII

Robuck shaped the real-life figure of Virginia Hall into a courageous, idealistic, determined, and imperfect heroine I was intrigued by. “Because it will get worse before it gets better,” says Mimi. “If it gets better. And then, even if it ends, think of all the people emerging from the rubble. Think of the women and children. All the empty places at dinner tables. The resentment between those who collaborated and those who resisted. The remorse for the things we’ve done that we thought were justified by the ends. We will all be called to account.” The Invisible Woman is historical fiction about the real-life World War II-era spy Virginia Hall. Erika Robuck makes Hall appealingly realistic, with faults, desires, idealism, and an astounding baseline level of bravery that leads to realistically messy, sometimes tragic situations--and occasionally glorious victories. Hall, an American working for the UK, was a trainer of the French Resistance despite the physical limitations caused by her prosthetic leg (which she gained following a shooting accident). She's entrenched in enemy territory sending coded messages and drumming up supporters for the cause for longer than most agents manage to survive, so she has a persistent feeling of being on borrowed time. Her desire for vengeance against a man who has betrayed the cause has motivated her to continue slogging through difficult, dangerous, exhausting situations and never sleeping, resting, or eating enough. She's beginning to wonder if good can possibly overcome evil in this interminable war, but her ragtag group of brave civilian resistors is the inspiration she needs to keep going. Robuck has shaped Hall into a courageous, idealistic, determined, and imperfect heroine I was intrigued by. I really enjoyed Robuck's writing style, the details of the time, the pacing of the book's events, and the rich cast of secondary characters she brought to life. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? If you like reading about female spies, you might like some of the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Books about Brave Female Spies.

Valpy's detailed Scottish setting and character development are wonderful, and I was equally invested in and engaged by both of the interconnected timelines. The Skylark's Secret has a dual timeline; the story is set in rural Scotland during World War II and decades later in the same village. Flora and her village are supporting the war effort, temporarily taking in children from Great Britain's cities, driving supplies and ambulances, knitting, and anything else a scrappy community can do to help. Flora's brother as well as their childhood friend, the laird's son, are both serving in the military, and as luck would have it, they're both stationed nearby to make use of their familiarity with the area. The more modern storyline concerns Flora's grown daughter Lexie, whose London stage career has ended suddenly and whose mother has died. Lexie has returned to the village with a bairn of her own, Daisy. She's eager to dig in and learn more about her mother's wartime history, yet desperate not to be defined and constrained by the small town and sometimes claustrophobic neighborly interest that she was once determined to escape. Valpy's detailed setting and character development are wonderful, and I was equally invested in and engaged by both of the interconnected timelines. The author winds old Scottish folk songs throughout the book, using it as a fluid way of binding the main protagonists to their country and fellow countrymen. There's a low-key mystery Lexie is set on unraveling--key players are keeping secrets about events decades past--and initially hesitant attempts to reclaim love, song, independence, community, and general fulfillment. Not everything turns out happily in both timelines, but Valpy leaves the reader with a reassuringly satisfying ending. I received an advance copy of this title from NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK in exchange for an honest review. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? Valpy also wrote The Dressmaker's Gift, another World War II-era story (this time, set in Paris) with dual timelines; The Beekeeper's Promise, set in 1938 France with a second timeline decades later; and Sea of Memories, set in 1937 France and Scotland...with a modern timeline! She's also written other books. So if you're in for Fiona Valpy historical fiction like I now am, you have lots of lovely reading to look forward to.

Vera and Edith are such a complementary WWII partnership, and I loved spending time with these strong book traces the inspiring events from her mother’s incredible experiences before, during, and after WWII #historicalfiction, #WWII, #fourstarbookreview

Rees does an excellent job of taking us through Edith's amateur spy struggle and provides fascinating details of life in Germany at the end of World War II. It's 1945, and Edith Graham is a small-town British schoolteacher who is thrilled to sign on with the British Control Commission to help get schools back up and running for the children in war-torn Germany. Edith has a degree in German (and, more importantly and unbeknownst to her, an old connection to a hunted war criminal), and she's recruited by the Office of Strategic Services. She'll keep her cover by assisting with schools while actually trying to help locate Nazis. Smart but inexperienced Edith quickly finds that she must negotiate the various British intelligence groups purportedly working together--some of whom are unofficial--who have vastly different goals. One faction wants to use the horrifying knowledge of Nazi doctors who enacted abuse and torture upon Jews during the war; others want due process for these criminals; still others want to assassinate the monsters without delay. Edith must constantly determine who to trust as she seeks the truth and tries to ensure that justice is served. Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook alludes to the way Edith includes coded intelligence within her letters' recipes and chatty notes. Although I wasn't completely clear on how the clever messaging worked at a level of detail that would have been useful, it was easy to suspend my disbelief because I loved it so much. But even more interesting to me were the detailed snapshots Rees offers into the foods of the place and time--for struggling regular Germans as compared to the privileged, occupying British and Americans. The scarcity of supplies and necessary improvisations, as well as black-market riches, together served as a vivid backdrop for the story. The details Rees provides of this confused time in the world are wonderful: the complicated workings of different groups' postwar efforts; the bombed--or jarringly lush and untouched--settings; the creative, sometimes alarming dietary options; and the clothes and fashion. It's clear that she thoroughly researched all of these aspects. There are some implausibly long, expository soliloquys that explain the machinations of the Nazis or offer background on the politics of the American and British postwar factions. Toward the end of the book, I stumbled at some awkward scene transitions, and there is a late, abrupt point of view shift. I sometimes confused the various British men attempting to serve as puppet masters, but I raced to the conclusion of the increasingly interconnected, complex story lines because I couldn't wait to find out what happened to the key players. Rees does an excellent job of taking us through Edith's amateur spy struggle to determine what information to entrust to whom, how to extract the details she needs from unsuspecting sources, and how to stay alive once she's embroiled in a situation that turns out to be far more dangerous than she could have imagined. What did you think? I found the author's note about her inspiration for the book's hook and story line really interesting. Rees has written other books that look fantastic: Pirates! (obviously yes to this one), Witch Child (again, yes), and its sequel, Sorceress (yes). I first mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 9/22/20 Edition.

Atlantic City just before WWII, with its giant hotels, piers, and general hubbub, is the backdrop for The Atlantic City setting just before WWII, with its giant hotels, piers, and general hubbub, is the #historicalfiction, #oldnewyork, #WWII, #fourstarbookreview

01 Skyhunter by Marie Lu My copy of the book unfortunately does not have this gorgeously mesmerizing cover. But I'm still excited to read Marie Lu's latest young adult science fiction/fantasy book, the first in the Skyhunter series. Lu offers a story about refugees desperately trying to escape becoming conscripted into the Federation army; elite Striker fighters trying to salvage society despite the Federation's widespread and evil efforts; and the demonization of the "other." When a mysterious prisoner from the front arrives who could be friend or foe, our main protagonist Talin must figure it out before things potentially unravel for her and her fellow warriors. Lu has written the Legends, Young Elites, and Warcross series. 02 The Skylark's Secret by Fiona Valpy The Skylark's Secret has a dual timeline; the story is set in rural Scotland during World War II and decades later. Flora and her village are supporting the war effort, temporarily taking in children from Great Britain's cities, driving supplies and ambulances, knitting, and anything else a scrappy community can do to help. Flora's brother as well as their childhood friend, the laird's son, are both serving in the military, and as luck would have it, they're both stationed nearby to make use of their familiarity with the area. The more modern storyline concerns Flora's grown daughter Lexie, whose London stage career has ended suddenly and her mother has died. Now Lexie is returning to the village with a bairn of her own. She's eager to learn more about her mother's wartime history, yet desperate not to be defined and constrained by the small town she was once determined to escape. I love love love this so far--Valpy's detailed setting and character development are wonderful. I received an advance copy of this title from NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK in exchange for an honest review. 03 Writers & Lovers by Lily King Casey is an aspiring writer struggling with her novel, her mother's recent death, crushing financial debt, and a love life that's in upheaval. King must be a former waiter; Casey's experience working in a restaurant and the twisted community forged in the stresses and frantic pace of that world feel so familiar and real. Casey is in the awkward, sometimes painful age and stage of shifting from young adulthood to being a grown-up, with all of the complicating pushes and pulls on her attention, emotions, and energy. I'm listening to this as an audiobook, and it's flying by so far. What are you reading now? Last week I offered a roundup of Six Lighter Fiction Stories for Great Escapism; this week I'm bravely branching out a little more, although I'm still in an odd pandemic-era, post-election stage when I want all the books to have happy endings, and I have some doubts about Writers & Lovers. What's working (or not working) in your reading life right now?

#historicalfiction, #WWII, #spy, #missgrahamscoldwarcookbook 03 The Silent Companions Elsie thought she

book, see The Book of Longings. 04 Florence Adler Swims Forever The Atlantic City setting just before WWII

#historicalfiction, #oldnewyork, #WWII, #fourstarbookreview 03 Blacktop Wasteland ​ Bug is a respectable

two timelines--following a stewardess on board The Titanic as well as a British spy working with the WWII

The character-driven post-WWII story was wonderful, with compelling and lush detail and a gutsy female I thought the character-driven post-WWII story was wonderful, with compelling and lush detail about tough

and other books. 02 The Light After the War by Anita Abriel Vera and Edith are such a complementary WWII for the story of a few summer months in the life of an extended family is Atlantic City just before WWII

I was most struck by the character-driven WWII stories, which were haunting and lovely.

Donoghue immersed me so fully in this world that everything else fell away for me. Set in Ireland in 1918, The Pull of the Stars follows a nurse, Julia; a doctor, Kathleen; and a young volunteer, Bridie, over the course of three tumultuous days as the fiery, complex, capable women work desperately to help the patients at their understaffed hospital who are about to give birth while suffering from the devastating new influenza. The country is reeling at the end of World War I. Permanent holes have been created in families, and the loss of men has left medical and other support systems overloaded. Our heroines are sometimes trapped by the chauvinistic framework they're working within, and we see them try to create their own solutions to crises, follow tradition or improve upon it, and fly under the radar to instinctively and knowledgeably help their patients rather than rely on, for example, young, untested, book-smart male doctors. And then there's the no-nonsense, scandalous Sinn Fein activist and doctor Kathleen Lynn, who bursts onto the scene to Handle It left and right. She is unusual in that she trusts and delegates power to her nurses, who have long been hamstrung by rules and limitations (so that in many cases all they may offer a birthing or dying woman is diluted whiskey as they wait for the few doctors to come by the ward). Donoghue weaves a good amount of fact into this story. She offers sometimes horrifying particulars of early twentieth century medical care and exquisitely detailed glimpses into daily life and the workings of society at the time. And Doctor Kathleen Lynn was a real, formidable figure. I wasn't sure how wise it was to read about a pandemic during a pandemic. Donoghue doesn't pull any punches with the sometimes horrific details of the flu's devastation (or the varied life-threatening dangers of childbirth). There's a constant push and pull of life and death--a microcosm of what is occurring on the battlefields and in the world. Yet for the book's characters, the life-and-death wartime and influenza crises bring laser focus to the most essential everyday matters: living life as truthfully and joyfully as possible, fighting against unjust systems, and offering grace to others. The author allows her practical characters to imagine glorious possibilities beyond the scope of what is known to them, and this added immense heart to the story. Donoghue immersed me so fully in the moment-by-moment health and emotional crises; the women's determined, sometimes desperately creative attempts to preserve lives; and the occasional triumphs that the rest of the world fell away for me as I was reading. I couldn't wait to get back to this book when I was away from it. What did you think? I was engrossed. The author of the disturbing, fascinating book Room knows how to craft a story of survival and of finding hope in the most dire situations. I recently mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 9/16/20 Edition.

see The Vanishing Half. 02 Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland Atlantic City just before WWII

of this book, please see The Unexpected Spy. 02 The Huntress by Kate Quinn The character-driven post-WWII

two timelines--following a stewardess on board The Titanic as well as a British spy working with the WWII

see The Vanishing Half. 02 Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland Atlantic City just before WWII

I thought this character-driven post-WWII story was wonderful, with compelling and lush detail about

I was most struck by the character-driven WWII stories, which were haunting and lovely.

I thought the character-driven post-WWII story was wonderful, with compelling and lush detail about tough

#historicalfiction, #WWI, #thepullofthestars 02 Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating ​ Josh and Hazel