Resistance Women: A Novel

An extraordinary book, well written, compelling and historically accurate. A must read for everyone in the extraodinary time in which we now live. It accurately describes how apathy and herd mentality can destroy a nation.

Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini World War II Historical Fiction is one of the best books I have read this year. There are are so many true facts it almost reads like non fiction. The characters, their lives and details are very realistic. I did not see any political basis with the characters no matter their nationality. Every German, Russian or American character was portrayed as human with good traits and bad. I was encouraged by the challenge that each person is responsible to struggle against the evil in this world.

Told in 3 different perspectives and spanning the years from 1929 through 1946 in an ever-increasingly difficult German climate, Chiaverini mixes fact and imagined information, as well as a character that is an amalgam of the many Jewish women of her day, the story tells of the German Resistance: those determined to do what they can to stop the growth of the Reich and the influence of Hitler on both German and World citizens alike. Mildred, Greta and Sara are all literary minded women, scholarly and thinking only to earn their doctorates and begin their lives as their lives are indelibly altered. Mildred, an American married to a German that she met at the University of Wisconsin, has forgone her life in the states (and her doctoral work) to teach American Lit in Germany. Greta worked from modest means in a small German town to get to America to work on her doctorate. Sara is the youngest daughter with an older brother working for a newspaper and her sister married to a Captain of the Wehrmacht, she’s also dating a German boy, a Christian who travels frequently for work. These three, through their salons and intellectual pursuits happen to come together in Berlin: and with first the increase in anti-fascist tensions that quickly escalates to Hitler’s election and quick rise to “chancellor” they are all quietly (and not so) working behind the scenes to pass information to the Americans, British and Russians in order to show the ‘real story”. We move through their increased levels of worry and vigilance as the restrictions and dangers increase, and the stakes for them all increase: messages to smuggled documents, struggles over emigration and curfews, and always, the ever-present danger of discovery. Operating in small groups, with few having connections to more than one, the three are key to showing the simple and subtle changes to citizens in a world where discrimination, anger and hate are not only commonplace but expected, if the leader is any sort of model. These were three women who didn’t and couldn’t simply ignore the change in the streets or the discriminations, helping others, speaking frankly, even going so far as to educate others to discern propaganda from actual news: it was a chilling comparison to the political climate today, as well as an engrossing and hugely emotionally gripping read. Told in four parts in blocks of 3 or 4 months the story flows with easily recognizable historic events, descriptions and imagery that invokes an emotional and palpable response. Most certainly this a read for those who want some ‘feel’ for just how quickly things can go pear-shaped, as well as a treatise declaiming the selfish attitude of those not speaking out because “they” or “their group” was untouched. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via Edelweiss for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.