Late to the party! But I just finished the book yesterday and it was incredible. I like WW1 or WW2 books but not all are good. Many are focused on soldiers, the actual fights and nothing against that. But to see the reality of how people lived, I love those, especially written so well.
It is known fact that women were left to take care of kids, houses, themselves and suffered a lot while men were fighting.
But this was such a great book covering the horrors of the war, while at the same time, portraying a family drama on a small scale. The way she described Vianne and Isabelle. Two sides of one coin. And I honestly did not know who I liked more or less, symphaties flipping. You get how Isabelle wants to fight but understand Vianne needs to protect her child. Vianne turned into a hero of her own, while suffering incredibly. Isabelle chose it willingly and suffered terrible consequences.
I was at the edge of my seat and read last 100 pages til middle of the night to find out if they made it because it was so tragic, sad and yet you *knew* the end of the war was coming. The fact many people died just before the end of the war is tragic and sad.
And I was totally surprised by the ending twist >!that we, in fact, follow Vianne´s tale the whole time, not Isabelle!<
oh man that book wrecked me i read it like two years ago and still think about it sometimes the way both sisters are so different but you totally get where each one is coming from, that's what got me. no easy answers just people trying to survive in impossible situations. the ending twist got me too i had to put the book down for a minute and just stare at the wall
Reeading this as a french woman is a particular experience, these aren't abstract history to us, they're the stories our grandmothers' generation carried. if it deepens the book for you: Isabelle was inspired by a real woman, Andrée de Jongh, a young Belgian who set up the Comet Line and personally guided dozens of Allied airmen on foot over the Pyrenees, and she was in her early twenties doing it. knowing she existed made the Isabelle chapters land even harder for me. and i'm with you on the sympathy flipping, i started the book quietly judging Vianne and ended it understanding that staying alive next to the enemy, keeping a child fed under occupation, was its own daily act of resistance that nobody pins medals on. the twist about whose tale we're following broke me precisely because of that, the quiet one gets to carry the memory. which sister did you end up closer to by the last page?
I could relate as Czech. Forced to give up a part of the country, betrayed by allies and knowing what my grandmum told mě, makes it always difficult to read. She also used to add stories about how soviet soldiers "liberated" while raping women they were supposed to help to.