I'm of two minds regarding Sisters of Night and Fog.

On the one hand, this book features the stories of two amazing women: Virginia, an American who, along with her French husband, helps downed Allied airmen reach safety, and Violette, a spitfire British and French citizen who joins the SOE to fight against the Nazis in France. I did not initially know that these were real women, and finding that out halfway through the book did somewhat change my opinion of things. Violette's exploits seemed over-the-top, and I was a bit put off that the author was making her out to be so heroic, but it turns out the real Violette did all those things! It's still a bit crazy, but knowing her actions are factual rather than the result of the author trying to make an overly-capable, overly-brave character helped me to like the story more. Virginia is outstanding in her own right, she just posses a quieter spirit than Violette, and the number of men she was able to help guide to safety is incredible.

The two women's stories are explored in-depth, and this is where my real issue with the book lies. I found the story to be very slow. Yes, there's a lot of danger, and yes, there are plenty of nail-biting moments, but overall, I felt there were many scenes that could've been cut without sacrificing character development. It was easy for me to set down this book, and I didn't feel compelled to keep reading until about three-fourths of the way through the story. Once I discovered that Violette and Virginia were real women, I cheated a bit and looked them up, and knowing their fates made me want to see exactly how the author would handle things. By the time the women found themselves in Ravensbruck, I was glued to the page.

In the end, Sisters of Night and Fog is a fascinating read about two real historical figures who refused to let the Nazis destroy France without putting up a fight. Virginia and Violette had very different personalities, but they both loved their countrymen and their families enough to put their very lives on the line to do what was right. Although the pacing was an issue for me, this is certainly a wonderfully-written novel that will make you cry at the same time that you're cheering on the courage and tenacity of the human spirit.

Sisters of Night and Fog
By Erika Robuck

A Beautiful and Captivating WWII Story of Two Courageous Women


SUMMARY
 It's 1940, and the world is at war. Despite her American family’s wishes, Virginia d’Albert-Lake decides to stay in occupied France with her French husband. She’s sure that if they keep their heads down, they’ll survive.
 
Nineteen-year-old Violette Szabo has seen the Nazis’ evil up close and is desperate to fight them. But when she meets the love of her life, only for tragedy to strike, Violette is lost. She wants to fight and ultimately comes to the attention of Britain’s secret war organization—the Special Operations Executive—and she must decide just how much she’s willing to risk.
 
As Virginia and Violette navigate resistance, their clandestine deeds come to a staggering halt when they are brought together at Ravensbrück concentration camp.

REVIEW
Sisters of Night and Fog is a beautiful WWII novel based on the true and courageous stories of an American socialite and a British secret agent. The stories of these two determined resistance fighters were inspiring. Fans of WWII dramas will appreciate the strength of these women and the roles they actually played in real life. The book will motivate you to read more about them.

I particularly appreciated that these women’s actions relating to the resistance played a much more significant role in the book than did the horrendous time they spent in Ravensbrück.

The story is both gut-wrenching and enthralling. The writing is sophisticated, and the multiple plot lines are smartly structured. Author Erin Robuck has woven a touching tale that will be remembered long after the last page is read. Her attention to plot, structure, and timing is evident.

Robuck is the best-selling author of many books, including The Invisible Woman (2021), Hemingway’s Girl (2012), Call Me Zelda (2013), Fallen Beauty (2014), and The House of Hawthorne (2015).

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher Berkley
Published March 1, 2022
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

I wanted to love Emma Robuck's Sisters of Night and Fog. Nacht und Nebel was one of the greatest atrocities of the war. I'm not sure any number of books about it could possibly be enough, if only because people need to understand the danger of a government that attacks its political opponents and the inevitable conclusion of that policy. That said, the beginning of this novel is a grind. It's hard to care about the characters and the choppy pacing only exacerbates the feeling of disconnect. The real-life women were fascinating, complex individuals; Robuck struggles to convey that. Still, the underlying idea here is good and, from the middle to the end, the plot is engaging and tense. A better editor would have made this a better book, but I'm glad I read it. Three stars from me.

SISTERS OF NIGHT AND FOG by Erika Robuck is well written and researched. Violette and Virginia are admirable in their strength, loyalty, and determination. The story seemed to be two separate stories without much interaction between the two women. Interesting to learn of the history of women's roles played in the D-Day Invasion.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

I loved this book even though it is a hard subject, and it was even more moving to discover it is based upon the true story of two women in France during World War II. Violette and her family had escaped to England, but Violette is outraged about what has happened to her country. When her husband is killed in action she is unable to do nothing and when she gets a chance to use her French background to drop into France as a spy, she leaves her baby behind with her parents and joins the resistance. Virginia is an American married to a Frenchman and she refuses to leave her husband and his family behind to flee to America. Eventually she and her husband become part of the system to help rescue downed pilots. There is plenty of suspense and close calls and the two women eventually cross paths in a concentration camp. I highly recommend to readers who like World War II stories.

This book isn’t my usual genre but I decided to give it a try. Am I glad I did! This is a historical fiction novel that is based on the true stories of two women during WWII. The book is not an easy read. The women portrayed in the book show great courage. They both want to make a difference, they have incredible success at great risk to their lives. They also experience defeat and are ultimately sent to concentration camps. I couldn’t put this book down. I plan to check other books by this author. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

This is a story of two real life women, one an American Socialite (Virginia d'Albert-Lake) living in France with her French husband, and the other a young low to middle class woman (Violette Sazbo, who becomes an SOE agent) living in England at the outset of World War II. Erika Robuck brings to life their courageousness with compassion and great detail, and I'm happy their story has been told so heart-wrenchingly beautifully.

Two unsung women made a difference during WWII. Two women living in different countries made the choice to resist in their own ways. Virginia D’Albert Lake is from Florida. She marries a Frenchman and stays in France when war breaks out. Violette Szabo lives in England with her French mother and English father. She was shipped home when war broke out and is desperate to get back and do her part. The parallel storylines are suspenseful. The character development is superb. The appearances of other women spies add to the drama and heartbreak. This is a powerful, well-researched book that will keep you reading late into the night.

This is my second opportunity to read and review a novel by Erika Robuck. I will definitely be checking out her backlist. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

We meet Virginia, an American in Paris and married to a French man.

We meet Violette, a British and French citizen who marries a French man.

Both are strong women based on real people and who want to do more for the war effort than staying home. They both want to help their country fight the Nazis.

SISTERS OF NIGHT AND FOG begins with chapters of details about Virginia and Violette. As the war rages on, we learn of what they did.

Virginia saved downed airmen, and Violette went on dangerous missions in France to help rid her beloved country of the Germans.

They both end up being arrested and sent to Ravensbruck.

You will feel the tension as we find out how the resistance carried out dangerous tasks - some successfully others not successfully.

SISTERS OF NIGHT AND FOG is well written, marvelously researched, heartbreaking, and will have you devouring every page.

You will love the two main characters and admire their strength, loyalty, and determination. 4/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

A compelling WWII story of two strong women, related only by their common purpose in defeating the Nazi war machine by working with the French resistance. Virginia is an American living in France with her French husband, Philippe and Violette is a French-speaking Englishwoman who marries a French Legionnaire during the War. The two stories provide insight into the complexities of these brave women undertaking dangerous assignments to undermine the Germans and help the Resistance. Virginia and Violette meet after they are separately arrested, jailed and then sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp. The book is based on the true stories of two amazingly courageous women, the risks they take, their successes, the close calls they encounter and their failures. The story provides a fascinating glimpse at the dedication and true guts of women in the war effort and it’s a real page-turner. Thanks to NetGalley and Berkeley Books for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Sisters of Night and Fog is a great read if you enjoy WWII Historical Fiction. I like how this book focused on those who were willing to stand up and fight back during the war. It did start off a little slow for me but once I got farther into the book, I couldn’t put it down. Erika Robuck did great with expressing the character’s feelings, beliefs, and interactions during this difficult time in history.
I also really loved how the Author added, Notes on History and Character Choices, to the back of the book. I look forward to recommending it and adding it to my bookshelf in March 2022.
Thank you, Berkley Publishing, for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Powerful, powerful book about women's experience in WW2. Pick up if you're a fan of this time period. I loved the writing style here; descriptive but always action-oriented, pulling the reader along with the characters as they're pulled headlong into danger and sacrifice.

I struggled with this latest release from Erika Robuck. I was delighted to meet two more amazing women who were played instrumental roles in WWII, but execution of the story failed on so many levels.

The two featured women didn't cross paths until they were arrested.
The majority of the book is spent on the individual roles they played during the war.
Since there is no connection between the women until about 70% way through this book like you were were two separate books until that point. And even then, their connection is so tenuous.

The plot just didn't gel with me. I'm glad to learn more about women's roles in the success of D-Day, but I don't think this story started in the right spot for me to have a real connection with the women and their work.

Two extraordinary women in a time of madness and dread.

The heroines in Erika Robuck’s novels are always well crafted. There are two women in Sisters Of Night And Fog, making their way through the desperate times of German occupation of France in World War II. The stories of the two women take place in separate locations during most of the novel, Virginia in France and Violette in England and France. These stories are carefully entwined by Robuck in alternating chapters that, each with its own plot, create deep and complex characters for the reader, the contrasting feelings and circumstances of the two transcending the prose in many ways. There is wonderful imagery associated with each plot that, like the details on the periphery of a woman’s portrait, complements the character development in the story. Although the plot’s events are horrible, the portraits of Virginia and Violette are beautiful, which makes the grief in the story all the worse after the two come together at Ravensbruck.

The novel utilizes two points of view and an interval of decades. Almost all of the plot is depicted in the third person voices of Virginia and Violette during World War II. But the story begins with an unidentified woman talking in the first person in 1995 at Ravensbruck with another woman. There are hints at the identity of the women, but they have no meaning until the story progresses through several of the war years. A reader knows from the imagery associated with the first person narrator that tragedy will occur at some point. There is a “wave of nausea” at the sight of Ravensbruck and difficulty with reconciling “the withering body I inhabit with the woman I am in my mind.” This first person narration, positioned intermittently through the novel, is an engine of dread, revving its power when it appears. Suspense filled each chapter in The Invisible Woman, but it wasn’t coupled with the dread that appears in Sisters Of Night And Fog. In the latter, a reader turns the pages with a desperate hope that the worse will not occur.

No matter how many times one reads about German atrocities during World War II, the emotions evoked are almost visceral, and so horrendous as to be incredible. One cannot help but want to find some beacon of understanding in the darkness. Perhaps it is courage, a word often exchanged by the heroines in Sisters Of Night And Fog. Still, there is too much cruelty and misfortune for much light to shine, too much horror for the courageous survivors to claim a victory. For the survivors in Sisters Of Night And Fog, there is only a hollow victory at the liberation, and a fleeting one at that for the fact that nothing could change the shooting alley’s “wall still stained with blood after fifty years. There’s nothing that will ever remove those stains. Not from the wall. Not from the perpetrators’ souls.”

Sisters Of Night And Fog is a story replete with contrasts. In some places, the contrasts denote strength. Virginia and her husband, Philippe, are made strong by their differences. “Where she’s anxious, he’s calm.” The imagery associated with them make Virginia’s character complex: “He’s the sun to her moon. Their dance of opposites brings them each in perfect balance.” But Violette’s contrasts are rough ones, her personality challenging and her demeanor confrontative, particularly with her father. She has to dig deep to be strong. What comes to mind is a stag, stomping its foot before it bellows. This image is employed brilliantly by the author, both in England and in France, and, in a marvelous presentiment of the fates of the heroines, it is on one occasion associated with a German officer hunting. Another magnificent image is the day moon, a moon that captivates children. The day moon appears several times in the novel, but it is at the end, when it is combined with courage, that a redemption of a sort is suggested. Can making known the German atrocities and the women’s courage be a useful lesson concerning the scar upon humanity caused by Hitler? History educates, it is true. But can it be an inoculation against a future barbarity? Today’s barbarous acts have been made commonplace by modern media coverage, almost to the point that there is a dull acceptance of it by viewers. Perhaps, novels like Sisters Of Night And Fog can sharpen the blade of Hitler’s horrors that should cut deep into all of our souls.

Ericka Robuck’s mastery of the historic novel is in part due to her careful and extensive research of the era in which her stories take place. The heroines in Sisters Of Night And Fog were based on real heroines, Virginia D’Albert-Lake and Violette Szabo. Bringing them together into a single story attests to Erika Robuck’s creativity, what makes her novels so much better than most. She has taken these real people and historical events and woven them into a beautiful tapestry that can only inspire future generations, for whom this history must be kept alive.

NOTE: The manuscript reviewed is an Uncorrected Digital Galley. The novel isn’t scheduled for publication until March 2022. For that reason, this review is only posted on NetGalley and my website until publication, and references in the review to particular circumstances and phrases may be changed before publication. The quoted lines in the review may also change before the book’s publication.

It took me a little bit to get into this story and really care about the two main characters but once I did, I had to know what happened to these two very different women who showed such courage. Virginia the rich American who should have been spoiled and soft married to a French man, and the feisty Violette the English and French young mother married to a French soldier. Virginia rescued downed airmen and hid them till they could be snuck out of France and Violette who came back to France from safety to support the resistance and push the Nazi's out of her beloved France with the SOE. Both ended up in Ravensbruck and both fought to survive with hopes of getting back to their loved ones.

Told as memories reflected on during a trip back to Ravensbruck we are given a glimpse into the selflessness and bravery of these women and the people that they affected during the occupation of France.

Thank you t.o Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC