The Opera Sisters tells the story of two sisters who spent the long years of WW2 saving as many lives as they could. Though few in number, the impact they had on each family they saved is infinite. This book is rich with historical detail, touching moments, and inspiration. One of the biggest takeaways readers can walk away with is this: Help others, no matter if those around you stay silent. Be brave, even when others hide away. Never give up, no matter if everyone else has. Because the impact we can make in a broken world when we refuse to stay silent or still is astounding.

(CW: N/A This book was squeaky clean!)

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an eARC of The Opera Sisters. A positive review was not required, only my honest opinion. All thoughts are expressly my own.

I had heard a lot of hype about this book, so I grabbed a copy (thank you Netgalley and Shadow Mountain publishing). It is very evident the author did a lot of study and research for this book. I loved reading about the amazing work, courage, creativity, survival skills and determination, these sisters had. The amount of people they helped, be it 29 families to hundreds of individuals, is incredible. Everyone one of those people were blessed by the diligence of those sisters. As for the writing, I didn’t feel drawn into story. The facts and footnotes were too distracting. Was it written as a fiction or nonfiction? While some facts are essential to making a story pop off the page, too many can weight it down. In addition, keeping track of so many characters, made my head swim. So in the end, I do not regret reading the book, because the history and interesting personal stories. I really didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters and the storyline was more like a timeline. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A fascinating look into such a dark time in history. This was so well written and had me from the very beginning.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I loved it! It was filled with love, loss, hope and sorrow. Marianne did a fabulous job on a very sensitive part of history and made me have hero worship for these two sisters. Definitely recommend!

Just when you think you’ve read or heard all the really great stories about the greatest generation, a book like the Opera Sisters comes along and shows me that we will never, ever be able to tell ALL of the stories, but we should endeavor to learn all the stories available to us.

To look at the official data of their lives, one might assume that Ida and Louise Cook were simply two spinster sisters who worked hard and loved music and their cat.

In truth, they were these things, but they were also brave, courageous, kind, compassionate, generous, and loved. As Europe turned darker and darker at the edge of the 1930s, they risked their lives to help many refugees find a safe place to survive World War 2. They stretched themselves to the limit to help virtual strangers and their hearts broke when they couldn’t rescue everyone.

This book is worth reading just to learn from Ida and Louise. The narrative feels a bit stilted at times and I felt like the book tried to cover too much of the war. It wasn’t a “read straight through” book for me. I had to take it in smaller chunks, which sometimes made it hard for me to remember characters and timelines. While The Opera Sisters wasn’t my favorite WW2 read, I am absolutely glad I read it!

Thank you to the author and Shadow Mountain Publishing for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The Opera Sisters by Marianne Monson is a roller coaster of a novel. In this novel we meet the Cook sisters, Louise, and Ida. Through the sisters, we are exposed to the wonders of opera. We have operas and operatic songs explained to us. We meet several operatic personalities of the time. Highly informative, very entertaining. The Cook sisters also takes us to the terrible world of Jews in Germany leading up to the war. We meet many men, women, children, and families (based on true people) who are suffering under Nazi rule. Ida and Louise, through tireless work endeavor to recuse as many as possible. We see the struggle through the sisters’ eyes as well as through the eyes of the many people they save. Throughout the book are footnotes which explain some of historical and personal facts. This is a fiction novel which reads like non-fiction. The bond between sisters is also highlighted in this novel. To raise money, Ida Cook write romance novels and becomes a published author under the name of Mary Burchell. Very interesting and enlightening book. I learned historical facts and situations I never knew. Will recommend it to friends.

Loved this book! And a portion of the royalties are donated to the Holocaust memorial efforts

I really enjoyed the list of real people at the beginning

Ida and Louise are sisters who go to the German opera while Hitler is rising in power, Jewish members approach the sisters for help and it's beautiful and heartbreaking

The publisher’s blurb is a little sensational, but the basic idea is there. These two ordinary women saved the lives of 29 families by helping them to leave the oppression of the Nazi regime before WWII started.

Rather than a “normal” chapter format, this story is told in vignettes of varying lengths. Some of those vignettes are more about the history of the war than about the story at hand, but it all hangs together to give the reader the full picture of what Louise and Ida lived through. The scrupulous research is evident in the suggested reading list and lengthy end notes.

We mostly see Ida’s experience; Louise was able to leave London during the Blitz, but Ida lived through all the horror. We see her depression at not being able to save more people, and her horror at night after night of German bombing. We also see her hope in the little things, like a garden of crocuses in an otherwise obliterated street.

Because this is closely based on true lives and history, there’s not necessarily the dramatic climax that we look for in a work of fiction. But there is a very happy (at least for me) resolution.

It should be noted that the author is donating a portion of her earnings from this book to Holocaust memorials.

Possible Objectionable Material:
We see the atrocities of Jewish oppression, including Kristallnacht and mention of concentration camps. There are some quite descriptive passages of nights of German bombs raining down on London, and the injuries that resulted. Technically, Ida and Louise are smugglers, as they take the jewels and furs of their Jewish friends back to England with them.

Who Might Like This Book:
Those who like stories based in truth. If you’re interested in WWII heroes, and especially the ones you’ve never heard of before, give this book a try. It’s appropriate, I think, for anyone from middle school on up, although younger readers might find it a bit slow going.

Thank you to Shadow Mountain Publishing and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for my opinion.

This book also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2022/09/im-back-with-great-wwii-novel-based-on.html

So loved all the detailed history contained within these pages and footnoted so clearly. It definitely intrigued me and had me busy reading more factual history online. Books where I am learning while reading a story are my very favorite literary experience. This read focuses on two amazing sisters who risked their lives many times to help Jewish citizens escape their very threatened lives during the war. Their love for opera opened up a whole new world for them. The book serves as a reminder of the power of music…used to both soothe the masses, but also by the Nazis to torture. I was fascinated by Clemens Krause and felt the need to further research him. I was also surprised at the support Hitler had from Americans early on. I have read other books that alluded to this as well so off to research I will go. I loved both Louise and Ida, very different but both so very committed. They were both exceedingly brave.
I was so disheartened to read about how devastated the country of England was by the constant bombing. I enjoyed learning about doodlebugs. I cannot imagine living through this siege day after day.
The most moving part of the book for me was a speech by Churchill quoted within the book, “(This is the) victory of the cause of freedom in every land. In all our long history, we have never seen a greater day than this….The lights went out and the bombs came down. But every man, woman and child in the country had no thought of quitting the struggle. London can take it.”
“I say that in the long years to come not only the people of this island but of the world, wherever the bird of freedom chirps in human hearts, will look back to what we’ve done and they will say “Do not despair, do not yield to violence and tyranny, march straightforward and die, if need be, unconquered.” Such timely words that still hold true today for the citizens of Ukraine.
My deep admiration to Marianne Monson for giving me the opportunity to learn so much history in such an interesting way, Shadow Mountain for seeing the brilliance of this read, and NetGalley for affording me the absolute pleasure of reading an arc of this recently published book.

I love the fact that this book is based on real people! When you read a book and love the characters, it's definitely cool that they were real people! It was really inspiring to read about their work. The format took some getting used to, as there were lots of short passages ( some about the people Ida and Louise worked with or those they helped, some showing the events happening around the world as war approached, etc.), that initially seemed jarring to me. I did find the information in those short passages very interesting, but it broke up the flow of the main story somewhat. Overall, a very interesting story about a couple of amazing women!

4 stars.

I read an ARC provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own.

This was such an inspiring story! Humans are incredible. I love stories of ordinary people showing such bravery to help complete strangers. Ida and Louise's story is one that should be heard. If you are a fan of WWII novels, this is a great pick! I loved the chapters with background information- it helped give context to what the sisters did, and what was happening in the war. I learned so many details of the war that I'd never heard before. I love that it is all based on true stories. It was a great read!

Quite a few days late but, A big thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for approving me of a copy of an e-arc of this book!
Absolutely DEVOURED this book! Was really anticipating to read it, and having finally read it, I feel accomplished in life.

An absolute riveting read that kept me enthralled! Historical fiction at its finest
Especially as it’s true story brought to life again

Book review: The Opera Sisters by Marianne Monson
.
“I hope you know, my dear, that you have an astounding talent for love”
.
This was such an incredibly written book. Ida and Louise had such a close sister relationship and they both weren’t afraid to work hard and sacrifice to get what they want. I love how the lives in this book weave together. I thought the despair was written so well I could feel it in my heart as the sisters hearts broke for those they could save! I also felt the sense of unity and the attempts to find joy even through the suffering.

As a lover of history I appreciated the footnotes that expanded and added to the history. I also loved all the secrets and sneaking around right under hitler’s nose! Every time I read a book about WW2 I learn more and more. This was such a well researched and put together book!
.
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Based on the real story of two opera loving sisters, who work within the British immigration system to save the lives of hundreds of people before WWII broke out in Europe. The book has an interesting layout with the story interspersed with chapters just about history to help give perspective on what’s going on as the sisters work to save Jews and more from being killed or sent to concentration camps. There are some stories that are hard to read because of the horrible things done to the people as Hitler comes into power.

What a disappointment! Clunky writing and weak characterizations make what should have been a really ripping World War II novel a complete miss.

The bones of an amazing story are right here. Louise and Ida Cook were middle class sisters working as typists in South London. They love opera and attend every possible performance when they can scrape the money together. Their finances get a boost when Ida starts writing romance novels for the iconic British publisher Mills and Boon. This begins their visits to the great opera houses of Austria and Germany. It also begins their careers helping Jews who were trying to escape the Nazis get precious items to safety so they can begin their lives again, since Britain required immigrants to show proof that they could support themselves.These dowdy young women would wear stunning jewelry with their twinsets and wool skirts, telling anyone who asked that they didn’t trust their family and took all their jewelry with them when they traveled. Ida and Louise also passed messages to the resistance and met with contacts.

“The Opera Sisters” isn’t sure whether it should be a novel or a biography. Awkward footnotes break up the story. The dialogue is wooden. A sad waste of a story of courage and invention.

Louise and Ida Cook live in London. They are both enamored with Opera. Louise works for civil service and Ida writes novels. They live with their parents to save money to buy a gramophone as they love music.

Eventually they travel abroad to follow their favorite opera stars and make friends with many. With Hitler rising in power they see how the Jewish people are treated and the many changes.

Since they have been traveling for awhile they decide to travel to Germany to help people undercover. At the Berlin Opera house they are approached to help save some of the Jewish peoples valuables including furs and jewels.

Conductors Clemons Krauss and Bruno Walter want to host a Festival in Salzburg and they look to the Cook sisters for help. The story evolves with everything they endured to help people.

This novel is based on the real life Cook sisters “who smuggled out valuables out of Germany to finance a daring operation to help Jews find a new home in England.”

I had never heard of the Cook sisters and found this fascinating.

I enjoyed this book waaaay more than I was expecting. It started off a little dry with a lot of information that was like "yea, doesn't everyone know this?", but as that information continued throughout the book, it became my favorite part. Not even touching the story of Ida and Louise, just the background information that was provided about Hitler and the leadup to WWII was some of the most comprehensive I've ever read, fiction or non-fiction. And I read a lot of WWII historical fiction and non-fiction. It was nice that this information was given alongside Ida and Luise's timeline so you got a full picture of what was happening across Europe, not just the parts that the Cooks were aware of.

That's not to say that I didn't love the Cooks' timeline. I don't really know much about Opera, but that doesn't stop you from appreciating their love of. I also wonder what it was like to be openly working with the Nazi's, but to be secretly working with the resistance/underground. It must have been terrible to be seen as a collaborator by your friends and neighbors without being able to defend yourself. I liked that we got a small glimpse of that through a couple of characters. I'm glad the Cook sisters will have their story told for current and future generations. I hope they both died knowing the impact they had on the people they saved and I hope Ida was able to forgive herself for not savings everyone.

If it's not clear from my review, I would highly recommend this book for lovers of WWII historical fiction or anyone wanting to dip their toes in the genre!

One brave woman can make a huge difference.

More people need to know this amazing true story. Ida and her older sister Louise use attendance at various operas in Germany as a cover for helping Jewish people in danger escape the country. They’re just ordinary women, without wealth or power, but determined to do all they can. Incredibly, Ida published 112 romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Burchell to provide for the people she rescued. The book starts in Munich in 1923 and ends in America in 1947. A lot of facts and real people are introduced throughout the many very short chapters, along with detailed notes at the end. Their successful efforts to rescue strangers in trouble are inspiring despite the sad and tragic details. It is unbelievable the way people treated other people, and not just those in power. Even ordinary good people turned against their long-time neighbors and friends.

This is a cross between historical fiction and well written nonfiction. The story of Ida and Louise is divided up with stories of the many people they rescue and historical facts and details about WWII. The chapters skip from story to story and background info. If read like just a novel it is choppy and hard to get into, but if read like more of a history book it is captivating and five solid stars. Thanks to Shadow Mountain Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC to use for my review.

I seem to be reading a lot of books lately that are set in the time of World War II. Almost all of them have been centered on the people who were being persecuted—the horrible things that they had to endure and the suffering they went through to survive—with some of them not living though it all.

The Opera Sisters tells the same story of the war but from a different perspective. This is the story of two sisters who came to the aid of those very same people who were being persecuted and were suffering. Based on true events, sisters Ida and Louise Cook were able to get a lot of people out of dangerous situations and to safety. Under the guise of the opera, they built up a network of friends and connections who helped them with their mission of saving people.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I learned so much about the world of opera but I was also able to see another side to a terrible time in our world. There really were a lot of good people helping so many in need. Like I said, this is a different spin to the usual WWII story so if you like historical fiction of that time period, you will definitely want to read this one. I highly recommend The Opera Sisters.