Pam Jenoff has written a very good book, “The Winter Guest”, published by Harlequin MIRA. She has a list of other great books that she has written. I especially enjoy reading wartime historical novels. This one did not disappoint.

Two girls, twins Helena and Ruth, are left to raise their three younger siblings in rural Poland during the Nazi occupation. They, as are most of the inhabitants of Nazi occupied nations, are under constant threat of arrest or deportation for some imagined crime against the invaders. Rations are becoming scarcer and just keeping themselves from starving and warm takes all that they can give. Helena is the strong one of the two and takes care of gathering wood for the stove and visiting their invalid mother in Krakow. She sneaks in and out of the city because travel is forbidden between areas without a pass. Ruth takes care of the little ones, cooking, sewing, keeping house and sometimes resents Helena’s freedom to roam.

On one of Helena’s trips to Krakow, she comes upon an American flier whose plane has been shot down and who is hiding from the Gestapo and local police. He is looking for the resistance fighters to give them help. Because he is hurt, he cannot run and is dependent on Helena to bring food to his hiding place. As they become closer, Sam convinces Helena that she and her siblings need to flee in the face of further Nazi occupation and the threat of clashes with the Russians.

The beginning of the book is a little slow starting, at least as I read it, but then the story picked up and I was very interested in it. I was a little disappointed that I was not able to envision the countryside from the descriptions given. I always place myself in the habitat and lose myself in the novel in that way. Not to say that the descriptions were not accurate, but perhaps more descriptive wording would have worked for me. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and have other books by Ms. Jenoff waiting for me to read.

I was offered a free Kindle copy of “The Winter Guest” from NetGalley.com in return for my honest review of the book.

A set of 18 year old twins are holding it together for their three younger siblings, but not without the strengths of each other. Their mother is at a hospital in the city and their father is gone, so they must do whatever it takes to keep this family together. Helena finds an American soldier who crash landed in "her backyard" and she helps nurse him to health and helps him with his mission. Throughout all of this she learns the truth about her and her family and realizes that their safety may be in danger.

I loved Helena and Ruth as twins and sisters. I loved that they were foils of each other and that you couldn't have one without the other. They challenge each other and I loved their interaction most in this story.

I loved how there is a prologue that sets up that someone is alive and is about to recount a story that changed their life. Semi spoiler - I loved that there is an epilogue that wraps up the story and gives you clues because when the historical part of the story ended I was gutted because I couldn't believe that was where we were going to end it.

I want to keep reading Pam Jenoff's backlist and get caught up on all of her books!

Our apologies, this book was never reviewed by the requesting reviewer. If a review is written in the future, we will forward a link.

What's Interesting: Having to raise your siblings with the threat of Nazis! But then finding an American Jew soldier, and risking her family for him! Then falling in love and planning to run, but that her sister betrays them!