Any book that is discussing concentration camp survivors is going to be a heart-wrenching read and this was no exception. This book seems to be well researched, and the author did a great job of presenting the stories of these heroic women.

Lynne Olson does it again. I believe there is no higher praise for non-fiction than to believe it reads so easily and well that it could be fiction. Lynne Olson makes her historical works so accessible that they can be enjoyed by anyone and enlighten everyone.

The Sisterhood of Ravensbruck is not only about the women of the French Resistance in World War Two and their time in the camp of Ravensbruck, but it is about the bond these women had for life, how they cared for one another and made sure the trials they endured were not forgotten. The book could almost be considered two books, that of the women before and during the war, followed by those same women after the war.

Savvy readers may be very familiar with the first part as the story of Ravensbruck and the imprisonment of women north of Berlin has become well known through recent books, both non-fiction and fictional. What Ms. Olson does differently, and does so well, is find characters that can tell the story as though one were talking to a friend. From the trained cultural anthropologist, Germaine Tillion who brings her observational skills to the camp, to Genevieve de Gaulle, who helps us understand the political climate of both the war years and those that followed, Ms. Olson gives new and incredible insight into the women of the Resistance.

Those same women, following the horrors they endured, return to what is left of their lives and homes but they are not forgotten, certainly not by one another. The women support one another in their recovery, their grief, their professions, and most of all, in the edification of those who would deny that evils such as Ravensbruck ever happened.

Generally I highlight a few noteworthy facts or lovely phrases but in The Sisterhood of Ravensbruck I found myself constantly highlighting sections as so very much was noteworthy.

I highly recommend this book to anyone, whether you have an interest in WW2, in women supporting women, or in the pursuit of justice. It has repercussions far beyond the history of the time.

Thank you Random House for this arc.


The book focuses mainly on some of the French women who were arrested for their actions during WWII as well as the Polish women whose legs were butchered in experiments (hence the term they used for themselves The Rabbits). Other nationalities are briefly mentioned as there were many different ones since this camp housed (mainly) women. We learn a bit about the prewar lives of the French women and what they did before being arrested. Then comes the descent into hell. Knowledge of what to expect saved sanity and friendships saved lives. The “buddy system” kept women alive with not only physical but emotional care and support. Bonds were formed that would last lifetimes.

I was surprised when I realized that the time spent in camp was only about half of the book. What was left to tell? Well, the return to France and the attempts of these women to put their lives back together in the face of increasing public desire to put the war behind and forge a new future. People in general also didn’t want to hear the details, leaving the survivors to talk amongst themselves and support each other – again physically, mentally, and financially. Some found life partners, often men who had worked in resistance and also been incarcerated. One woman made it her mission to bear witness at the post war Ravensbruck trials to try and ensure that those guilty paid for what they had done.

the women didn’t look backwards but tried to take their experiences and help others who were marginalized, in need, and without public support. One vow that had been made, to keep the Rabbits alive in the face of the determination of the Nazis to kill them and hide the living evidence of what had been done as well as assist them to get help and reparations, had been partly accomplished in the final months of the war when the entire camp banded together to save these women. The second part of the vow would take over fifteen years, a public and media campaign in the US, and lots of pressure on the West German government to achieve.

These survivors never stopped working to better the world and would call out injustices – even by their own government in Algiers – when and where they saw them. What they endured forged lifelong bonds of sisterhood. Without those, many of these women freely admit that they probably wouldn’t have survived. The nightmares followed many of them all their lives. But they took the experience and turned it into something positive in what they accomplished publicly and privately. B+

Brilliantly written with gorgeous attention to detail, The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück is a breathtaking true story about a group of extraordinary French women who risked their lives for their country and paid for it dearly. Those discussed in greatest detail are Germaine Tillion, Anise Girard, Genevieve de Gaulle and Jacqueline d'Alincourt. Their steadfastness and courage under the direst situations ought to be lauded. The author does not gloss over any horrific detail or suffering but she also repeatedly inserts victorious stories of optimism and hope.

These four young ladies and others relied on their skills, talents, determination and tenacity learned in their interesting lives before World War II to unify in La Résistance. They participated in Paris' first resistance network and spied, coded messages, guarded library books with their lives, avoided detection and hid Jews and allies. But they were betrayed by a double agent and were transported to the camp designed to humiliate, torment torture and starve women. Soon the Nazis used prisoners for terrible experiments and killed them in heinous ways. But Block 32 differed from others; it was the French block where there was a high level of support and care. Prisoners did their utmost to help others survive and bring spots of joy into their lives. The women used "invisible ink" on smuggled paper, wrote coded information in recipes, mimicked scabies and sang. One even fed and raced cockroaches while in the Bunker.

After liberation, a pathetic commonality for the women is that no one seemed to care. Some even downplayed their experiences as after they healed they didn't look as physically bad as expected. Those who could returned to Germany to bear witness and bring justice. Most of the criminals went unpunished.

Though they would disagree, in my estimation these women were truly heroic. They actively stood up for what was right and defied evil over and over and over. Olson's meticulous research and information are phenomenal in every way, as is her evocative writing. My heart was torn and my disgust for how human beings were treated made me feel nauseous. Yes, the subject is very difficult to read but incredibly impactful and important. The more stories told about those who stood up against the Nazis and survived unimaginable conditions at camps such as Ravensbrück, the better. The harrowing and jolting photographs and illustrations are harrowing and lend a deeply personal touch which connected the stories to the women and their experiences. I could not possibly recommend this book more highly. It would be a shame to miss and ought to be required reading.

HUGE thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the eARC copy of this book!!

I think that, when training as a historian, you can't escape WWII. Everyone learns about it, maybe more than they want to know. My focus has always been American history, but WWII takes a very close second! I enjoy learning about it and hearing the first-hand accounts. I think it's an incredibly important (if often times uncomfortable) part of history to learn about and keep at the forefront of people's minds.

The Sisterhood of Ravensbruck is coming at a time when we're getting to learn more stories about other women in the resistance. I recently finished reading a different memoir about a female French spy during WWII named Pippa Latour and it was also phenomenal! However, Olson's book gives a new perspective that I haven't had the chance to read much elsewhere. This harrowing story gives us details about the lives of women living in the camps--some were captured Resistance members, others were simply Frenchwomen taken for their nationality, some were Jews. There were so many groups not just represented, but represented WELL. Olson gave each person in this text the spotlight, even if just for a moment, and ensured their stories and memories were recorded and would be seen by the reader.

This book is pretty clearly defined in three parts--before, during, and after. I felt that Olson gave more recognition to the "after" than a lot of other WWII accounts do and it was incredibly special to see how the women's relationships endured and flourished after their time in Ravensbruck ended BECAUSE of the way they tended to and cared for each other while enduring life in the camp. Getting to see that story line all the way through made this so much more powerful! I have to say that was probably my favorite part. I almost didn't want this book to end. I wanted more--more stories, more information, more connection. It didn't take away from the book (for me), it just made me more excited to find some of the texts Olson referenced so I can gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of the women.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to all readers. It's an incredibly important text and very well-written.

Title: The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück by Lynne Olson
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Release Date: June 3, 2025
Reviewed on NetGatlley, Good Reads and My Spice of Life facebook page.

If not for working so much, I would have finished this book quickly. Once picking up, it's hard to put down.

These women helped save lives of many before going to Ravensbruck and while there. Smart, creative, kind women whose lives we follow through good times and hardest times of their lives.

Lynne Olson is one of my favorite historians, and has a wonderful talent for bringing out hidden voices and stories during World War 2 that help us discover so many new aspects to that time. Her last two books (Madame Fourcarde's Secret War and Empress of the Nile) explore the lives of two women who were trail-blazers both during and after the war, but who during the war helped build the French resistance against the Nazis. The Sisterhood of Ravensbruck follows the lives of four women: Germaine Tillion, Anise Girard, Genevieve de Gaulle, and Jacqueline d'Alincourt who were also part of the French Resistance- and who were sent to (and survived) Ravensbruck camp for that resistance.

The book is divided into three sections: before, during, and after Ravensbruck, and I was a little surprised at much of it focused on the after. As you'd expect with any book dealing with Nazis, concentration camps, etc. there are some parts that are hard to read. But the sisterhood that developed among the women in the camp, particularly the French women Olson focuses on, brought with it such surprising hope as well. They helped each other survive through so many acts that it brought tears to my eyes as I was reading. The Polish women (called "rabbits") who were used as medical experiments in the camp were helped by everyone, including being hidden when the order to kill them came at the end of the war (if you've read Martha Hall Kelly's Lilac Girls, it's based on the rabbit's story). The prisoners knew they all faced death for defying their captors, but they resisted the Nazis again. The strength of the women, sharing their tiny amounts of food, medicine, gathering evidence of the crimes against them in the hope that one day they would be free to use it, was staggering to me. As I read I could only wonder if I would have been that brave, and hope the answer would have been yes.

It should come as no surprise that none of the Ravensbruck women stopped being amazing after leaving the camp. They continued to stand together to ensure whoever needed medical help got it, to help each other reintergrate into post-War life. They stood as witnesses for the dead against the crimes the Ravensbruck Nazis had committed. They helped the "rabbits" get to America for medical tretment. And continued to stand up against injustices and crimes against humanity wherever they saw them for the rest of their lives.

The inspiration brought to me by this story leaves me speechless. It is hard and uplifting, often at the same time– and absolutely a book we should all read and learn from. As we should learn from these women.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This is a very well researched and engaging book that provides an important learning opportunity to know more about these French Resistance members - their life before, during, and after Ravensbruck concentration camp.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

Ravensbruck concentration camp, though less notorious than Dachau, Auschwitz, or Colditz, holds a profound and haunting history. Thousands of women, including French, Polish, and Jewish individuals, were forcibly sent to this camp. The narrative of Ravenbruck is deeply intertwined with the stories of women from the French Resistance, their arrests, and their eventual imprisonment within the camp's walls. It is a testament to the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood that formed among the prisoners, both within and beyond the confines of the camp. The account of Ravenbruck is a harrowing reminder of the inhumanity perpetrated by the guards and the camp commandant, as well as a powerful tribute to the resilience and solidarity of the women who suffered there. Their shared experiences of hardship and healing are a poignant reminder of the human spirit's capacity for endurance. The struggle for justice and compensation by the survivors, particularly their quest for acknowledgment and reparation from the West German government, underscores the ongoing impact of their ordeal. Ultimately, the stories of these women are a lasting legacy, etched in memory and serving as a solemn reminder of the atrocities committed during this dark period in history..
I'd like to thank NetGalley, Random House publishing and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.
The release date is 6/3/2025

We meet four women and read their stories of resistance. To me, this book was 25% pre-camp, 25% camp, and 50% afterwards. I dislike saying this, but I also thought there was too many details on numerous other characters during the afterward. I struggled to keep up and keep my attention solely on the four women themselves. However, I still enjoyed this read. And really, enjoyed isn’t a term one would use to describe the atrocities of camps during WWII. I did find this read more on the “uplifting positive” view points of the women. I admire each of them endlessly. How they could even manage to still think somewhat positively during their encampments is beyond me.

💬 “We laughed to prove to ourselves that we were still alive, that we were still able to react. To laugh is to resist.”

The remarkable story of a group of French women who fought the Nazis and endured the infamous Ravensbruck concentration camp.

Any book covering the concentration camps is going to be a tough read. What makes Lynne Olson's newest book, The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück, different is that it is told with a more hopeful tone. I am a huge fan of Olson's and she reliably brings the story of multiple women who ended up in Ravensbrück and how they resisted in their own ways and as a group. Mostly, the book follows members of the French resistance who were betrayed to the Nazis.

The book is broken up into basically three sections. The women before the camps, while they are there, and after. This seems like a "no, duh" statement, but Olson spends more time on the before and after than most books on the subject. The time in the camp takes up a solid chunk, but Olson takes the time to explain these women so they are characters and not merely victims in the camps.

While I still enjoyed this one, I prefer Olson's previous books because this felt a little rushed and with too many characters. the subject of one of those books, Madame Fourcade, makes a quick cameo appearance in this one and I was reminded how well that told a full story about Fourcade and felt a little bit tighter. Basically, Olson is a slight victim of her own success. This is still quite good, and I recommend it.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Random House.)

Title: The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück
Author: Lynne Olson
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Release Date: June 3, 2025
Rating: 5 ⭐️
Finding the words to review this work by Lynne Olson has been difficult. After finishing the final page, I found myself wiping away tears while smiling broadly -
A complete surrender to two opposing feelings - and it took some time to confront the power of this book.

I’ve read a great deal of works on the Holocaust and Olson’s book stands out amongst them - like most works on the subject, the daily terror of the camps is vividly portrayed but it was a rare and intimate look into how those imprisoned came together and clawed a path of hope. The Frenchwomen continuing to defy the Nazis - spreading education, wisdom, and even joy in the darkest of moments - it provided a view into the concentration camps I’ve never seen before. These women prior to capture were already heroes. To not surrender to the anguish of the camps and build a community instead that worked together to continue to resist the Nazis is already astonishing but to somehow also find moments of laughter and beauty reveals a side of life in the camps that is rarely portrayed. It shows the duality of the steel and light of these women.

They should all be household names.

“Refusing to surrender to savagery and terror, they had demonstrated the extraordinary power of solidarity in fighting for freedom and justice.” This quote perfectly summarizes this sisterhood.
An absolute must-read for those who believe in the power of defiance against evil.


Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for the ARC.

Ravenbruck, as concentration camps go, is not as infamous as Dachau, Auschwitz or Colditz. Here thousands of women were sent. French, Polish, Jews. This is the story of the women of the French resistance, their arrests and ending up in Ravenbruck. It is a story about sisterhood in the camp and beyond the camp. Its about the inhumanity of the guards and camp commandant. Shared misery and shared healing. The fight to get their camp personal brought to justice. The fight to be compensated by the West German government, Mostly it is about their stories, ones you won't forget.

I love reading detailed historical novels like this one about important topics that not a lot of other books and authors may cover. This book by Lynne Olson focuses on the relationships between four different women (Germaine Tillion, Anise Girard, Genevieve de Gaulle, and Jacqueline d'Alincourt) who all fought against the oppressive Nazi leadership in France during World War II. All of these women were part of the Resistance movement during the war and did their part to fight back against the Nazis; they suffered torture and brutal interrogations as a result of this. This book goes into detail on these women's journeys and their survival in Ravensbruck, a concentration camp for women that was designed to kill them. The women in this novel are so courageous and inspiring and their bravery speaks volumes. I loved learning about them and their individual stories, as well as reading about the deep bond they all shared. I have not really read any books specifically about the Ravensbruck concentration camp, and I learned so much about this camp as a result of reading this book. I truly appreciate the author's efforts to shed light on the conditions of this terrible place and the inspiring stories of each of the women in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

** A huge thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book! **

Wow, just wow! I have previously read historical fiction books based on Ravensbruck, but reading the experience in a much more indepth way was very empowering and inspirational. This book brings to light the very real and hard challenges that many women faced years ago while they were part of the Resistance and as victims of the Holocaust, much less through a prison camp that history hardly talks about! More people need to learn about Ravensbruck and the smaller camps from WWII.

The four women are brought together in terrible circumstances and yet forge these extraordinary bonds and document the history and cruelty of Ravensbruck, while also serving their fellow women. Honestly, I think this is a book that students should read in high school and/or college because of it's nature in combining historical accounts in a cohesive and unbiased way, and breaks the mold of the cliche history book. Hats off to Lynne Olson for her stellar job researching and writing this book!

It's so hard to put into words how moving this book is. These women go beyond the definition of what the human spirit can do. I am truly struggling with finding the words to describe how powerful this book is. To honor them and many more like them - read this book! Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück How an Intrepid Band of Frenchwomen Resisted the Nazis in Hitler's All-Female Concentration Camp
by Lynne Olson was received directly from the publisher and I chose to review it. I had never read this author but I was really interested in this book as I had visited Ravensbruck in the past, shortly after the Berlin Wall fell. The author does a real good job of telling the tale of the Nazi atrocities at the site. Since it was so long ago I am uncertain how much is speculative fact and how much is real fact. I did read the entire book without skimming, which is a good thing for me nowadays. If you, or someone you buy gifts for is interested in these type materials, certainly give this book a read.

I had heard of Ravensbruck before I read this book. I’ve read a lot of history, including a fair amount covering World War II, and I spent many years in Europe. Even so, I’d heard and read far more about the other camps, and the opportunity to discover more about Ravensbruck interested me. Sisterhood of Ravensbruck more than fills the bill in that regard. Thoroughly researched and packed full of rich detail, this book is not only informative, it stirs the emotions in ways that are uncommon for books on historical events.

Tens of thousands of women were imprisoned at Ravensbruck during its years of operation, and while author Lynne Olson provides a wealth of background information, the book largely focuses on a group of Frenchwomen active in the Resistance who were captured by the Nazis and sent to the camp. The Sisterhood of Ravensbruck describes what these women endured, but it also tells the stories of some of the women they encountered at the camp, the hardship and brutality they all suffered, and the relationships they forged.

These women – French, Polish, Russian, and even American – survived the unspeakable, but there is little mention of them, or of Ravensbruck, in textbooks. Yet again history would shuffle them aside and marginalize their contribution, if not for books like The Sisterhood of Ravensbruck. The lengths that these women went to, to shield and encourage one another, defies explanation in a brief paragraph, but Olson does an incredible job of sharing their stories in a way that illustrates the courage, tenacity, and dignity of these women. And The Sisters of Ravensbruck is unusual in that it did not end with the war’s end and the liberation of the camp; Olson follows these women through the aftermath as they fight to regain their lives, and to gain recognition from governments who first refuse to acknowledge their contributions and then simply wish to forget their sacrifices. All while continuing to care for one another, even when it required that they find ways to defy and shame government bureaucracies to do so.

The Sisterhood of Ravensbruck provided me with a wealth of information on a subject I knew little about, which I expected. But it also moved me, which I did not, and I’m not sure that I’m grateful for that, but I am better for it.

Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and am leaving a voluntary review.