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A review by pagesandplannersabroad
When We Were Brave by Suzanne Kelman
5.0
Thank you to Net Galley and Bookouture for the free advanced reader's copy.
When We Were Brave tells the story of two women. Sophie Hamilton is a high-end solicitor who loses her young daughter unexpectedly. As a way to cope with her sudden loss, she leaves her job and finds a different job working as an archivist of historical materials. While working on a project, she comes across a photograph taken in 1944 with a woman who looks like someone in her family. Asking after the picture, it turns out to be her long lost great aunt Vivienne--the black sheep of the family. Vivi was last seen leaving Cornwall fleeing to Nazi-controlled France with a Nazi!
Suzanne Kelmen goes back and forth from Present Day to WWII reconstructing events. There are times we see what Vivi and Marcus -the Nazi- are doing and experiencing in the past. At times, we are with Sophie in the present as she discovers pieces of the past in the present.
I highly recommend this historical fiction novel. it is fast paced. It keeps you guessing. At times, I wanted to take Vivi to task for being so naive during her time in the SOE but that brings authenticity to the character. It is a love story in more than one way.
When We Were Brave tells the story of two women. Sophie Hamilton is a high-end solicitor who loses her young daughter unexpectedly. As a way to cope with her sudden loss, she leaves her job and finds a different job working as an archivist of historical materials. While working on a project, she comes across a photograph taken in 1944 with a woman who looks like someone in her family. Asking after the picture, it turns out to be her long lost great aunt Vivienne--the black sheep of the family. Vivi was last seen leaving Cornwall fleeing to Nazi-controlled France with a Nazi!
Suzanne Kelmen goes back and forth from Present Day to WWII reconstructing events. There are times we see what Vivi and Marcus -the Nazi- are doing and experiencing in the past. At times, we are with Sophie in the present as she discovers pieces of the past in the present.
I highly recommend this historical fiction novel. it is fast paced. It keeps you guessing. At times, I wanted to take Vivi to task for being so naive during her time in the SOE but that brings authenticity to the character. It is a love story in more than one way.