A review by ceeemvee
The Opera Sisters by Marianne Monson

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

3.0

 Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This historical novel is based on the true story of the Cook sisters, opera lovers who traveled from London to Nazi Germany and smuggled out jewels and furs for those hoping to find a way to England.  Two ordinary, unassuming working-class women, Ida and Louise save their money to buy opera tickets.  Serendipitously the sisters are introduced to fellow opera lovers, performers and conductors.  Through these relationships, the sisters are asked to smuggle valuables out of Germany for those seeking refuge in England, or anywhere but Germany.  Quite boldly, the sisters wear the goods by hiding them in plain sight, and keeping them safe until they are reunited with their owners.  After travel to continental Europe is halted, the sisters continue to help refugees by obtaining sponsorships and employment.  By the end of the war, the sisters were able to help 29 Jewish families escape from Nazi Germany.

My rating is only 3 stars because I had such mixed feelings about the writing.  My rating is in no way related to the brave and caring sisters.  While I realize it was an historical novel, I felt that some things were changed or embellished without any logical reason.  For instance, the speech given by Winston Churchill on Christmas Eve of 1941 is moved to 1940.  There is a chapter of the sisters reuniting with one of their dear friends after the war, however, it was a story of someone else, who the author indicates isn’t mentioned in the book.  There is a story of Theo, a Polish teen-ager the sisters helped, but we learn in the footnotes this is the story of another Theo, who was not helped by the sisters.  However, it does include a lot of historical facts, appears to be well-researched and I did learn some new things.  If you care to chill yourself to the bone, watch the short film A Night at the Garden, https://anightatthegarden.com. 

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