Resistance Women: A Novel

Very well written with a close connection to historic facts and experiences regarding the times and 4 women's lives. It's a long read that held my attention 100% to the end. I cried at times and learned a lot. Highly recommend this book and other's Jennifer has written in the later years of her career.

Wow- the more I read, the more engrossed I became with this story, especially when I realized that, although a novel, how close to the facts and historical events she held to. Told from the perspective of 4 women, the reader is pulled into the intricate web of resistance that their lives took. Since each chapter focused on a different character, sometimes it was difficult to follow. Although well written, sometimes the narrative became a bit too “history book” sounding, thus my 4 star rating rather than 5. If given the option, I would give it 4.5. Well worth the read, especially if you are interested in WWII.

As a WWII historian who specializes in resistance movements, I often find myself enjoying the historical novels but disappointed in the romantic milieu surrounding this very dangerous work. Often, the heroine frames her story in a romantic, glamorous story. Noble, brave, and beautiful, these fictional freedom fighters lose their reality in the hazy, dangerous, dark world of spies. So when I saw the title Resistance Women I was intrigued but prepared for another superficial treatment. Instead, RW serves as a great example of blending fact and fiction to create a compelling, realistic evolution of the resistance cell, the Rote Kapelle. The three main characters, all female, are well educated and well placed in German society. They provide a glimpse into the powerful era of Nazi Germany and the destruction of civil liberties in the creation of a totalitarian state . Starting before the ascension of Hitler to power, you follow Mildred, Greta, and Sarah as they try to find themselves in an quickly changing world. Their reactions to the ever increasing shadow of the Nazi regime and how it alters their lives provides the driving narrative. Operating an informal network based on idealism, fear, and the need to topple the government, the women gradually spin a deeper and deeper web of deceit, treason, and hatred of the Nazis. Their work is based on the actual operations carried out by their partisan group. Dubbed the Rote Kapelle by the Gestapo, this communist resistance group was decimated ranks when they were caught. The Nazi government had no tolerance for partisan activity of any type, especially by Germans. The ruthless and merciless end to their work resonates in the last third of the book. While some of the characters have socialist leanings, their motives revolve more around bringing down the Hitler's regime than furthering a Soviet agenda. Long disgraced and forgotten due to the politics of the Cold War and one of the prosecutor's post war lies, the Rote Kapelle receives a powerful revival of its legacy in this novel. One of the best things of RW, is how the author weaves real life events into the day-to-day lives of the main characters. Chiaverini stays true to the historical events and uses them as the driving forces to the main characters. Written in linear form, each chapter covers a certain time span and is written from the point of view of one of the women. The author does a wonderful job of keeping it realistic and never has a sense of straining too hard to create a coincidental consequences. Her story rings true. A great example of this is the ever growing disregard for Jews in German society. Instead of modeling the Germans into evil monsters or heroic helpers, Chiaverini shows how devastating German indifference was to the Jewish population. You didn't have to be cruel or a ranting Nazi to show anti-Semitism. She reveals the sheer power of collective disdain and its powerful effect on society. Chiaverini also doesn't empower her women beyond the societal norms of the times. Often they are reminded of their places as women in a man's world, even by their husbands. Resistance Women taxes the soul and mind of freedom loving people. It is often hard to wrap one's head around the ever rising hatred and rhetoric of the Nazi regime. But viewing it through the eyes of these women provides a wonderful historical perspective that caught real people in its web of destruction.

Excellent Read…… kept me wanting more! Another well written book… felt as though I was there and wanted to help.

Recently I have been reading novels/books that contain events from WW II including the Holocaust, espionage books featuring women and others that increase my knowledge of that time period. As I age, I need to refresh my memory of those events from my classes in high school. This is a novel but it is based on factual events preceding WW II in Germany and also during the war. The novel itself is divided into four parts commencing in 1929 and ending in 1946. The characters are diverse in occupation and include teachers, students, authors, journalists....to name just a few. An American Ambassador to Germany is also added which allows for some interesting additional information. Imagine an invite to meet Thomas Wolfe as a guest at the Embassy? The protagonists are all ordinary people who sacrifice for their beliefs. Danger is inherent in many of their undertakings and the author has also added romance at the appropriate time. The antagonists are the Nazis....along with their 'brownshirts'.,,that seem to be everywhere. The Resistance is formed bit by bit, piece by piece and members are chosen carefully. The name of the group is 'Rote Kapelle' which means Red Orchestra... In the author's notes at the end of the novel fill in some of the factual items about the group. I love the fact that one member decided to care for the Orphans of this group after the war. And, was glad to see those additional notes at the end. Several things appealed to my senses...one being the burning of the books and the quote from the play (Almansor) by Heines - 'Where they burn books, in the end they will also burn people'. Incredible quote. And, In 1934, despite previous efforts, the few members of the group realized that totalitarianism had crept up on them. At that point, the Resistance decided to redouble their efforts. As a reader, I felt great empathy for the Jewish people thoughout. For some reason, the scene at the Synagogue when the Rabbi was being questioned by the Gestapo, really touched my being. Perhaps because I feared what may come next...not sure. All in all, a well written novel which will tug at your heartstrings throughout. As a reader, I kept wondering the 'what if' scenario. What if more people had resisted instead of being compliant? And, dear sweet Mildred translating Goethe into English....'Hope is eternal'... Most highly recommended and for multiple reasons, including the intense research done by the author to ensure the historical aspect was correct.

From the title, I assumed that this book would be about underground activities during World War ll. Some of this does occur in the last chapters but all the prior chapters are about characters who float in and out of the plot. It is very slow reading. At last few pages suddenly speed up to show the characters lives at the end of the war. Ok reading

Item marked as in very good condition. Sadly not with marks and wear on cover and outer edge of pages. Good price however and despite issue with delivery, arrived quickly.

Jennifer is now one of my favorite authors. Her style of writing and details of a characters life and journey are fantastic. Read everything she writes.

Atrapa desde el primer momento. Lo acabé en unos cuantos días, pues no podía dejarlo. Un tema muy triste acerca de mujeres atrapadas en una guerra insensible.

Good story. Long though

I enjoyed the way the women's stories were interweaved in this tale of the women living in Germany in the build up to Adolf Hitler becoming Chancellor and the leader of Germany and then through the 2nd world war. the gradual change and impact on their daily lives. They are not all jewish so the tale is woven well as they each struggle with their lives during this time.

Good book

Not a book I would read to relax and have fun. I persevered until the end although there was so much detail to absorb that I had to reread from time to time. I found that I was not much invested in the characters as a result.