Review: The Silent Resistance

 

Occupied Norway, 1944. Anni endures the war alone, aiding the resistance while longing for news of her sailor husband. Her daughter, Ingrid, is her joy, and Anni is determined to keep her safe. But when a German official is billeted at their home, danger escalates, and Anni faces an agonizing dilemma.

London, 1952. Ingrid has been trying to understand her mother’s mysterious disappearance at the war’s end. Clinging to Anni’s promise that she would always come back for her, Ingrid sets out to discover what happened all those years ago.

Review

Readers of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society will find a new favorite in Silent Resistance by Anna Norman. This beautiful story of war, deprivation and shared humanity will leave you in tears for all the right reasons. 

I enjoy a story that looks at WWII from a perspective I haven't considered. This story is set in Norway and, while I knew the basics, the reality of being a people abandoned by their government as enemies descended was fascinating. Most people are pawns in a game played by those unaffected by the outcome -- a fact well-described in this work.

The intergenerational relationships of the three women were a real highlight for me. My heart was broken from the start knowing that Anna wasn't going to make it through the war as the mother she hoped to be. Anna Normann has created characters with real depth that speak from the page. The tragedy of war can't be avoided as we look at how the war destroyed the lives of people nowhere near the front lines. 

This is a beautiful story that will remind you that there are no winners in war. It's an easy read but well-written enough to have impact. 

Purchase Link - http://tinyurl.com/2n6sr5b6

Author Bio –

Anna Normann is the pseudonym of authors Anan Singh and Natalie Normann, and it all happened because of a bet. Sometime in the nineteen eighties, while watching a movie with a so-so plot, they started arguing about improving the plot and how they could write a better story than that mess. And then Anan’s wife said ‘I bet you can’t’ …

Since then, they have published seven books together in Norwegian, exploring different genres. Their first novel, set in WW2, won a competition in 1995 for ‘Norway’s best entertainment novel’.

 

Social Media Links –  https://linktr.ee/NatalieNormann

Review: Under Vixens Mere

 

If poor Harry Jones hadn't lowered himself into the water one freezing winter's night, a long-buried secret would never have come to the surface.

If …

Big Ed and Milly had been able to have children,

Karen hadn’t longed for love and romance,

Lorrie hadn't finally ditched Petra,

Dinah hadn’t found out the truth about Barry,

Jed hadn't dealt drugs and got Anna pregnant,

Carl Thomson hadn't come looking for him,

and Moses hadn't heard the commotion …

 

then there would be no story of Vixens Mere to tell.

Review

First...deepest of apologies to the author. We went to Japan and had travel issues. By the time we got back, the date had passed and I am woefully late getting this posted.

Under Vixens Mere is a delightful blend of interwoven stories with memorable characters. Kit Fielding has drawn a complex emotional drama from a tight-knit marina community that runs as much on secrets as sea life. The emotional dramas can be heavy - suicide, PTSD, survivor guilt, grief, and addiction. However, the heavy themes are balanced by emotionally-resonating character arcs and satisfying relationships between characters.

Second-person POV is not for everyone, so reader beware. I did find that it made following the plot a little difficult. There are so many characters - I did have to flip back through pages on occasion to figure out who was who in the plot. 

Overall, this is a very satisfying slow-burn human drama that pulls on the experiences of life in a small town to create a believable and immersive story that is likely to resonate with readers. Fans of The Light Between Oceans and The Shore are likely to fall in love with this one. 

Purchase Link - https://amzn.to/4hMNDDR

Author Bio – Kit Fielding plans and writes his novels in a motorhome at various locations around the country. 

The feeling of impermanence is natural to him due to his mother’s traveller roots and a childhood succession of tied-cottages accommodation in different parts of England. 

Kit Fielding says that there was always a curiosity about what was waiting, or was lurking, just around the corner. This legacy has stayed with him to the present day and it feeds into his work.

Social Media Links – Insta: @inkspotpub FB: Inkspotpublishing