The Golden Doves
Martha Hall Kelly
528 pages
Ballantine Books
Published April 18, 2023
Amazon | Goodreads
I knew I was a fan of the current day espionage/spy novel, but I love historical fiction ones too! Who knew I could get through and love an over 500 page book in just a few days? An intricately woven plot about the recruiting of German scientists after WWII. I didn’t even know this was a thing before starting the book and then could not put it down.
Two strong women in dual timelines make for a compelling story. While I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, this was a nice twist on the war novel dealing with the after effects of the war and the start of the cold war. It questions justice for those responsible for such much strife and what happened to those that survived.
The amount of research the author put into this is evident. I grew to really like Arlette and Josie and wouldn’t mind reading about them further.
I both read and listened to this one depending upon my mood and availability and thought Jeremy Carlisle Parker and Saskia Maarleveld did a fantastic job narrating the story and bringing it to life.
I don’t think you need to love historical fiction to enjoy this complex story.
About the book
American Josie Anderson and Parisian Arlette LaRue are thrilled to be working in the French resistance, stealing so many Nazi secrets that they become known as the Golden Doves, renowned across France and hunted by the Gestapo. Their courage will cost them everything. When they are finally arrested and taken to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, along with their loved ones, a reclusive Nazi doctor does unspeakable things to Josie’s mother, a celebrated Jewish singer who joined her daughter in Paris when the world seemed bright. And Arlette’s son is stolen from her, never to be seen again.
A decade later the Doves fall headlong into a dangerous dual mission: Josie is working for U.S. Army Intelligence and accepts an assignment to hunt down the infamous doctor, while a mysterious man tells Arlette he may have found her son. The Golden Doves embark on a quest across Europe and ultimately to French Guiana, discovering a web of terrible secrets, and must put themselves in grave danger to finally secure justice and protect the ones they love.
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