Book Blurb:
1944, Poland. ‘Take this message, keep it hidden.’ Shaking, I tuck the torn slip of paper in between the loaves of bread. I pray I can make it through the bombed-out streets and into the tunnels beneath this broken city without being caught. If this secret falls into the wrong hands, my sisters’ lives are at stake…
This heart-wrenching and unforgettable World War Two novel is inspired by the incredible true stories of the brave women who fought in the Warsaw Uprising.
Hana’s home has gone up in flames; the little bakery at the heart of the city is no more. Smoke curls into the sky and the buildings around her burn. But Hana has already lost far more – her blue-eyed fiancé was wrenched from her arms at the start of the war and her brave father was murdered by the Nazis. She’s determined to protect her younger sisters but every day more people are being killed…
Hana realises that one person alone won’t win the war and she has to accept her sisters are playing their own part in the resistance. Fiery Zuzi is working as part of a secret all-female combat unit while gentle Orla is a nurse in the underground hospital. As the women of Warsaw plan to rise up against the enemy, Hana risks her life to navigate the dangerous streets. The torn piece of paper she clutches in her hand has the potential to save her precious family.
It’s time to fight back. But when the moment they’ve been waiting for comes, will Hana and her sisters finally win back their freedom? Or will they lose their own lives as they fight for their futures…?
An emotional and gripping WW2 story of incredible courage against all odds and of the power of love and hope in the darkest of times. Perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Orphan Train and The Nightingale.
What readers are saying about Anna Stuart:
‘BLEW me away… I was in absolute AWE reading this… I could picture everything… SPEECHLESS… brought tears to my eyes.’ thatbookishvixen, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Absolutely heart-wrenching… I raced through this book… Grabbed me from the first paragraph and didn’t let go until the last line of the fabulous ending. Anna Stuart is fast becoming my favourite WW2 author. A cracker of a story.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Shattered my heart… I was in tears… So powerful you feel as if you are there… incredibly moving… Absolutely brilliant… this gut-wrenching journey will hit your heart… I highly recommend.’ Cindy L. Spear, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘This book is everything! It deserves every one of its five stars and more!… I can’t recommend this book highly enough, the writing and the storyline are exquisite.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘I couldn’t put it down… a heart-wrenching and emotional journey that will leave you in tears… My heart broke multiple times throughout the story… powerful… gripping historical fiction novel that will tug at your heartstrings.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Reading this book absolutely broke my heart… A haunting story that will stay with me long after I’ve turned the last page… heartbreaking historical fiction… Gripping and emotional… a must-read.’ Vegan Book Blogger, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘From start to finish, this book had me captured… Heart-wrenching… An emotional rollercoaster… I think I went through every emotion as I read this story. What a page-turner!’ celticcaston, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Utterly brilliant, emotionally charged… this truly is one of the best books I’ve ever read.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/KlRp2q
Author Bio:
Anna Stuart lives in Derbyshire with her campervan-mad husband, two hungry teenagers and a slightly loopy dog. She was hooked on books from the moment she first opened one in her cot so is thrilled to now have several of her own to her name. Having studied English literature at Cambridge university, she took an enjoyable temporary trip into the ‘real world’ as a factory planner, before returning to her first love and becoming an author. History has also always fascinated her. Living in an old house with a stone fireplace, she often wonders who sat around it before her and is intrigued by how actively the past is woven into the present, something she likes to explore in her novels. Anna loves the way that writing lets her ‘try on’ so many different lives, but her favourite part of the job is undoubtedly hearing from readers. You can reach her on Facebook @annastuartauthor or Twitter @annastuartbooks.
Extract from PROLOGUE
WARSAW | 5 NOVEMBER 1939
The noose creaks in the wind whipping across Warsaw and the three Dąbrowska sisters turn instinctively away, tears streaming down their faces. ‘Watch, traitors!’ The sharp order is enforced with the jab of a gun barrel in their backs. Their hearts pounding with hatred for the Nazis who have taken their country and are now about to steal the life of their dear father, they lift their chins once more. The noose dangles, one in a bitterly long row, from the iron balcony of the Pawiak prison, and Orla and Zuzi huddle instinctively against Hana. But even their protective big sister cannot keep them from this hurt. A door swings open above them and Kaczper Dąbrowski is shoved out onto the thin parapet. It is the first time any of them have seen their father since he was arrested two months ago and they cry out in shock. His once broad frame is thin and bent, his fine beard straggling and run through with grey, and his back, bare to the biting wind, is riven with whip-marks. ‘Kaczper!’ Magda, their mother, calls out, and he looks down. His eyes are full of infinite sorrow but he smiles. ‘Sweetheart,’ he says softly, as if they were meeting in a park on a rose-tinged summer evening and not on the brink of his brutal death at the hands of Warsaw’s occupiers. ‘It’s so very good to see you. And you, son. Look after your mother.’ Little Jacob, just eight years old, crushes himself against Magda and nods, his lip caught in his teeth to stop it wobbling. ‘Good lad. And my girls.’ Kaczper turns his smile on Hana, Zuzi and Orla, then corrects himself, ‘Young women now and beautiful, every one of you.’ They shift, not willing to see any beauty in this hateful morning but loving him for doing so. Kaczper Dąbrowski, master baker and dedicated town councillor, has always seen the best in any situation. His light doughs and pastries have only ever been bettered by his optimistic plans for the city he loves and which will now cost him his life. The noose creaks again as the guards lean out to pull it up, and Orla, only thirteen years old, sobs. Kaczper’s eyes sharpen. ‘Do not weep for me, children. I do not want you to weep, but to live and to love – and to fight.’ ‘Silence!’ The guards either side of Kaczper manhandle him towards the iron railing from which they will cast him, but he will not let himself be distracted from the family standing at gunpoint below. They are not the only ones in the prison courtyard, for the Nazis have others to kill this morning and their families, too, have been forced here to witness their own loss. For a month, this has been happening every day as the Nazis systematically kill everyone of any intellectual, cultural or political influence in Poland’s captured capital. They try them for treason and find them immediately guilty, barely bothering to hide the truth – that they are systematically removing the city’s leaders. They wish to cut the spirit out of their Polish subjects, but they do not know Poles. For centuries this country has been bent to the will of one occupier after another but it has never broken. And never will.
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