TYPORAMA
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For fans of Kate Quinn and The Nightingale, a gripping story of a young Jewish girl who joins an elite Russian sniper unit and embarks on a mission targeting the highest prize of World War II: Adolph Hitler.
PRAISE FOR THE NIGHT SPARROW:
"In The Night Sparrow, Sanders dazzles us with her impeccable research and engaging storytelling skills. Elena Bruskina’s stint in the Red Army’s all female sniper unit (and later as an interpreter) highlights the resilience, comradeship and the callous realities of war. This is a gripping and historically authentic novel, sprinkled with the 'delectable irony' of a Jewish woman stalking Hitler." — Lisa Brahin, author of Tears Over Russia: A Search for Family and the Legacy of Ukraine's Pogroms
"The Night Sparrow is a tense, engrossing tale of WW2 that follows Elena Bruskina, a Russian Jew who becomes a sniper. The women of Elena’s platoon endure appalling conditions and risk their lives, and only to face disdain from male comrades. When Elena’s injuries force her to work as a translator, she finds herself on a team tasked by Stalin to hunt down Hitler during the final weeks of the Third Reich. Inspired by true events, this is an improbably beautiful novel about a brutal episode in history." — Janie Chang, bestselling author of The Phoenix Crown
"A gripping wartime story, Sanders’ page-turning narrative recounts women’s comradeship and courage in the face of carnage and peril from both outside and inside their ranks. With each turn of the page, the author's unwavering compassion for her characters shines through. Meticulously researched, Sanders’ illuminates a little-known chapter of women in combat and their astonishing contributions during WWII." — Jeanette Lynes, author of The Paper Birds
"Daughters of the Occupation is a neatly crafted saga of personal and national trauma, a story of tentative hope in a world of menace, as three generations of women strive to understand who they are, where they came from, and how they can feel free." — Lucy Adlington, author of the New York Times Bestseller, The Dressmakers of Auschwitz, on Daughters of the Occupation
“A riveting story that will keep you turning the pages way into the night.” — Joy Fielding, author of All the Wrong Places, on Daughters of the Occupation
"A gripping historical saga that skillfully addresses the trauma of the Holocaust." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on Daughters of the Occupation
**PRAISE TAKEN FROM THE BOOK'S AMAZON PAGE**
ABOUT THE NIGHT SPARROW:
With the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, Elena Bruskina’s world collapses.
The ambitious university student and her Jewish family are quickly forced into the Minsk ghetto where thousands are immediately murdered, including her father and brother.
Then her younger sister is publicly executed on false charges and her mother is shot.
Alone with her grief, Elena escapes the ghetto, determined to avenge her family’s deaths.
Heading to Moscow, she enrolls in the Red Army’s newly created Central Women’s Sniper Training School.
After rigorous training, she becomes a member of an all-female sniper platoon, a community of brave young women willing to give their lives to defend their country.
Then Elena is chosen for a secret mission—a daring and highly dangerous plan to capture the face of evil itself: Hitler.
Inspired by the real-life female snipers and interpreters in the Red Army during World War II, The Night Sparrow is a portrait of friendship, resilience, courage, and sacrifice under extraordinary circumstances.
**SUMMARY TAKEN FROM PUBLISHER'S WEBPAGE**
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
When I was eighteen, I discovered that my grandmother had been Jewish, but had given up her faith after escaping a Russian pogrom. I wanted to ask Nana about her experiences, but she'd died five years earlier.
I was sad that this information was withheld from me; I'd always envied religious people, and felt as if I'd missed out on something. When I became a mother, years later, the need to learn more about my grandmother flourished.
From Nana's sister, I found out that their family left Russia when fires were set in their village. They fled to Shanghai. After high school, Nana worked for a couple of years, and learned English. Then, she went alone by ship to California, worked as a nanny and completed a science degree in 1930 from the University of California, at Berkley.
My grandmother gave up her Judaism when she met my grandfather. They settled in Montreal where Jews were not welcome.
I wondered if Nana ever regretted her decision, was impressed by the forward-thinking woman she'd been, and had to know more about what life would have been like in pre-revolutionary Russia.
Rachel's Secret came out of this compulsion to understand my grandmother, to get inside her head. I named and created the main character after Nana, a smart, willful woman determined to escape the limitations thrust on Jewish women.
Because I wasn't raised Jewish. I wanted to see both sides: how did pogroms look to a non-Jew? As a journalist, I'm fanatic about accuracy, and carefully researched the period and culture.
Now, I wish I could tell Nana that her difficult journey to Canada inspired me to write my first book, that her struggle with religion has given me a healthy dose of skepticism, and that her determination to get a degree in a foreign country and language has instilled in me a perseverance which keeps me going, even on my darkest days.
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