Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück:
Resistance doesn’t stop at the prison gate.
Quick synopsis:
The story of French Resistance women who banded together in the Ravensbrück concentration camp.
Fact for Non-History People:
Ravensbrück was the only concentration camp designed specifically for women.
Fact for History Nerds:
About 130,000 women were sent to Ravensbrück during World War II. 40,000 would die there
My Take on The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück:
Any book covering the concentration camps is going to be a tough read. What makes Lynne Olson’s newest book, The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück, different is that it is told with a more hopeful tone. I am a huge fan of Olson’s and she reliably brings the story of multiple women who ended up in Ravensbrück and how they resisted in their own ways and as a group. Mostly, the book follows members of the French resistance who were betrayed to the Nazis.
The book is broken up into basically three sections. The women before the camps, while they are there, and after. This seems like a “no, duh” statement, but Olson spends more time on the before and after than most books on the subject. The time in the camp takes up a solid chunk, but Olson takes the time to explain these women, so they are characters and not merely victims in the camps.
While I still enjoyed this one, I prefer Olson’s previous books because this felt a little rushed and with too many characters. The subject of one of those books, Madame Fourcade, makes a quick cameo appearance in this one and I was reminded how well that told a full story about Fourcade and felt a little bit tighter. Basically, Olson is a slight victim of her own success. This is still quite good, and I recommend it.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by NetGalley and Random House.)
Verdict:
An insightful story. Buy it here!
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