A Wigwam for a Goose's Bridle

This novel took me three starts to get into. I found the first chapter clunky and was really distracted by continuity issues – she rubbed her bare legs but then he rubbed her stockings. On the third go, I told myself I’d read 5 chapters and then decide, and that was enough to make me keep going. It definitely improved.

This novel follows the stories of different women in the lead up to D-day: Axis Sally, an American in German radio propaganda (based on a real figure), Flora, a French girl in the resistance, Theda, a British volunteer in a hospital in England, Adelaide, a French grandmother with Germans living in her house, and Emilia, a German secretary to the SS. Each chapter furthers the story of one of these characters, and we see glimpses of their stories overlapping. The book is quite a feminist take on the situation, not that it’s necessarily a bad thing, and not that it’s incorrect to point out the difficulties and changes for women in this time, just that it feels forced. It feels like the author was looking for as many opportunities as possible to write some version of “ugh just because I’m a woman.”

In the end, I did get hooked on the story, but with the wealth of other World War II novels available, this wouldn’t top my list of recommendations. If a copy falls into your hands, read it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest review.