CODE NAME SAPPHIRE by Pam Jenoff

 

 

Park Row Books
February 7^th, 2023
978-0778334293
E-ARC
Reviewed by Dawn Roberto
Obtained by Publisher via Netgalley

3 Hearts

 It’s 1942, Germany is rolling into countries and taking them over as World War II rages on. The Nazis are everywhere and when Hannah Martel has to escape Germany due to the death of her fiancé and her work in the resistance, she finds herself on a ship that’s turned away from port and with nowhere to go, she sends a desperate letter to her cousin Lily in Brussels. With her cousin Lily vouching for her, Hannah tries to keep her head down and make arrangements to get out of Europe as fast as she can but there’s no safe way to escape as she’s drawn back into the world of the resistance again in Brussels. Bu danger looms and as her work with the Sapphire line continues, Hannah finds she put her cousin Lily and her family in danger even as she desperately tries to help in anyway she can for the resistance. But what happens when Lily and her family are arrested and scheduled to be deported to Auschwitz, how far will Hannah go to rescue her cousin? How much will Hannah sacrifice to save the only family she has left?

 CODE NAME SAPPHIRE is a story set around some true events and stories of sacrifice and bravery that happened during that time in Brussels, Belgium. This was an author I haven’t really read before and found that her characters were interesting if a bit one note at times. The characters felt a little flat at times and one note. Lily in particular had me wondering if there was a redeeming quality about her so I could like her a little and Hannah fell far below some other characters that felt a bit more interesting (especially Micheline as head of the Sapphire line in Brussels) and wished there was more about her than some of the others. The story alternates between Lily, Hannah and Micheline throughout the book and it was a cohesive storyline that didn’t veer to far off the track especially when you go back and forth between the three women. The author does a good job in capturing the desolation, the austerity and hopelessness that many during that time had felt under Nazi Germany rule and the bravado of those who fought back against them. CODE NAME SAPPHIRE isn’t the best historical fiction set in World War II I have read but its one that was just unique in the setting that kept my attention until the end. The writing flows and though people who read this will find they know the outcome of what happened to those imprisoned by the Germans, it was still an interesting story to be told. I just wish the author focused more on the resistance in Belgium more and centered the story along that instead of two main characters I felt were boring, in my opinion. If you enjoy the glimpse into what was going on with the many who were under German rule during World War II then you might find this book a bit more to your liking than I did at times. I may try a different book of this author’s to see if it fits to more what I enjoy when I read stories set around this world war and Holocaust.

 

This is an objective review and not an endorsement.