Resistance and Revenge
Louisa Carmody is the lady of a small local manor in an alternate 1941 England, which Germany has successfully invaded and now brutally occupies. Her husband and father-in-law, Tom and William, fought in the short, hopeless battle against the invaders. Tom now suffers from PTSD, and William leads a clandestine resistance organization. Louisa must cope with her damaged husband, a German Oberst who wants not just her obedience but her approval, and all the privations and hardships of living under occupation. Tea? Not available; make your own from nettles. A lady of the manor daintily pouring the nettle tea? Forget it: Louisa’s on the job scrubbing floors and making mutton stew along with her cook and one remaining housemaid.
What made this book really interesting to me were the horrific moral dilemmas faced daily by Louisa and by William and his fellow resistors. Whom do you trust? Whom do you dare to protect? Whom do you sacrifice for the greater good?
Louisa is a wonderful character: dignified, quick-thinking, highly moral and yet tough and flexible enough to make those agonizing decisions. This is a well-plotted book, populated with fully developed, interesting characters. The author obviously did her research: the alternate history feels very plausible. And the constant rain over a period of almost two years adds to the dreary, threatening atmosphere of the story. I highly recommend this unusual take on World War Two, a topic that I thought had already been done to death in recent fiction.
