All the Lights Above Us
June 6, 1944: D-Day. The allied invasion of Normandy changed the course of WWII and the history of the world. History, however, is not monolithic but is made up of countless individual human stories. This book chronicles D-Day from the point of view of five women. Mildred, in Berlin, is an American who works for the Reich, disseminating Nazi propaganda over the radio as Axis Sally. Theda, a nurse in Portsmouth, England, nervously awaits the first casualties from the impending invasion. Flora works as a messenger for the resistance in Caen and hungers to do more. Adelaide, in Sainte-Mère-Église, boards German officers in her home but yearns to see her daughter and granddaughter. Emilia works as a typist in Caen for the Gestapo, thereby escaping the Nazi Lebensborn.
Against the broader canvas of worldwide war and monumental invasion, each woman’s challenges and choices are recounted in detail, putting a personal and intimate face on the conflict. The lines between enemy and ally blur. All these stories share the common themes of women seizing their own power, using their talents and strengths to survive a horrendous reality as best they can. Most of these women are fictional, although the situations they face in this well-researched and gripping novel existed, but Axis Sally was a historical figure, later tried for treason in the U.S. in 1949. M. B. Henry’s writing gives D-Day a visceral and feminine face. Fans of WWII fiction and women’s fiction won’t want to miss these inspiring stories of courage and survival.
