The Belgian Girls
This is a beautifully written dual-timeline novel about two courageous Belgian women, one in World War I and the other in World War II. Gabrielle Petit, the real-life World War I heroine, is an orphan who works as a shopgirl and gets engaged to a soldier. She is appalled by the atrocities committed by the German army during the invasion and occupation of Belgium, and she volunteers as a nurse and helps her fiancé escape to unoccupied territory, but instead of joining him, she decides to work for British Intelligence. Gabrielle faces great danger as she relays information about the German army to the Allies. In World War II, the second heroine, Julienne Gobert, moves with her widowed father to Brussels, where they live with her aunt. Julienne is horrified when she sees how the occupying Germans treat the Jews, and she suspects her aunt of being a collaborator. When she meets a bookseller’s family who are all members of the Resistance, Julienne overcomes her fears and does her part to help Allied airmen escape to safety.
Both heroines are very admirable characters, and quite different from each other, which I find refreshing, because I have read other dual-timeline novels where the protagonists seem like they could be the same person in different times. Gabrielle is vibrant and outgoing, while Julienne is shy and awkward, but they both share a love of their country, and the courage to fight against its oppressors. There is a connection between the two heroines, which I will not reveal. We learn Gabrielle’s fate early on, but our suspense is kept up because we don’t know the details. Julienne is fictional but seems just as real as Gabrielle. The book is written for young adults, but adults will enjoy it as well. Highly recommended.
