Resistance

By Anita Shreve

This book takes us back to The Second World War and a Nazi-occupied Belgian village, where ah an American plane crashing in the woods outside the village. The pilot, Ted, is rescued by 10-year-old Jean and is taken to the house of Henri and Claire, a married couple who have experience in harbouring people fleeing from the Germans.

Being an Anita Shreve-novel romance is not far away, and as Claire nurses the American bomber pilot back to health in their secret attic hideaway, she falls in love. There are things about the story that might make you doubt the falling in love bit and their passionate affair, but nevertheless, my conclusion is that she did in fact fall in love with Ted and knew nothing of Henri’s betrayal when taking Henri and another man to what Ted thought was going to be his escape route to France.

Although the story ends in 1944 the author has decided not to leave her readers hanging by a thread, with a thousand questions at the end - and thank God for that! There is a last chapter that provides answers to many of the questions readers might be left with after having read the novel. Claire tells her story to Ted's son Tom who also gets to meet his half-sister, Charmaine - a result of the 20 days Claire and Ted spent together.