Friday 18 March 2022

All the Lights Above Us: Inspired by the women of D-Day by M. B. Henry

I love historical fiction and appreciate an author who does their homework. In All the Lights Above Us M.B. Henry has done exactly that to bring us an engaging story of D-Day from the viewpoint of five ordinary women with extraordinary experiences.

It covers a short time – the day before D-Day, D-Day and the following day. Incredibly Henry describes not only the women’s D-Day experiences but through short chapters, manages to provide the reader with their background stories giving us a full understanding of emotions, purpose, and reasons for their actions.  Each story for the most part is separate to the others. Each has their faults, but they are strong and persist in their beliefs and aims. The reader may not agree with their actions, but they represent many women during war and should not be judged. 

 

Characters include real people and fictionalised people based on the author’s research. The characters are well developed and as their stories unfold you understand the hardships of war on ordinary people.

 

The five women represent women in different countries and different situations. They are in non combative roles but enormously impacted by the war around them.

 

Adelaide is in her sixties. Her home in France has been taken over by German soldiers and she is compelled to care for their needs. She cares for them like a mother but it’s not until her town is affected by fighting that she sees the cold-heartedness within them. Her only wish is to be with her daughter who lives in another town. Bravely she leaves her home and heads off to find her. In doing so she experiences more of the horrors of war.

 

Emilia is a young German woman brought up to believe the Nazi way was the right way. She is a classic Aryan woman with golden hair and perfect blue eyes. She works as secretary to a Gestapo intelligence officer in Caen, France. After observing the constant cruelty of her boss’s interrogations, she begins to question everything and plans to escape.

 

Flora is a young member of the French Resistance passing on messages. She is frustrated at not being permitted to do more but there is more than just discrimination behind the reasoning.

 

Mildred is an American expatriate who makes her living as a radio broadcaster in Berlin. She is based on a real person, Axis Sally, who spread Nazi propaganda over the air waves. She has foolishly convinced herself she is only an actress, it’s not propaganda, its’s just her job. When the DA-Day landing is over she realises she will most likely go to prison or worse for her actions.

 

Theda is member of the Voluntary Aid detachment (VAD)- a medical volunteer caring for wounded soldiers in Portsmouth England. She shares a dormitory with her friends but unlike them who see their future as wives and mothers, she wants to follow a nursing career.

 

The struggle and frustration of caring for the wounded is brought home on D-Day when hundreds of soldiers are brought in needing attention. It depicts not only the suffering of those soldiers but those that cared for them often working around the clock.

 

The women’s stories were so real I felt their pain and fears and hope for the future.  Anyone who thinks that the atrocities of WWII did not happen needs to read this. I know it is "fiction”, but the author nailed the reality. It was like looking at the war from above as the women move through their troubled lives.

 

It is an absorbing read with vivid descriptions and emotional stories. Some scenes are graphic but needed to emphasise the horrors of war and the impact on everyday people – to put history in perspective.

 

If you read this book don’t ignore the author’s notes at the back where she explains how real people influenced the characters in the story. They also demonstrate how much research she undertook to get the realities of D-Day right.

 

I admire Henry’s writing style and dedication to researching the facts. I will be keeping an eye out for her future books.

 

Thank you NetGalley, Alcove Press and MB Henry for a pre-publication copy of this book. It is due for release on 10th May.

 

My rating 5*

 

www.pam.id.au

Follow Pamela King on her Facebook page

Pamela King Amazon Author Page

Pamela King Goodreads Author Page