Set in World War I, this book explores the lives of a young girl and her sister who are orphans. While fiction, this book was definitely well researched. There were some abrupt starts and stops where the author didn’t transition well, as the book also begins to follow the story of a soldier. I did think the portrayal of mental health issues was an important piece not always covered in war novels and it wasn’t over done. The book overall was thematically dark (not unexpected for the time period covered).

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a brilliant story but very hard to read at times.
Great writing style and story
I would recommend this to anyone

I might have overrated my ability to read about the horrors of war and I had huge troubles reading this book.

This book was such a great read! Truly a heart wrenching,deep read and one that left an impression for sure!!

This story is set during World War 1 and follows Sara and her sister who have been orphaned. They move in with Antoinette who runs a cafe for the soldiers so that girls don't have to work as prostitutes. The book also follows a group of soldiers as they struggle with life during the war.

I liked the first half of the story as it focuses on Sara and her sister as they come to terms with their mother's death and figure out what to do. About halfway through the story abruptly changes to another character. This new character lives in a coal mining town and decides that he wants to be a soldier. We then see his journey as he becomes a soldier and struggles with life at war.

As mentioned above I enjoyed the first part of the story but I wasn't as keen on the second half. I felt that the story was quite dragged out. I also felt that as I read further into the story I became less connected to the characters. I did like that the author highlighted how difficult it was for a lot of soldiers to cope during the war and the side effects that it had on many of them.

Thank you to the author and publisher for sharing this title with me via netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
This book is hard to review. I can tell a lot of research and emotion went into writing it which deserve high ratings, but my review is based on my personal interest in the novel and unfortunately that was low. I love historical fiction so I thought this would be my kind of book. It just didn't work for me though. It was so heavy and depressing that I was dragging to read it. The book was thick with research, both of Jewish culture and of the history of the war, and while interesting, it made the book so dense and hard to read for me. Just one depressing thing after another. I wish I could say better things about it, but it was a chore to read this and I couldn't make myself finish it. sorry.

This book ain't pretty, it isn't clean cut, and it doesn't have a happy ending. But guess what? It's utterly fantastic.

This is the kind of gritty, visceral read that leaves little room for doubt when it comes the realities of war. Given the anti-Semitic focus it could have easily been set in WWII, but in taking it back to WWI and the trenches near Passchendaele everything slows down. The challenges for all parties become painfully clear - for the families of those left behind, for the soldiers in the trenches, and for the officers trying to make do with undertrained men and too few resources. But more anything else, it depicts the polarized depths of humanity and the lengths that people will go through to maintain their convictions in the most trying of circumstances.

While there is a central group of characters the majority of Alone at War revolves around, and is told through the eyes of, a the young and devoutly religious Sara. I found her to be a highly sympathetic character, especially since she not only had to grow up fast after the loss of her parents but also managed to maintain an innocence and naivety that can be too easily lost in the face of conflict. I loved how her dedication to her sister never wained, even when Anna begin to reject both Sara and their religion, and how Sara's generous heart found room for the all of the other traumatized and ostracized souls she encountered along the way. 

It seemed fitting that she found employment and refuge at both the chateau and the hospital, as both places provided a sort of refuge for those in need of healing. In each location we get to see a different side to her character, and with every chapter we get to see her grow as her eyes are opened wider and wider to the atrocities of the war. I understood completely her choice to appear mentally unstable and unattractive to the soldiers, however I did question as to whether or not that would have been enough to prevent assaults for two whole years as war causes desperate men to take desperate measures. While the topics of prostitution and rape were addressed through Alice, I was left with the feeling that it didn't quite receive as much attention as it should have. But, this is also a love story and given that Isaac spends all of his time on the front rescuing others it was refreshing that he didn't have to rescue Sara as well.

Isaac, or the Jew as he's referred to throughout the book, is another character that I  instantly loved. As a Hacksaw Ridge style conscientious objector, idealist, and constant support it seemed only fitting that he would be the man that caught Sara's eye. The care and effort that he put into protecting Henry, combing no-man's land for survivors, and to visiting all of his patients when off the front made him a compassionate and easy to like fellow. I respected how he at first refused Sara's advances, but treated the situation with a wholistic approach that saw beyond the war and their immediate circumstances. It was because of all of this that his final actions left me absolutely aghast - and because of them I ended up respecting him even more.

And despite Antoinette's prickly exterior, she was another one that I found myself drawn too. Sure, she's crass, she talks too much, and she was truly out of her depth when she took the girls in, but she was another character that put on an incredible display of integrity. Despite the frequent protests that she wasn't a mother, she was perhaps the most maternal figure presented throughout the entire book. There are so many who would have taken advantage of the sisters and the young women working in the chateau, but Antoinette goes out of her way to ensure that these women don't have to debase themselves in order to survive. She's unpredictable, taciturn, and constantly self deprecating but at the end I felt that she was more courageous and heroic than many of the men shown fighting in the trenches.

Finally, the writing itself is absolutely exquisite. Brussel presents an emotive blend of imagery and historical fact that creates a tapestry so expertly woven that it's difficult to determine where history ends and fiction begins. The characters are not only believable but also relatable, the mood is expertly set, and there is no shying away from the cruel atrocities that war provokes. I could feel the constant dampness and frustration that pervaded the trenches, the blistering of gas blowing back after improper deployment, and the despair that must have been experienced when shell shock was initially denied. I cried (often) and I had to put the book down and walk away because it was too overwhelming, but I couldn't leave it unfinished. Despite the dark and almost awful nature of the story it was one that commanded competition.

This was a compelling story about war, trauma, mental health and religion. We find out a lot about the experiences of citizens and soldiers in war times and also about Jewish practices and faith, which is interesting. The writer has done their research beautifully. I really liked how the light was shone upon the mental health and trauma of the men in the army and how honour and pride wins from their own mental and physical well-being. This was a sad and dark book, with maybe just an inkling of hope. One of the problems I had reading this book, is that I found the characters unrelatable. The least relatable was the protagonist and at times she annoyed me. I do think it’s very strong to keep up your morals and values in such a difficult time, but her emotions and drama about them made it hard to get through some parts of the book. I also didn’t find the love and marriage aspect in the story very logical and it was confusing. This also made the ending unsatisfactory.

This is a WWI story taking place in France during the 1910’s. The story is told by Sara, she and her sister Anna are orphans, their mother has died of the flu and their father was sent to war never to be heard from again other than a couple letters soon after he left. Sara’s mother and father were devout Jews and they raised their girls honoring the Jewish customs. The story begins when the father is taken to go to war and they struggle financially and emotionally with him gone. No-one speaks up or offers immediately after their mother dies to help take of them. Sara tries as best she can to step up but in these hard times of war, it is very very difficult.
This is a very dark book to read. I have read many WWI and WWII books and I will say this book is one of the best ones for actually describing the difficulties with everyday living, the lack of food, water, heat, clothing, and the war scenes are brutal. There is a lot of pain, heartache, loss, but also resilience and the ability of people to still do good deeds, support each other and continue on in devastating conditions.
The writing for the trial towards the end of the book is some of the best I have read describing a court scene. It was worth reading the whole book just to hear the arguments in that trial. The ending was not so good, ended so abruptly, I thought my kindle had died.
To summarize the book, if you want to learn what it was really like during WWI in France, and you want to learn about Jewish customs, this is a book for you, if you want a book that is going to sugar coat the war casualties, this is not something you would want to read. The character development and writing are done well, the subject matter was well researched. I would recommend to the right audience.
I thank Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this for my review.

I had a hard time getting into this book. I just could not connect with the characters. Since I did not finish the book, I do not intend to publish a review.

On the cover we see Sara and the Jew in each other's arms, watching the damage caused by the war.

The story tells the story of Sara, a 14-year-old Jewish nun and her 9-year-old sister left alone in a French city devastated by the war. They lost their flu mother and their father disappeared. They will have to manage themselves by living over a café where former prostitutes entertain the soldiers. She will meet a young British volunteer soldier. Sara will try to save lives by overcoming the madness of this first world war.

A beautiful love story between Sara and this young British man during the First World War. I loved the context of the story with endearing characters, I recommend it.