This fascinating dual timeline novel showcased the bravery of the Danes in the second world war and their determination to protect and help the Jewish community against the Nazi regime. It was a revelation to me that 90% of Dutch Jews survived. Along with my recent reading of The Hidden Village by Imogen Matthews, this story has made me have great respect for the Danes and provided me with hope that there is a good in humanity.

In both time periods, there was a good sense of place allowing me to visualise the locations and added to my desire to visit Denmark and Copenhagan. Like many dual timelines, I was drawn to one protagonist’s voice than the other and it was Inger and her comrades that won here. I wanted to know more about Bodil and Gudrun so would have been happy to read this story as a single timeline. This would allowed more space to be devoted to them and dig deeper into the resistance movement. I wanted to feel more emotionally connected to them all as I felt I was being kept as an observer rather than in their heads. This detachment did help me cope when the expected dark themes were discussed.

With the title The Helsingør Sewing Club I kept expecting to hear about sewing machines and thread but only discovered why it was called that towards the end so to save you scratching your heads while reading, Helsingør Sewing Club was a code name for the resistance. If the community’s phones were tapped it would sound as if they were discussing the village’s sewing circle.

Historical fiction-based-on-fact are some of my favourite style of books and this was no exception.
Inspired by the true story of how the people of Denmark helped to get many of their Jewish neighbours to safety in Sweden during WW2, this book has been well-researched and the writing style drew me in making me want to keep reading. I was vaguely aware of the Danish people’s attitudes/response but this really brought it to light for me.
Written in two timelines (1943 and 2018) the story follows Inger in 1943 as a young women who gets involved in the /risks her life to save members of Denmark’s Jewish community, and her granddaughter Cecile in 2018, who comes upon a mysterious box whilst clearing her grandmother’s house after her recent death.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but feel that the title doesn’t quite work – there is just one brief mention as to where it comes from & this feels like it was perhaps an over-editted section – if the title remains, it really needs more more about the “cover stories” that were used!

This was a wonderful piece of historical fiction set in German occupied Denmark during World War Two in 1943.
Inspired from a true story of how the people of Denmark were instrumental in saving their Jewish neighbours.
The dual timelines were easy to follow & it starts when Cecilie is clearing out her grandmothers flat after her death.
She stumbles across an old box containing jewellery & and an old diary & a note saying it was the property of a named person.
Obviously Cecilie is intrigued & wonders how her grandmother came to have this & who the named person was.
The story takes us back & fourth in time to when her grandmother Inger Bredhal becomes involved in saving the lives of many Jews & getting them to safety in Sweden.
Well written & researched the hidden secrets are slowly revealed throughout this intriguing story.
Courage & bravery shine through & it is a truly inspiring story of what friendship & community spirit can achieve.
Absolutely loved this captivating & engaging read.

Based on true WW2 events in Denmark, a country which did more to help it's Jewish citizens evade persecution than any other.

Whilst clearing her late Grandmother Ingar's possessions Cecilie is shocked to find hidden jewellery with a note that they didn't actually belong to her. After tracing the owner the story weaves over two timelines through the current day reading of her grandmother's hidden diary of her experiences in Helsingor during the Nazi occupation.

I've heard about the efforts the Danish people made to save their Jewish friends and neighbours and that the government resigned rather than give up these valued citizens to the concentration camps but this story brought home just how desperate the situation was and the hardships and sufferings of all Danes under the brutal Nazi occupation of their country. It highlighted just how ordinary and how human these people, who carried out these exraordinarily heroic and brave acts, actually were.

After a gentle start where we learn about the different characters the story gathers pace and tension and became, for me, a really riveting read which as well as the human aspects, young romance and emotions there was sheer terror, breathtaking action and heartbreak, goodness and loss.

The quote “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” was running through my head whilst reading this fictional account of good people actually risking their lives to avert evil.

A solid 4 star read which I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone with an interest in WW2. I'd love to see this made into a film.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to give my honest opinion of this book

At the heart of The Helsingør Sewing Club by Ella Gyland lie the tragic secrets, untold for several decades. The story is inspired by the real events of the WWII.
This emotionally charged story is set in a dual timeline: Helsingor of 1943 and Copenhagen in 2018.
Ella Gyland creates a captivating narrative, where the hidden secrets from the past are revealed, slowly and perceptively. The author brings to life the epoch, landscapes, social mores and daily rhythms of life during the war. This is an absorbing, emotional tale, with memorable female protagonists who stand up for what is right.
The Helsingør Sewing Club is an evocative, eloquent novel, an unsentimental tale of courage and the power of the human spirit

I'd written a long review detailing all my grievances with this book, but instead I'll keep it short and sweet.

It tries to be an important story about how about 90% of the Jewish population in Denmark was saved by helping them cross Øresund to Sweden, but it explores.. none of that. Instead, it tries to be a romance novel, and a bad one at that.

It's poorly written. It's written from two POV's, one in 2018 and one, the main POV, in 1943, but it's revealed halfway through that the 1943-POV is actually a diary, which makes absolute no sense whatsoever as it doesn't read like a diary. It does, however, read like something that could've done with a few more rounds of editing.

The characters are.. one and the same, to be honest. One-dimensional, flat, boring. The two mains, Inger in 1943 and Cecilie in 2018, are both obsessed with men (Inger with validation and Cecilie with, well, validation, and the fact that her husband left her because she can't have kids. Now she hates Christmas because that's a family holiday. I was very, very baffled at that bit). Inger falls for several (and spends more time gawking at any even slightly attractive man than she does doing any resistance work, or, you know, developing a personality, but that's neither here nor there) but never in any really deep way because we never get any depth of any kind. Cecilie falls for the first man to pay attention to her, which is on par for the course. Inger's two gal pals seem to be there two explore more odd romantic subplots, as well as completely unnecessary twists that add nothing to the story. Fun times.

(It's not. Not fun times at all)

I wanted to read this book because the title seemed interesting, and reminiscent of “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” novel, another book about World War Two. I wanted to learn more about a unique perspective of World War Two history.

I was amazed to learn that the Danish people rescued 90% of the Danish Jews once word had leaked that the Jews were going to be arrested by the Nazis and deported. Thousands of people were secretly moved to coastal areas by the Resistance and ordinary Danish citizens, where all types of ships transported them through waters that contained Nazi mines and took them to neutral Sweden.

The movement of the Danish Jewish people to hiding areas prior to transport seemed very rushed and the author wrote this in overly simplistic terms. The role of the Danish Resistance was undefined and unexplained. Since everything else was defined in tedious detail throughout the book, the absence of any mention of the background of the Resistance effort suggested that untrained young adults were running the Resistance effort with a few older men and women. It was not realistic that naïve young people were given such important tasks without prior instruction. Several sentences or a paragraph of explanation should have been added by the author to make this more realistic.

The characters were one dimensional and flat, and I thought I was reading a Young Adult novel with all the insipid school-girl romantic nonsense. The young women in the 1943 portion were lifeless and uninteresting. If these three characters truly represented actual people that took part in the effort to rescue the Jews, then a great disservice has been done to their memory.

The characters in the 2018 portion of the novel were equally flat and dull. It’s really unbelievable that a 38-year-old woman would get all fluttery and act like a schoolgirl. The author missed exploring that a woman does not have to have children to feel whole, and to be a productive member of society. Women can even adopt children if they want a family. In my opinion this book should have been better edited and most of it re-written.

I absolutely loved this book. The dual timelines flowed seamlessly. My usual country with books set during the war is England but it was so refreshing to see what life was like in Denmark. I thought it was well researched and gave a genuine essence of what happened during that time. Brilliantly written

Inger is a young woman who moves away from her family to start a job in a book binding store. She lives with her aunt, uncle, and cousins in Denmark. Nazi’s have taken control of the country but many Jews remain. Inger wants to help the Jews get to safety.

I love this story is based on actual events. The story focuses on Inger and those she works with rather than how Jews were treated or the concentration camps. I think of it as a behind the scenes novel. The work done by these people is so incredibly important and I’m so glad I read their story.

I loved the descriptive writing and could easily picture the scenes in my head.

This is a dual timeline book which alternates between Helsingør, Denmark in 1943 and Copenhagen in 2018. In the 1943 timeline, Inger Bredhal is sent by her parents to live with her aunt & uncle as Jews are beginning to get rounded up at the beginning of the Nazi invasion of her hometown. She joins the underground resistance and risks her life to save members of Denmark’s Jewish community and help them escape to Sweden. In 2018, Inger has just died, and her granddaughter Cecilie Lund, newly divorced and still hurting, goes to her grandmother's home to clean it out. She discovers a box of jewels with an unfamliar name on the box and she begins to investigate, not realizing all that she will uncover about her grandmother's secret past.
This book was fascinating. I have read many books on WWII, but none from the aspect of Denmark. This book encouraged me to go online and do more research regarding the Helsingor Sewing Club. This book was well written, and definitely kept me captivated. I loved the strong female protagonist that the author gave the story. She was definitely someone you would want to root for. If you are a fan of historical fiction, and WWII fiction in particular, then this book is a must-read!

This book started off quite light, but (unsurprisingly) got darker and darker as it went on.
Jumping between modern times and wartime, it told the story of the German occupation of Denmark, something I knew very little about.
In general I enjoyed reading it, although a few incidents didn’t at all ring true; the quick, convenient death of one character, some unlikely behaviours as well.

My review for this book has me conflicted. I feel that there was the essence of a brilliant book here, but it was not really developed.
The first half of the book reads like a Mills and Boon romantic novel, with all three young ladies, Inger, Gudrun and Bodil in Denmark in 1943, and Cecilie in 2018, completely distracted and wrapped up in their burgeoning romances. There are lots of ‘sizzling glances’, ‘steamy eyes’, and ‘fizzing touch of his hands’ It is incredibly slow, and much of these pages could have been spent fleshing out the characters,so that they were less one dimensional and similar.
The story, when it finally got under way, of the Danish people helping Danish Jews to escape the Nazi Occupation was gripping, but far too rushed. There was so little time to fully explore and explain where the Jews had come from, where they were being taken, by what means and by whom. The narrative galloped hither and thither, with no clear indication of where most of these poor people ended up, apart from the first two boatloads who made it to Sweden.
The dialogue was clunky and contrived. I read many WW2 novels, and this was not one of the best sadly. I realise I am in the minority here, but I’m bound to give an honest review.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this absorbing book

another wartime story but this one is based in denmark and based on a true story

the helsingor sewing club was by resistance fighters to hide the real reasons behind the group...the less the germans knew the better when it came to helping the jews who needed to escape the nazi stronghold

but this story begins with a young woman who has to sort out her grandmothers things on her death and she comes across some jewellery that belongs to someone else and also some letters from the owners of this jewellery

could her grandmother have stolen them, whatever could the story be...and so begins the story of inger jensen and how she joined the resistance

what a moving story, so powerful

A dual timeline histfic telling of Denmark's brave actions during WWII that kept Danish Jews safe during Nazi occupation. A thrilling story that inspires, grips, and changes you.

Pub Date 31 Jan 2022

Thanks to the author, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley for the ARC; opinions are mine.

The Helsingor Sewing Club will stay with me for quite some time. The story is primarily about the courage and selflessness of a young Danish woman who risks life and limb to protect her Jewish countrymen from Nazi persecution.

The anguish of the characters at the mindless loss of life and the anger at the ruthlessness of the German soldiers is palpable.

The atmosphere of the book is mostly charged with tension, secrecy, and danger. Yet, it was a loss of a more personal kind that had a greater effect on me. The thought of what could have been made me as disappointed as the characters in the book.

Descriptions of how people had to make do with what they could get fascinated me. How they worked around the shortage of essentials and scraped and scrounged to save up for special occasions makes me think we’re blessed to live in a world of excess.

The rationale behind the unusual title of the book is revealed much later and only fleetingly. But it doesn’t matter. The story of how a community rallied around to help its members and stood up to wrongdoing, even if they did it clandestinely, is powerful and visceral.

This book is not for the faint-hearted. Themes of murder, suicide, separation, and persecution are explored in great depth. You should pick it up only if you’re prepared to read about it. I felt, by turns, shocked, inspired, and tearful at the dramatic events in the story.

If you’re not familiar with the culture of Denmark and the Danish language, you may find it a bit difficult to follow certain parts of the book. The author has beautifully integrated Danish and German words and phrases in the story to give it an authentic feel. It doesn’t interfere with your understanding of the overall storyline, but you may not get the details. But what’s Google for, right?

(Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources for my copy of the book.)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book set in 2 time zones, 2018 and 1943.
It told me more about how the Danish helped the Jews escape the German Nazi regime and the lengths they went to achieve this
it was also the story of families whose history lay interwoven and how they all dealt with the difficulties they faced. how they helped each other throughout and the final ending is very poignant.

This was such an intriguing, suspenseful read about World War Two in Denmark. First off, I was so intrigued by the name of this book The Helsingør Sewing Club, I was so curious to dive in and see how this group of people took part in the war effort. Second the way in which Ella Gyland sets up the book, leads to more suspense and keeps you flicking through the pages. It is told through a dual timeline of Cecelie in 2018, and her Grandmother Inger in 1943. Cecelieis in a deep funk. She discovers she will be unable to have a child, which leads to her husband leaving her for another woman, and to top it all off her grandmother passes. She is left reeling and unsure about herself. She is cleaning out her Mormor's storage and stumbles across a bag of jewelry, and a name. Cecelie is confused, stunned, and thinking the worst about what her grandmother could have possibly done to have this bag in her possession. She uncovers that there was more to her grandmother then what meets the eye,

As the story unfolds you are taken back to 1943, when the German's occupied Denmark and how the Danes saved their Jewish friends, and neighbors. By taking incredible risks to themselves. I was fascinated by this story since you do not read much about Denmark in connection to WWII. The resilience, bravery, and unspeakable horror they witnessed will send chills down your spine. By coming together, they were able to rescue many Jewish people and get them safely to Sweden. The book did have a few holes for me; however, the story makes up for it. Thank you to Ella Gyland, Harper Collins UK, and One More Chapter for sending me this intriguing read.

The book starts off with a prologue end of September in 1943. Chapter one is all of a sudden in 2018, in that chapter Cecilie finds something in her grandmother’s belongings while clearing out her basement. In chapter two we are thrown back to 1943 again and we get to know Inger, Cecilie’s grandmother. In chapter four we are back in 2018 again and Cecilie has arranged a meeting with somebody from the past of her grandmother. This part of the storytelling could have gone a bit smoother to my liking, with actual logic links back and forth, that only came after these first chapters.

I definitely liked the story of Inger in 1943, I have read lots of books about WW2 but none about what the Danish people and Denmark did during the war.

The chapters back in 1943 all of sudden appear to be a diary when in chapter 12 we are back in 2018 again. They are not really being told as a diary from one person as they, next to the story of Inger, also tell the story of her niece Gudrun and her friend Bodil. Still, I enjoyed reading about what happened in 1943 but I simply feel it could have been done a bit differently.

In 1943 we learn about Inger who has gotten herself a job at Erling Kiær’s bookbinder shop. If you read the article on Wikipedia you will learn that Kiær is one of the founders and one of the most active members in the Elsinore Sewing Club resistance movement. That part of the story is true, if he really had an employee with the name of Inger that I cannot find. But the whole story of how they operated and what they did is for sure accurate and true. They author has woven an interesting story into these true facts and herewith showed what the Danish people did for the Jewish people in Denmark.

I enjoyed reading this book and learning about the Danish resistance movement and its people.

Characters 9| Atmosphere 9 | Writing style 8 | Plot 9| Intrigue 9| Logic 8| Enjoyment 9 | Score 8.71 = 4 stars

Very interesting story, inspired by true events! I loved the way the Danish people worked together to save the Jewish people. The author blended this dual time story perfectly to engage readers to the end. The insight into the characters feelings and emotions were realistic. The solidarity of the people incredible. I do wish the author has written an afterword of note.

The Helsingor Sewing Club was a delight to read. I was unaware of tge Sewing Club and its actions during WW2. It demonstrated small acts of heroism and defiance can amount to a a massive movement through the ripple effect.