With her latest novel, The Golden Doves, Martha Hall Kelly takes her readers back to WWII and follows two former female spies who are willing to risk everything to bring a fugitive Nazi scientist to justice.

American Josie Anderson and a Parisian named Arlette LaRue are two young women working in the French resistance during the war. They are so good at stealing Nazi secrets that they earn the title “Golden Doves” and are hailed by Allied Forces while being hunted by the Gestapo. Eventually their luck runs out and they are arrested and sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp. Josie and Arlette witness unbelievably horrific events on a regular basis at the camp and they also both experience devastating personal losses that will haunt them long after they are released from the camp – Josie’s mother is cruelly experimented on by a Nazi scientist and dies there, while Arlette’s infant son is stolen from her. A decade later, the opportunity presents itself for Josie to exact revenge on the scientist who tortured her mother, and Arlette suddenly has a fresh lead on where her son might have been taken.

I was completely engrossed in Josie’s and Arlette’s mission to finally hold this scientist accountable and to hopefully find Arlette’s son. Their adventure read like a thriller, filled with endless twists and turns and danger around every corner and I zoomed through the book, rooting for them to get justice for Josie’s mother and all the other women who were victimized at Ravensbruck.

As always though, what continually draws me to WWII historical fiction is my desire to learn everything that I wasn’t taught in history class. In this case, Martha Hall Kelly, through her extensive research, taught me how so many Nazi fugitives, particularly scientists, were allowed to escape justice and how my own country played an active role in their escape because they were so desperate to keep the knowledge and expertise the Nazi scientists possessed from getting into the hands of the Russians. I was shocked and truly appalled to learn this and don’t even get me started on what I learned about the Catholic Church’s involvement.

Inspired by true events, The Golden Doves is both a gripping and moving survivor’s tale and an eye opening lesson in WWII and post WWII history.

This book had a great start and a great hook. I was definitely all in.

But once I got into the story, I found the narrative of both main characters to be entirely implausible. Neither acted in an intelligent, responsible way, either during the war when they were hot shot spies (who got caught and sent to Ravensbruck) or afterwards when they were hunting down a Nazi war criminal. The plot relied on luck rather than human ingenuity and spy craft. I guess I just don’t like reading about women who are in responsible positions acting stupidly.

Flip flopping the storyline from 1944-1952 was bad enough, but then adding multiple disparate elements and eventually moving the story into a science fiction genre in South America was just too much for me. I closed the book at just over 50%.

I appreciate this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, Ballentine Books, in exchange for an honest review.

I need everyone to run out and buy this book ASAP. Martha Hall Kelly makes historical fiction thrilling without feeling trite. Every single one of her books has only gotten better and better.

The Golden Doves is a much more thrilling escapade than her previous novels and it was hard to put down. We meet two women Arlette and Josie, who met as teenagers and worked together as France's Golden Doves in the resistance. While the book does go back and forth between their past work and present, I was much more drawn to the action in the present day (1952 post-War). The book took me in unexpected places, twisting and turning and trusting no one. If historical fiction feels a little boring to you but you're still interested, I highly recommend Kelly's The Golden Doves.

Thank you Penguin Random House and Netgalley for this early copy of The Golden Doves. I adored it!

Arlette and Josie. Two young women from different countries, and different walks of life. Arlette is young woman living in the farmland of Europe. Josie, is a young American/Jewish woman living in Paris with her mother and diplomatic father. When Arlette's parents die she is forced to live with an abusive aunt. While living with her aunt, Arlette becomes pregnant and is sent to a home for unwed mothers, where she is expected to have and give up her baby. While in the home, Arlette is befriended by a nurse and is able to flee the home with her newborn son. The only caveat, she must help the resistance. So begins the Golden Doves.

The two girls are eventually captured and sent to Ravensbruck where they must endure hardships, illness and even the loss of Arlette's son and Josie's mother. Once the war is over the two women go their separate ways. Arlette to a cafe in Paris, Josie to the US to become part of the military. But for these two women, forgetting their time in Ravensbruck is hard to do. Josie is on the hunt for the elusive Dr. Snow and Arlette is a desperate mother just trying to find her long lost son.

This book alternates not only between two distinct time lines but also between the two women. It is a high intense and powerfully moving book. It brings the reader into resistance movement leaving them holding their breath every time a member of the Nazi forces is mentioned. The reader will also feel the pains of hurt, hunger and despair in the camp, and feel the hope of finding a child and the determination of catching a wanted criminal.

I have read, and loved, everything that Martha Hall Kelly has written and this book is no exception. It is a wild ride from the first to the last page. If you like historical fiction that takes you from one part of the world to another, and from emotion to emotion, then pick this book up.

I can't wait to see what Kelly writes next.

The book is written in two time periods. Just before Josie and Arlette are sent to Ravensbruck and after the war has ended.

At 528 pages this was my longest vacation read, but between the flights to Alaska and 14 hours on a ferry day trip, consuming this novel made the hours fly by. Having enjoyed her previous novels immensely, I have to say this is my favorite of hers so far.

Josie and Arlette are unforgettable characters, and the novel alternates chapters between each woman’s perspective with dual timelines in the 40s and 50s, starting when they were recruited as spies for the underground resistance in WWII to their time in Ravensbruk concentration camp. Several years later their lives reconnect as they hunt down an infamous Nazi doctor who escaped with many Nazis along the Ratline, Arlette simultaneously searching for her son taken from her at the camp and Josie working undercover for the U.S. Army intelligence. Based on true events and superb research, the pacing of this story grips you from the start and doesn’t let go and I learned so many things from this time period I had never heard of before. Pub date is Tuesday so preorder now or pop into your local Indie bookstore and grab yourself a copy next week!

Historical fiction is not my usual genre but I was intrigued by the description and the espionage aspects of this book. When I started, I was expecting to maybe force myself through this 529 page book but was shocked when the story grabbed me in the first chapter and I read straight through in one day! Great characters, a fast paced plot, and several twists that kept me guessing to the very end. Told from two different perspectives, over two separate timelines, I learned a lot of things I didn't know about the atrocities in Ravensbruck concentration camp for women during WWII as well as continued atrocities by the U.S., the Vatican, and others following the war that allowed Nazi doctors and scientists to avoid any accountability. This is not only a great read but an important read. Highly recommended

Many readers have read enough WEII books to last them awhile, However these two women are in search of a Nazi doctor that did tests on female patients at Ravensbruk Camp. Even historical fiction books haven about this all female camp and I am glad someone finally did. The hunt is fascinating taking place mostly in South American and keeps you turning the page. The book also includes the Nazi attempt of birthing the perfect race and what terrible thinks that involved during the war and how some French sided with the Nazi whether for their own protection or belief.
Highly recommend a completely new look at another aspect of WWII.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance reader copy in exchange for. A review. This will appear immediately on Goodreads.
Set in dual timelines during WWII and post war, we meet a daughter of an American diplomat and a Nazi sympathizer (although geography, age, and love are responsible for that) in France who begin as spies, survive the all female camp Ravensbruk, and go on to hunt Dr Snow, a camp doctor guilty of thousands of war crimes against women and children. That’s a very simplistic description of this book, as this narrative is so propelling and intricate, it’s hard to capture in a few sentences.
These two women are in complicated times and are in complicated circumstances. How their storylines mingle yet stand on their own is done so well. The setting descriptions do the book well as it’s easy to see Paris, the camp, and South American jungle lain before you.
This book is a page turner. The plot feels like one long climax until you get to the end and your heart is racing. I couldn’t wait to get to the author’s note to see how much was fact or fancy. I’m a little sickened by how many Nazis got off and what they were doing to innocent people.
Even though I personally have WWII historical fiction fatigue, I enjoy Martha Hall Kelley’s work immensely and always set Lilac Girls on the staff picks shelves. This would make a good book club pick as it’s meaty with a lot to discuss. I think my patrons would enjoy this.
4*

I read Martha Kelly’s first book on NetGalley years ago and have been a fan ever since.
The Golden Doves is a chilling, haunting, disturbing tale of post WWII.
Josie and Arlette, both survivors of Revensbruck and former operatives, have work left to do.
I knew about some of the things covered in the novel, but the extent of the backstory turned my stomach.
It was like an eel slithering through history leaving slime in its wake.
This novel will make you sit upright and gulp audibly because of its contents.
Don’t miss it.

The Golden Doves is the best kind of book. By the middle, it had me torn between turning the pages as quickly as possible to figure out how to the story ends and putting the book down because I could not stand for anything bad to happen to the fictional characters I am now deeply invested in.

The book alternates between during World War II and post-war America and France. Josie Anderson is an Army liaison in charge of re-settling in Texas Germans with specialized expertise in science and engineering and screening those that may be possible Nazis. Arlette LaRue is a Parisian waitress looking for her lost son, Willie who she was separated from in the infamous Nazi camp, Ravensbruck. Prior to their time together at Ravensbruck, Josie and Arlette were the “Golden Doves,” critical players in the underground resistance movement who spied on German officers and relayed the intelligence to the movement. Soon both women are in pursuit of items of critical importance: Josie of the infamous Dr. Snow, a Nazi doctor who experimented on countless persons of the Jewish faith and Arlette to find her son.

There are so many WWII historical fiction books out there, but the Golden Doves is an excellent example of that genre. I especially appreciated how this book explores how those whose lives were split apart by the war have to reconstruct themselves in a post-war world anxious to move forward.

I have read and enjoyed other Martha Hall Kelly including her other World War II, the Liliac Girls. While this book definitely stands alone, it has some cross-overs with the Liliac Girls characters including Caroline Ferriday and Nina Iwanska.

This review will be posted on Goodreads, BookBub and Amazon. Thank you Random House and Netgalley for the advanced review copy!

American teen Josephine Anderson moves to Paris with her parents, a couple of months later the Germans invade the city, her father is in Rome and his wife, daughter and sick mother-in-law are stranded. Parisian teen Arlette LaRue lives with her grumpy aunt, she’s infatuated with Gunther, and he's a member of the 12th SS Panzer division and they have a brief liaison.

The young women become involved in the resistance, gathering intelligence, passing it onto the allies and the Gestapo offer a reward for information about their identity. The Golden Doves are caught, detained for a week and sent to Ravensbrück in a cattle train. Arlette and her baby Willie stay in a special section of the camp and it’s for mothers and their babies. Dr. Snow a German, does heinous things to Josie’s mother Lylou a Jewish singer, and one day while Arlette is working, Willie and all of the babies disappear.

Ten years after the Second World War ends, the two women haven’t been able to overcome their terrible experiences, the shocking things they witnessed and live everyday with mental and physical scars.

Josie is employed by the U.S. Army intelligence in Fort Bliss, Texas and she’s given the assignment to help hunt down Dr. Snow, and Arlette is working in a coffee shop in Paris, it’s run by Ravensbrück survivors, and she’s still trying to find Willie. Arlette is contacted by Luc Minau, his grandmother sponsors a children’s camp in French Guiana, he thinks Willie might be one of the orphans and she flies to Cayenne.

I received a digital copy of The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly from NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine in exchange for an honest review. After doing extensive research, Ms. Kelly writes a long and sometimes drawn out narrative about two young women helping the resistance and how they survived being imprisoned at the women’s only concentration camp Ravensbrück. Where terrible medical experiments were performed on women, they were starved and no mercy was given.

It’s told from the two main characters points of view, Josie and Arlette, who are busy trying to untangle an elaborate web of lies, secrets and it’s exceptionally dangerous, they don’t know who they can trust and what the elusive Dr. Snow looks like? Please read the authors notes at the end, Ms. Kelly explains how the Nazi’s escaped being captured, with help from civilian sympathizers and the Vatican. Many lived in South America, German scientists worked in America as part of Operation Paperclip and four stars from me. Due to be released on the 18th of April 2023, I found this story a little over the top and unbelievable.

I read a lot of WW2 books and was looking forward to this one. It has a lot going on. The chapters jump back and forth between past and present and one character to another. For me it was hard to keep straight. It was confusing at times. I know there will be others who really like it but it just wasn’t my favorite
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

For all the women who survived Ravensbrück. And those who never came home.

Martha Hall Kelly has again given us the kind of historical fiction that you can't put down. True players in the Nazi atrocities meld with Kelly's characters seamlessly to tell this story based on fact. I had understood little about the American race for knowledge from the hands of awful oppressors and murderers. Very informative and challenging! It is a heart-wrenching read but revealing and well done.

Thank to NetGalley for an advanced reading copy!

Just when you are beginning to think that you have read everything about the World War 2, along comes a novel which deals with yet another event you knew nothing about. Martha Hall Kelly's latest novel, The Golden Doves, tells the story of two female spies who were part of the French resistance in the last years of the war. They were imprisoned at Ravensbruck and witnessed untold atrocities Post their release, Josie is working as an intelligence agent for the US Government while Arlette is working at a cafe in Paris with other survivors. Their paths once again collide as Arlette pursues a search for missing son in French Guiana while Josie is on the trail of Dr. Snow, a Nazi doctor who experimented on the prisoners at the Camp. The story is told in a "before" and "after" format from the viewpoints of Arlette and Josie and will leave you a lot better informed about the Nazi medical programs of the Second World War.

A really good book but so, so long. It was hard for me to get through this one. If one has the time, it is definitely worth it. I have read several of this author's books and they are all so well done. This was very well researched. I learned a lot about post world war 2 that I was not aware of. The two women will both stick with me.

A multiple time line dual perspective novel of two women who bonded as part of the resistance during WWII, were sent to Ravensbruck, and now are searching. Josie, an American daughter of a US diplomat, was not spared, losing her Jewish mother in the camp and now she's an ace Nazi hunter. While she's meant to be bringing Nazis with special expertise to the US, she's also bent on revenge. Arlette, raised by her hateful aunt, is the mother of young Willie, born when she was 17 of a relationship with Gunther, who went off to war. They collect info and hide in Arlette's apartment until the day young Josie is pursued to their door after stealing from a German officer. And now Arlette is hunting for Willie and Josie is looking for Dr. Snow. Is Willie in French Guyana as Luc claims? Arlette finds a weird and dangerous vibe there but feels comforted by Luc's mother Danae. Josie criss crosses Europe and then finds herself in South America as well. I found myself caring about these women even as the plot tips over the shark. That said, don't miss the afterword. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. It's very good historical fiction.

I really enjoyed this book. This author is very good! IU have read others by her and being interested in History, I found her book captivating and intriguing.. The book held my interest and I enjoyed and could follow the plot.

(2.5 stars rounded up) I really wanted to like this novel because WWII fiction is among my favorite historical fiction subgenre, but it just didn't hold up for me. I am just learning more about Operation Paperclip, which I find deeply disturbing, and for a novel to deal with this specifically, I was intrigued. The Golden Doves had way too much going on to hold my interest, however, and though I finished the book, it was a real struggle.

What I liked: I thought both Josie and Arletta were wonderful characters, with interesting backstories that made them likable and empathetic. The storyline itself had lots of red herrings, so I did not anticipate the reveal . I also felt that the author built a sense of mistrust in every character, so that as a reader, I did not know who was telling the truth and who the Doves should fear.

Unfortunately, the two major issues with the book, for me, were tough to overcome. First, for being The Golden Doves, who eluded the Gestapo while working virtually under their very noses, the two girls were almost irritatingly naive, spilling secrets and allowing access to their operations with little thought to any possible ulterior motives. This, along with some minor, "No one would really do that" situations, made the story seem implausible. Second, the book is written in dual timelines and from the alternating points of view of each main character. The chapters are quite short, normally not a problem, but when it changes from Arletta's voice in 1945 to 1952 in Josie's then to Arletta in 1952, it takes a lot of concentration to keep up. Add to that the multitude of minor characters in multiple countries across those two timelines and my brain was on overload.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the digital ARC of The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelley. The opinions in this review are my own.

This book is well written and very disturbing. I had never heard about the Rat Lines or the fact that the US had brought over Nazi scientists to work for the US government. The idea was to keep Russia from taking them in and using the knowledge gained to keep the US ahead of Russia. One scientist and wife was depicted as completely remorseless. Could you imagine working next to someone that had committed such horrific acts during the Holocaust? The novel is centered around the Golden Doves, two spies who ended up in a camp before the end of the war. This is their story both during the war and after the war as they search for a specific war criminal. Thanks to the author for not letting the war, the camps, the Holocaust, the people be forgotten. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for the digital ARC. This review is in my own words.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book.

Arlette and Josie were partnered together while working for the Resistance in France during WWII, as the Golden Doves, who, while hiding in plain site, gave the Nazis a lot of trouble,. When they were finally captured, they were both imprisoned at Ravensbruck concentration camp and both managed to survive the war, but not before each lost the person closest to them.

Now it is 1952 and the war has been over for 7 years. But both women look to find some kind of closure after their war experiences. They have gone their separate ways., Arlette working with other survivors at a small coffee shop staffed exclusively by war survivors. Josie now works for the US government, trying to recruit former Nazi scientists to help America in the post-war arms race.

But their shared experiences cannot be easily erased and when Arlette is chosen by an organization who is attempting to reunite children and parents separated by the war, she can't pass up the opportunity to find her son Willie, and goes to French Guiana in hopes of finding him there. Josie soon contacts her and lets her know that a doctor from the camp may also be there, and they reunite to find justice for the many harmed by this notorious doctor, including Josie's mother, who the doctor had chosen to be killed.

Ensconced in a beautiful island hideaway, Arlette believes she has found her son. Luc, the head of the organization and his mother, Danae, welcome her to their organization and want her to become part of the family and all will live happily every after. But will they?