The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly. I have read all of her books and this one is outstanding. It is about Josie and Arlette who work to bring down the Nazis both during and after the war. The author has done much research for her books and the characters come to life as you are reading their story. This is a wonderful WW2 historical fiction. It has mystery, suspense and will keep you reading to see what will happen next. The story of Arlette and Josie is one you won’t forget. I highly recommend reading for historical fiction fans.
I was given an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read this wonderful book as an ARC. Full review in April when published, but I'd urge readers to pre-order or request this book. It's the best of historical fiction, shining a light on Ravensbruck Concentration Camp and how war crimes and Nazis were handled after WWII. Very well written and compelling.

Thank you to #netgalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC of the #thegoldendoves.

Kelly’s fourth novel follows the past and present timelines of two former female spies, Arlette and Josie. Both women have their own driving forces for revisiting their spy pasts. Arlette is desperate to find her son, Willie, who was taken from her during her time at the Ravensbruck concentration camp. Josie seeks vengeance for her mother’s death that occurred at that same camp.

Originally placed together as young women to help the resistance, these two women evolve to become a family and come back together to find the Nazi doctor, Snow, who seems to be responsible for both of their misfortunes. What they discover is far more intricate and sinister.

Martha Hall Kelly does such a fantastic job of weaving real-life events and people into her stories. You find yourself drawn to the lives and struggles of the main characters, while also being educated on true events. The novel started out a bit slow, trying to build the characters’ backgrounds, but the pace quickly picked up and they got into the thick of it. I highly recommend this to any fans of historical fiction.

I've enjoyed many books from @marthahallkelly, but The Golden Doves is by far her best. It is fast-paced, gripping, filled with suspense and intrigue. A must read for lovers of World War II historical fiction. Thank you to @netgalley for allowing me to read an advance reader's copy!

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I finished this book. I would recommend this book. I thought there were some slow spots, but I understand it was for plot purposes. Nice twist at the end.

This book by Martha Hall Kelly is different from her other three. Although still considered historical fiction, it has the bent of a thriller. I found the jumping around between characters, times, and settings of each chapter very annoying. The epilogue cleared a lot up, but I can only give this book three stars.

Martha Hall, Kelly’s fourth novel, impressed me more than the first three, which I would’ve found impossible prior to reading The Golden Doves.. The overarching theme of finding Dr. Snow and bringing him to justice, includes also sub topics of love, friendship, survival and female intelligence.. This page turner
bills suspense, and the crescendo occurs at the end of the story, which works well as she develops the characters up until that point. This remains one of the few stories that kept me up at night, wondering how she would develop and conclude the sub plots, but once finished, I felt willing to sacrifice those sleepless nights, as she tied up the loose ends for the reader.. As a piece of historical fiction, I appreciated her author’s note, explaining how she developed the characters, and with what researched information is, inspired her to do so. Martha Hall Kelly continues the remembrance of the Ravensburg. Camp, referenced in Lilac Girls, as it remains important that students of today understand this part of history.. This story tells yet another story of women overcoming obstacles with bravery, dignity, and wisdom.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel.

I have read all of this author's previous novels and loved them all, so was so excited to read this ARC. I have to honestly say that I was a little disappointed in this novel. As with her previous novels, this one was very well researched. I learned a lot about Operation Paperclip, the program where Nazi Scientists were brought to the US after the war. The story was told in dual time and although I usually like this, it was sometimes confusing because there was only a decade between the two storylines. I found that the storyline taking place during the war was much more believable and credible to me. Although it is always hard to read about the atrocities of the concentration camps, I found this part of the story hard to put down. To me, the 5o's timeline, at times, seemed unbelievable, repetitive and far-fetched. I also had a hard time connecting to and liking the characters, especially the way they were portrayed during the 50's timeline. All in all, I still found it an interesting read and feel that it was still worth reading.

As with all of Martha Hall Kelly’s books, I found this a bit slow to get into… but then I could NOT put it down, and stayed up till 2am to finish! (Oops.) In 1942, Arlette is a Parisian girl who begins working for the French resistance and is teamed up with Josie, an American living in Paris. They become best friends known as the “Golden Doves”, famously successful for the secrets they steal, and are ultimately imprisoned at Ravensbruck concentration camp. Ten years later, Josie is working for the US Army Intelligence unit to track down some of the Nazi war criminals who escaped justice, while Arlette is still trying to find her son who was lost in Ravensbruck. The book alternates between Josie’s and Arlette’s perspective, and also alternates between 1942 and 1952, and I found that a bit confusing – numerous times I’d get to the second page of a chapter and realize I wasn’t sure who / when this was, and have to go back to the header to ground myself. The changing perspectives / timeline also pulled me out of the story at times, though by halfway through, I couldn’t get enough, and was ravenously reading both the past and present day to try to solve the mysteries before the main characters (my heart was pounding so hard that at one point I checked my heart rate on my watch only to realize I was in full exercise mode just from the suspense!). Some of the spy stuff seemed a bit farfetched, but so much of this period in history was unfathomable (see: the millions who couldn’t believe Hitler had actually set up extermination camps) and the author is so well-researched in her historical fiction that I’ll give those bits of the plot a pass. Overall, this was a fantastic book that I highly recommend buying when it comes out in the spring.

Told in a before, during, and after format, this novel follows Josie and Arlette through their work as spies for the resistance, their time at Ravensbrück, and their journey after to bring Nazi doctors to justice. Josie and Arlette are known as the Golden Doves and take great risk to work against the Nazis during World War II.

This historical fiction novel follows in the footsteps of Martha Hall Kelly’s previous books (Lilac Girls, Lost Roses, Sunflower Sisters) by focusing on historical time periods from women’s perspectives. It is impeccably researched and offers a different perspective on women spies for the resistance and how many Nazi doctors and scientists escaped justice. The bravery of the narrators is inspiring. Martha Hall Kelly has an amazing ability to create heartfelt characters and storylines while also packing a punch. This story will break your heart and at the same time, make you believe in the bravery and goodness of the helpers and survivors.

Thank you to Random House- Ballantine, Netgalley, and Martha Hall Kelly for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the free e copy of The Golden Doves byMartha Hall Kelly.This is a wonderful piece of literary historical fiction with many ties to real life people.It tells the story of Josie and Arlette who are female spies working in the French Resistance during WW2.. Arlette is a French teenager who has been seduced by a young German soldier and has given birth to his baby .Josie is a American, half- Jewish teenager stuck in France when her German diplomat father returns to the states and her mother refuses to leave her mother.When they are finally caught and sent to Ravensbruck they are subjected to much cruelty.At the end of the war, Arlette’s son is stolen by the Nazis who escaped. The camp. Fast forward to 1952 when Arlette and Josie uncover a secret network in French Guiana where Arlette’s son might be.There is also evil lurking in the jungle.Can they find the people responsible for the deaths of so many innocent victims? Read the book and find out.Lots of intrigue, drama and action.

I absolutely loved this story!! Wanted to savor and read quickly, I thought I knew how the story would go, but was pleasantly surprised, will have to read other books by her.

If you love historical fiction, mystery and intrigue, you will love The Golden Doves! Martha Hall Kelly has given us a dual time line story of two French Resistance fighters, Josie and Arlette, turned Nazi hunters. They had endured the horrors of Ravensbruck and after they were liberated went separate ways. When the reconnect, Josie is searching for the elusive Dr. Snow and Arlette for her missing son. It story filled with mystery, intrigue, twists and turns. I could not put it down! Thank you to NetGalley for advance copy.

I think Martha Hall Kelly does a wonderful job picking a time in history and telling the story through her characters. I was aware that a number of Nazis had escaped to South America and think it was a good topic to explore, I did think the storytelling, especially the ending felt too much like a romance novel.

Thank you to Net galley and Ballatine Publisher for letting me read an arc of the Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly. This author is one of my favorite authors for historical fiction. I was so excited to read a copy. This book was hard to put down, it focused on WW2 an flashbacks to the 1944. This author does alot of research and it shows you get to learn about characters lives and situations.

I so enjoyed reading my third Martha Hall Kelly book. I loved her debut Lilac Girls and then Lost Roses, they were both so amazing. This book is definitely a story that you'll be unable to put down. The author does a wonderful job in writing the closing sentences in each chapter that makes you have to turn the page to see what will happen next. It is written in two timelines, the 1940's during WW2 and then during the 1950's after the Nuremberg Trials.

Josie Anderson an American and Arlette LaRue a Parisian are both young and are brought together to work in the French resistance.
You are taken through how the girls become known as the Golden Doves 🕊️ and how they are brought into Ravensbrück concentration camp. You'll read what they go through and see what horrors befalls them in the camp.
In the 1950's they both have their agendas, Josie is trying to locate the doctor that ended her mother's life, Dr. Snow, and Arlette is searching for her son Willie. You are taken to French Guiana, and there you find lies, secrets, and unthinkable things happening to the children there.

The surprise ending is brought together so perfectly, you will love it. The authors note is very informative and enlightening bringing fact and fiction to the reader. A 5+⭐ read. Enjoy ❤️.

Thank you so much NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC of Martha Hall Kelly's The Golden Doves, and Random House Publishing Group in exchange for my honest review & opinion.

#NetGalley
#MarthaHallKelly
#TheGoldenDoves #RandomHousePublishingGroup#HistoricalFiction

Extraordinary historical fiction. Once I started this one I couldn’t put it down, and finished it over a weekend. No regrets, because this was such a wonderfully gripping novel.

Told in two distinct voices, both kept my interest, The Golden Doves is serious how-fast-can-I-turn-the-page reading. Recommended.

Historical fiction is not for the lighthearted. It is not the easiest genre to write or read. However, Martha Hall Kelly just keeps writing excellent historical fiction novels. I went into this with no expectations whatsoever and was blown away. I love the atmosphere and how she wrote the story. It felt real and the book itself it difficult to put down once you start. I would recommend this to any historical fiction lover, you will not be disappointed!

Wow. The Golden Doves is Martha Hall Kelly back on the horse. While her last couple of books have fallen flat for me, this book had everything I loved about The Lilac Girls: great story, fascinating historical detail, fast-paced plot. The book opens with Josie, who is working for Operation Paperclip. It continues, flashing back and forth in time between occupied France, Ravensbruck, and 1952 in America and Europe. As a World War II specialist, I know about as much as you *can* know about Paperclip, at least outside of a government archivist. Kelly excelled in making me *angry* about it. She pulled me out of my spirit of resignation over it to ask why. To ask why this was ever permitted and why we have not made amends about it. This book also wraps in something in the vein of Colonia Dignidad. It is really a full view of the worst of the Nazis postwar and the havoc they wreaked, because we could not be bothered to bring them to justice. Highly recommend.

The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly is the story of two women in France working for the French Resistance in WWII. They were so successful that they were dubbed "The Golden Doves". Josie and Arlette are eventually captured and sent to Ravensbrück, the Nazi concentration camp for women where they witnessed Nazi atrocities firsthand. Told in alternating timelines of the 1940s - before and during their time in Ravensbrück - and then in the 1950s after the war.
1952 - Josie was working for the American Government in tracking down Nazi war criminals. She stumbles upon Operation Paperclip, the secret intelligence program that brought Nazi scientists to America after the war. She is determined to find a specific doctor that was in Ravensbrück that she believes was guilty of hundreds of deaths and the disfigurement of so many women and responsible for children that went missing from the camp. This particular doctor was also believed to be involved in Josies mother’s disappearance. At the same time, Arlette, is living in Paris, and she just wants to find her son who was taken from her before the liberation of the camp. This is an amazing story which tells how some Nazi criminals were able to escape prosecution for crimes against humanity in exchange for their scientific knowledge and were brought to the United States to work in secret government programs. Arlette and Josie are brave women that encounter impossible and challenging situations – their time in Ravensbrück was difficult to read about, but this is history and all really happened. I also love how the author twists and turns the story and so you can’t guess what is going to happen next.
I really enjoyed this book. Even through the horror of what the Nazi criminal doctors did to the women and babies was tough to read, this is historical fiction at its absolute best by an incredible author and I highly recommend The Golden Doves!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.