“The Golden Doves” is a wonderfully written account of two women who worked together against the Nazis with the underground resistance. Arlette and Josie are strong both strong individuals with their own talents that contributed towards their success as the Doves. I loved the detailed recounts of their time as the Doves as well as their time in the all-women prisoner camp Ravensbrück. You can tell the author gave a lot of time and effort to research and ensure the situations these women endured was based off factual information collected during the war. You absolutely fall in love with who they are and continue to care about them as their lives come back together after the war.

My only disappoint is that we never really got much detail about the Arlette and Josie’s missions as Doves. For example, we are continuously told that Arlette is a pro at picking locks but we never hear of a mission where she learned and used her talents. I would have loved to learn more about their incredible missions outside of simply radioing intel on the Nazis in France.

The ending was a pleasant surprise and I loved it! I truly enjoyed this book and cared greatly about these women and their journey together. I hope to see another book about these incredible women in the future!

What do you do with your life after you've spent years in a concentration camp and survived? This is a story of tragedy and triumph.

I've read three of this author's other novels and I think that this one is the best. Fiction and factual research are blended together seamlessly and characters are brought to life. I learned things that I didn't know about the Ravensbruck concentration camp. I also learned about Operation Paperclip , the secret American intelligence operation to bring Nazi scientists to the U.S. after WWII, and also the fight to hunt down Nazi war criminals around the world. The author's notes at the end of the story are a part of the book that should not be missed.

My sincere thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for giving me the opportunity to read and review a digital ARC of this very interesting book. Publication date: April 18, 2023.

I have loved all of Martha Hall Kelly’s books and I can add this to my list. The reader travels with 2 young women, Josie and Arlette, from wartime France to the post-war Western Hemisphere. The never ending adventure includes work for the French Resistance, murder, life at Ravensbrook, and ultimately a life and death search ending in Guiana.

It left me breathless and totally engaged. The women were known as THE GOLDEN DOVES for their work with the resistance. They were not stereotypical, from religion to nationality. The reader is taken on a hunt for post-war evil ,surrounded by spies and double agents.

It is also the story of love. Maternal love and the love of a daughter for her mother are explored. Without a doubt, this novel has it all. Though it moves from narrator to narrator and location to location, it is never confusing.

I really found this novel deeply enthralling and I highly recommend it to reading groups. Their meetings will be filled with meaningful discussions. I also urge readers to spend a few minutes with the afterword, explaining tge origins of this novel and the careful research that created this masterwork of historical fiction.

Thank you Netgalley for this extraordinary ARC.

This story is told in alternating time lines. During WWII, Josie and Arlette work for the French resistance. After being discovered, they end up in the Ravensbruck concentration camp. A decade after liberation, Josie is working for US intelligence, and accepts a mission to hunt down a Ravensbruck camp doctor. In France, Arlette is given a tip about the child who was taken from her in the camp.

This first half of this book felt like a sequel. It felt like I was missing vital information and had to make some guesses about the story. The two main characters were pretty compelling and very likeable. I think the book could have used some revision and editing to make it flow more smoothly, but overall it was a good read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC. The aftermath of World War II left Arlette without her son. Before she was taken to a concentration camp, she was a secret agent for the Resistance along with American Josie. They stole so many secrets that they became known as The Golden Doves. Arlette was approached by a man that believed he had her son. She traveled to French Guiana to see if it was possible, partly to escape the secret of what happened to her terrible aunt. Her aunt was a terrible person, turning Arlette in when she got pregnant with her German boyfriend to people that tried stealing her newborn and letting top Nazi supporters adopt him.

Josie was working for U.S. Intelligence and was tasked with hunting down a big Nazi doctor. She was extremely talented in her job and telling who is lying. This doctor has a sordid link to her and not just because she was at Ravensbruck concentration camp. This doctor did unspeakable things to her Mother.

Both are led down a scary path trying to seek justice and safety for their loved ones. It was a thrilling, terrifying book based on a true story that tugged at my heart strings. Such tragedy and determination that these women survived. There were parts that were hard to read but another incredible book by Martha Hall Kelly.

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.