Over the last two years Martha Hall Kelly has become one of my very favorite authors! The research that went into a book like The Golden Doves is just amazing! The author has such a way with telling stories of extraordinary women who basically changed history with their actions. Arlette and Josie were brought together to spy on the Nazis during WWII and were given the name The Golden Doves. They were discovered eventually and sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp and saw the terrible things that were being done there firsthand. Years later they are reunited and go after the Nazis to make them pay for what they have done. I learned so much about what happened after WWII and highly recommend this excellent book!

Martha Hall Kelly breathes life into history and gives us female characters that exemplify the best in women. In her latest book, Josie and Arlette, known as the Golden Doves, thwart Nazis in Paris. Once captured, they are shipped to Ravensbruck where they are subjected to the horrors of the prison camp. While at camp, Josie watches her mother die after experimentation by a Nazi doctor. Additionally, Arlette's son is taken away from her. These two women find themselves drawn together again, a decade later.

Josie and Arlette learn that the doctor responsible for Josie's mother's death may still be alive and living with a large group of escaped Nazis in French Guiana. They join forces to identify and expose him. This story not only exemplifies the resilience of prison camp survivors but also the strength of female friendship. In a time when women were not valued for their strength, this book shines a light on the wonderful accomplishments of women during the war.

This is the story of Josie and Arlette who are spies during WWII. (Arlette was my Mom’s name, and I never, ever see it in novels, so it was fun to see it in print.) The story is told partly in the ‘40s in wartime Germany and France and then later in 1952 in various places. During the war the young women stay under the radar until they are finally discovered and sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp. Arlette’s son and Josie’s mother are also sent to the camp.

Ten years later the women are involved once again with mystery. Josie is with Army Intelligence on a mission, and Arlette thinks she has a lead to find her son.

As usual, Ms. Kelly tells a captivating story. She interweaves truth with fiction which makes the story fascinating. This time, however, several anachronisms got in the way of total enjoyment for me. For example, “… nylon stockings are slipping down, the crotch already mid-thigh …”. This was 1952, but pantyhose were not invented until 1959. Stockings would have been the kind held up with garters. Another was “… a Lucky Strike from the green pack …”. In 1952 Lucky’s were not in a green pack. They were changed to white in 1942. (Menthol cigarettes, called “Lucky Strike Green” were not brought out until the 1960s.) There were several words that would not have been said in either of the timelines of the book, including “legit” instead of legitimate, “toked” in the connotation that was used, and “hard copy.” I know that all sounds picky of me, but they were distracting and annoying.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review The Golden Doves. I did enjoy it and look forward to Ms. Kelly’s next project.

Once a dove, always a dove, is the motto of Josie and Arlette in The Golden Doves. Set in 3 alternating time periods, through 2 Ravensbruck survivors’ perspectives, author Martha Hall Kelly does not disappoint, AGAIN. For me, reading historical fiction is about learning about unsung women and events in history that don’t make the history books. Look for this great book in April 2023.

Once this WWII story gets moving it’s fairly fast paced action. Since it’s fiction you expect to have to “forgive” random coincidences, but this story is just so chock full of them. The writing and story line are decent, but the amount of times characters in conversation ask a question and the other character simply jumps to a completely new topic is distracting. (Ex: “what’s the weather like?” “ I took out the trash last week.” #not direct quotes)
Overall, a decent read but not one I’d add to my favorites shelf.

Thank you @NetGalley for the preview in exchange for a review. Martha Hall Kelly does it again! She delivers a poignant story of two friends on a dual timeline in the early fifties with flashbacks to their war time activities as part of the French Resistance. Numerous characters make a reappearance in this story from the authors previous books and the layers of the entwined stories makes for an interesting perspective. The intrigue of the hunt, loss, betrayal, and healing are all woven together in a beautiful tapestry as only Martha Hall Kelly can do. #historicalfiction #WWII #frenchresistance #NetGalley #WWIIlaborcamps #TheGoldenDoves

Author Martha Hall Kelly has written another expertly researched and wonderfully written novel set in WWII. This novel is told through alternating chapters of Josie and Arlette and time frames from the 1940s and 1950s. It is a little confusing at the beginning because the time keeps changing from the 1950s to “Before”. We soon learn that before includes the women becoming partners in the Resistance and their time at the Ravensbruck concentration camp. They both lose so much personally that it not only shapes who they are, but also how they interact with others and how their lives change after the War. Even into the 1950, these women’s lives are intertwined and they must once again trust each other for their very survival.
I hope that all readers will take the time to read the Author’s Note at the end of the book. It explains so much of the author’s research and I have learned new information from her notes at the end of her books.
Thank you to the author, Random House and NetGalley for the ARC of this book for my honest opinion.

I had to stop reading this partway through to see if it was the sequel to another book. It’s hard to understand where the characters are in the beginning of the book without clearly understanding where they were and what happened to them at Ravensbruck. I’ve read nonfiction books about Ravensbruck concentration and understand what the ‘rabbits’ were and the sick experiments done on them, without that background I fear more readers wouldn’t understand.

I feel so incredibly lucky to receive an ARC of this amazing book. I have read all of Ms. Kelly’s books and loved each and every one. She is a master storyteller and once you start reading you have to finish as each page just seems to turn themselves. This one is a little different in format than the previous books but still follows amazing women as they face adversity and find their own strength to overcome the most incredible challenges. Her ability to tie together these two brave women, who were part of the French Resistance, with the historical context of Nazis, who were somehow allowed to go on with their lives after the War, is simply amazing. While you get a hint of what is happening on the island there is enough intriuge to make it interesting, along with a little sex! After reading her books I always feel that I learned so much new information about topics that I thought I was well educated on. This book is scheduled for publication in April 2023 and I encourage everyone to get in line now for your copy. All opinions are my own and not based on the ARC that I received from the publisher,.

I want to thank penguin random house and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Golden Doves by author Martha Hall Kelly. She previously wrote Lilac Girls, Lost Roses and Sunflower Sisters.
This is a frightening story of people in the US and Russia trying to help a Nazi scientist escape prosecution for the atrocities at a concentration camp so that he would share the results of his experiments. Many Nazis were helped to flee to Argentina and other countries with help from the Vatican at the end of World War Two!
Ms Kelly created her story with extensive research! Part of the novel is based on breeding blue eyed, blond hair children with pure Aryan blood.
Josie and Arlette, the heroines of the book, were incredibly brave. They bring the Ravensbruck camp to life!
I did find the constant change of time periods and switching from Josie to Arlette confusing.
Ms Kelly’s work reminds us of the horrors that one person can inflict on another. Her novel uses fictional characters but the concentration camps and what happened there is very real!
Publication date is 04/18/2023.

The author's fourth novel, this book is a excellently researched WWII book, Wonderful, captivating writing plot and original gives this novel depth and an ability to pull in any reader. I highly recommend this author and all three of her other books I have read have been nothing less than fantastic. She is definitely an auto-buy author for me, and I can't wait to own this novel in print.

I loved The Golden Doves! The book had me
hooked from the first chapter. This story of two women who met during imprisonment at Ravensbruck was heart-wrenching, suspenseful and difficult to read at times. Very well-written and an important story about war criminals during WWII that I didn’t know about. I received an ARC from NetGalley. Five stars!

Set in two timelines, the 1940s during WWII and the 1950s, this historical thriller will have you on the edge of your seat. Two teenage girls, French Arlette Larue and American Josie Anderson are thrown together in their attempt to help the French Resistance in Paris. Known as "The Golden Doves", they are cautiously optimistic that their work is making a significant difference in the outcome of the war when they are suddenly exposed and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp together with Arlette's infant son Willie.

Determined to rebuild their lives, Arlette and Josie are unexpectedly reunited seven years after the war, each with their own agenda. The plot of the book changes abruptly and they will need each other's unique skills once again to survive yet another life-threatening menace.

Cancel all social engagements while you read this book. You won't be able to put it down.

Author Martha Hall Kelly has earmarked herself once again as the creator of compelling, character-driven drama at the highest level. Even at the book's conclusion the reader finds there is more to come.

In 1952, Lt. Josie Anderson of the U. S. Army and Arlette LaRue, known as the Golden Doves during World War II, find themselves reuniting in order to capture the dreaded Dr. Snow, whose cruel experiments at the Ravensbruck concentration camp for women caused countless suffering and death. Through a series of detailed clues, the women learn Dr. Snow is alive in French Guiana.. In addition, the child taken from Arlette LaRue may also be alive.
False identities, a government traitor and and a "man of mystery" lover add to the twists and turns in this captivating. story based on real people and events of the Second World War and its aftermath.

The Golden Doves is a blend of two characters telling their own sides of the same story. The protagonists are Josie and Arlette, two friends from their late teenage years. Josie is the daughter of an American daughter of a French Jewess and an American diplomat, and Arlette is an orphan who lives with a curmudgeonly aunt. Arlette also has an infant son who grows during the story. The two girls are brought together by the resistance in France against the Reich, and must remain under the radar in order to protect not only themselves but those they love. They end up in Ravensbruck camp as prisoners, and we see the story go backwards and forwards in time as the girls share their experiences in the past and in the current time-line. In the current world, they have the chance to make the capture of a doctor who hurt and killed many in their camp, but they must be wary, because anyone can be a double agent. Will the Golden doves have to fly again?

Martha Hall Kelly has done it again. It’s been a couple of years since I read Lilac Girls - and this one felt like such a good follow up to that story. Different enough that it was good, but also pulling in some of the old characters and expanding on their story. I love how the history came alive and she was able to shed light on some of the truly horrific things that happened back then, and also those who got away with it.

I appreciate netfalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC!

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Josie has a new mission to find a doctor who has done unspeakable acts. It will take everything in her arsenal to apprehend this Nation doctor. This book drew me in from the very first page

4.5 / 5.0 Stars

Author Martha Hall Kelly has crafted yet another wonderful and sweeping historical fiction story which also draws on the thriller genre and has a touch of mystery. The dual story line opens in the year 1952 and often flashes back to the war years, 1940 to 1945.

The two fictional main characters are American Josie Anderson and Alsatian Arlette Dagmar LaRue. Josie, daughter of an American diplomat, meets Arlette in German occupied Paris. The duo are willingly tasked by the French Resistance to eavesdrop on Nazi conversations and get the intel to the British through the usual nefarious methods and at great peril. They were so accomplished at their task, that they received the moniker, the Golden Doves. Their luck runs out and they find themselves at Ravensbrück Women's Concentration Camp. Move forward to 1952, Arlette receives notice that her son, who was taken from her at Ravensbrück , may be housed at an orphanage in French Guiana and she hopes to investigate further. Meanwhile, U.S. Army Lieutenant Josie Anderson, is on staff to identify and find German scientific assets (scientists and doctors) and to bring them to America to work for the U.S. Government thus preventing their knowledge from falling into the hands of the Soviets. In essence, she's a glorified Nazi hunter with a very heavy chip on her shoulder.

The story is very well written with an incredible amount of historical research that went into its telling. The characters are well-developed and the mise en scène is vibrant. It was so well laid out that one could see the magnificent sites of Paris as well as the garish living arrangements at Ravensbrück in their mind's eye and smell the breads as their essence wafted out of the bakery doors. The first half of the story lays the ground work for the building intensity in the second half. The tension remains taut right through to the epilogue at which point the tension relaxes and the book draws to a satisfying conclusion. There were enough loose ends at the finish, that one can hope for a sequel involving the main players in this story. Hope springs eternal. If you have an interest in the roles of women of WWII and enjoy well-written and well-researched stories about these women, then this may well be the book for you.

I am grateful to Ms. Kelly and her publisher, Ballantine Books, for having provided a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.

Publication Date: Apr 18, 2023
Pages: 528
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 978-0593354889

4.5 stars!

Lilac Girls is one of the best historical fiction novels I’ve read, so when I got the email that NetGalley approved me for this ARC I thought I was gonna croak!! And as usual, Martha Hall Kelly delivered. You go through every emotion right along with the characters.

The story follows Josie, who is American and Arlette who is French. The two are thrown together to work for the resistance during WW2. They form a life long friendship.
The story goes back and forth between 1940’s and 50’s. It is sometimes hard to read as it describes life in a concentration camp and the inhumanities that took place while they were incarcerated.
This is a fantastic story from beginning to end.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.