Full review and recipe that matches the book: https://wordpress.com/post/bakingthroughbookclub.com/972

** Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the chance to review The Golden Doves in exchange for my honest review. **

Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Even avid readers have moments in life when their reading drops off. For me, it was when my kids were little. The baby and toddler years are tough, and there isn’t much free time to read. Then, not reading becomes a habit in itself.

I remember the moment that I decided to get back into reading. I was working in the marketing department of one of the Air Force’s Force Support Squadrons. After a meeting with the head of the base library, I longingly ran my finger along the new fiction shelf and remembered how much I loved reading. I decided right then and there to get back into it, so I picked up one of those new releases. It was Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly, and it is still to this day one of my favorite books.

The Golden Doves is not technically part of the Lilac Girls series, which follows the family line of socialite Caroline Ferriday in its sequels. Instead, it reintroduces us to several characters from the original Lilac Girls book. This is particularly true of Herta Oberheuser, the female doctor who slowly adopted the Nazi’s belief system when she went to work at the Ravensbrück concentration camp.

The Golden Doves takes place in 1952, shortly after the end of the war. It tells the tale of two unlikely Allied spies who gave Germany a run for their money before their capture. Josie was an American who was recruited to intercept radio signals. Arlette was a young French woman who became pregnant from a German soldier. Her aunt sent her to a state-run birthing house to have the baby, which would then be seized by the Nazis and adopted to a high-ranking Nazi family. Arlette couldn’t bear to lose her baby, so a nurse who was secretly working as a spy guided her to safety. Arlette and Josie lived with baby Willie in a small Paris apartment, where they intercepted high-level radio messages. They became known as The Golden Doves, and the Nazis would stop at nothing to capture them. Then, a chance encounter caused the Nazis to arrest them, not knowing they were the spies in which they sought. The women were sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where they endured unspeakable horrors until the war ended. Most painful of all was the seizure of baby Willie while Arlette was working one day. Arlette had no idea whether her son was alive and merely transferred somewhere else, or whether he was killed at the camp.

Now, in 1952, Josie is living in Texas working for the U.S. Army. She evaluates former Nazi scientists and determines whether they are still sympathetic to the Nazis or whether they are “reformed” enough to help the United States in its race to out-arm Russia. One day, her boss sends her on a mission to find Dr. Snow, a virologist responsible for horrific medical experiments while at Ravensbrück. Josie’s own mother was killed in these experiments. Her travels lead her back to France, where she briefly reunites with Arlette. Arlette still lives in a cloud of grief praying that her son is alive. Then, a rich stranger named Luc finds her in her cafe one day and claims that he has her son. He runs a non-profit orphanage named Hope House that reunites war orphans with their parents or finds a suitable home for them. Luc offers to bring Arlette back to French Guinea so that she can find her son. Needless to say, Josie and Arlette’s missions are not quite what they seem.

The Golden Doves was a breathtaking tale of healing, longing, and the need for closure in the face of unspeakable evil. While it was extremely sad to hear about the conditions that real women had to face at Ravensbrück, I would not consider this book a tearjerker. I only mention this because I know some people do not like books that are intended to make them cry, or they have to be “in the mood” to do so. If this is you, fear not. It methodically painted a picture of the Nazi’s brutality without making the reader feel like they needed to cry.

Instead of centralizing around Arlette and Josie’s experiences at the concentration camp, The Golden Doves addressed the quest for justice that existed in post-war life. Even after the Nuremberg Trials, some citizens felt like justice had not been served. Josie was fueled by her desire to “catch” Nazis that she felt had lied their way to lighter sentences. After the atrocities that she viewed, how can one possibly heal? However, the nation seemed intent on forgiving Nazi scientists so that they could defeat Russia. Was this good? Bad? Understandable? Inconceivable? How can the entire nation move on when the people who had harmed her were running free? In Arlette’s case, how could people forget the children that were lost? Everyone else was moving on, but Arlette could not let go of the son she had lost. Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, “Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin.” In order for Arlette and Josie to experience personal peace, they needed justice first.

I highly recommend The Golden Doves and the rest of The Lilac Girls series for historical fiction fans wanting to explore different perspectives of the Holocaust. Kelly does an amazing job writing her stories in a way that makes the reader engage in the same moral dilemmas that average citizens must have wrestled with at that time. While there is no shortage of books about the Holocaust, The Golden Doves and Kelly’s other books stand apart from the rest of the field. I will happily pick up any future books that she writes about this terrible, world-altering event.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another fantastic historical fiction novel from this author! Her research, detailed in her author's note at the end, seems so thorough and I love her stories about meeting survivors or family members who inspire her to delve deeper and write another book, especially these little-known stories of WWII. This novel centers around Josie and Arlette, who meet while working in the Resistance, and the chapters alternate between this time and the early 1950's. Both storylines held my interest, but I was especially drawn into Josie searching for Nazis who had escaped prosecution for war crimes and/or had made deals with foreign governments to live a life of luxury after the war.

The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly was a well written and meticulously researched historical fiction mystery about two young women whose paths crossed and became woven together during the Nazi occupation of Paris and beyond. It was told from the POV of Josie Anderson and Arlette LaRue and alternated between 1943 (before) and 1952 (after). The Golden Doves was inspired by true events.

Josie Anderson was a fifteen year old American girl whose diplomat father had moved her and her mother to Paris prior to the Nazi occupation. As soon as the Nazis invaded France, Josie’s father secured his safety by traveling back to the United States. Josie and her mother refused to accompany her father since Josie’s grandmother was sick. Her grandmother had been too ill to travel at the time and by the time she could travel the Nazis had made it impossible to travel anymore. It was dangerous and scary for Josie and her mother in Nazi occupied Paris especially since Josie’s mother was Jewish. It wasn’t long before Josie was recruited by the resistance and started working for them. Josie had received training and became proficient at using a ham radio to listen in on Nazi conversations.

Close to the border that France shared with Germany, a young sixteen year old girl named Arlette LaRue was met by her German boyfriend, Gunther Wagner, a seventeen year old Wehrmacht soldier, at her school. Gunther informed Arlette that his unit, the Twelfth SS Panzer Division, was scheduled to leave for the front the very next day. By the time Gunther left Arlette that day, neither Arlette nor Gunther knew but Arlette was pregnant with Gunther’s child. Arlette had been able to conceal her pregnancy from her aunt until the day her aunt saw Arlette emerge from her bath. Her aunt immediately took Arlette to Westwald, the only French Lebensborn home, where Arlette gave birth to her son Willie. When Arlette learned that Willie would be taken from her at birth and would be adopted by a pure Aryan family, she was beside herself in grief and anger. A member of the resistance who was posing as one of Arlette’s nurses smuggled Arlette and Willie out of Westwald to the safety of an apartment located in the flower district and right behind Nazi headquarters. Much to Arlette’s initial dismay, she and Josie began to work together for the French Resistance. Arlette became responsible for transcribing the conversations Josie overheard and then she delivered them to the proper sources so that they could be sent to the allies in London. Josie and Arlette became known as The Golden Doves and were notorious all over France. The Nazis were determined to find them but The Golden Doves were never found. Unfortunately, they ended up in Ravensbruck but no one ever suspected that they were The Golden Doves. The atrocities Josie and Arlette had witnessed at Ravensbruck remained with them throughout the rest of their lives.

Ten years later, Josie was working in U.S. Army Intelligence in Texas. She had just been given an assignment to track down a doctor that had been at Ravensbruck when she was a prisoner. This particular doctor, Dr. Snow, had been responsible for Josie’s mother’s death and for performing horrific experiments on various prisoners. Josie accepted her assignment reluctantly. She knew it would bring back memories she had tried but never could keep from surfacing her entire life. The assignment took her to Europe.

Arlette had come back to Paris to live after the war was over. She never got over loosing her son Willie at Ravensbruck. Willie had just disappeared and Arlette had tried to find him ever since with no luck. She was working in a coffee shop with other survivors from Ravensbruck when a man named Luc Minau representing Hope Home asked to speak with Arlette. Luc told Arlette that he believed that Willie was one of the war orphans that lived at Hope Home, a nonprofit organization that he and his grandmother ran together. He invited Arlette to go to French Guiana to Hope Home so she could see if Willie lived among the other orphans. Arlette was skeptical at first but she finally agreed to go. When Arlette had begun to uncover secrets and became suspicious of the way the orphanage was being run she contacted Josie to help her. Would The Doves be called upon once again to get to the bottom of what was transpiring at Hope Home? Will Arlette finally be reunited with her son, Willie? As Josie and Arlette uncovered one secret after another, the two Doves once again found themselves in serious danger. Will The Doves be able to persevere this time?

The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly was a riveting book that I found hard to put down. I alternated by listening to the audiobook that was well narrated by Jeremy Carlisle Parker and Saskia Maarleveld and reading it on my kindle. I have read all of the books that Martha Hall Kelly has written. The Golden Doves was my favorite by far. I enjoyed that she chose two strong, brave and resilient women as the protagonists for this book. She incorporated true events into The Golden Doves that included the Nazi Occupation of Paris, evidence of the French Resistance, the Lebensborn program that was initially initiated by the SS as maternity homes, Operation Paperclip that was a secret intelligence program that brought Nazis to the United States, the Ratline and the Vatican’s part in it, the numerous experiments conducted on prisoners at Ravensbruck and the treatment of the children at Ravensbruck including the formation of the Kinderzimmer bock or maternity block. I was horrified to learn about Operation Paperclip. How could the government of the United States knowingly have brought Nazis here and allowed them to go unpunished for their heinous crimes against humanity? I was impressed with all Martha Hall Kelly included within her book. It was impressive and I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Balletine Books for allowing me to read The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Dear Fellow Reader,

Summer is barely upon us and there are lists and lists of summer books out. Do you look at them? I must admit that I always do just to see if I have missed any books that I might like. I saw a list last week and made a list of books that I would like to read from that list. I have finished two of the books so far. They were not very long but I did enjoy both of them. One was the new Elizabeth Berg book, Earth’s the Right Place for Love. It is the prequel to the Arthur Trulov series. It is a lovely quick read. I think you should put it on your summer reading list. (In case you missed the series, go back and read them all.)


The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly is this week’s book. It is a historical fiction book that takes place partially during WWII and partially after the war. American Josie Anderson and Parisian Arlette LaRue are thrown together while working for the Resistance in Paris during the war. Josie was a willing recruit to the cause, but Arlette was very reluctant and without much choice. They become the target of a Gestapo manhunt because they were effective in thwarting the Nazis by sending out important information via a hidden radio. But they get caught and are taken to a concentration camp. They survive but Josie loses her mother to a doctor’s experiments and Arlette’s son is taken from her. After the war, Arlette is still looking for her son and Josie is working with the military. They are brought back together to face another challenge. Can they still work together effectively?

This book goes back and forth in history to tell the story. So, you gradually get both the history and the current story.

The book keeps you turning pages to see what will happen next. The two women are forced together because of the Nazis and will come together for that reason again. I enjoyed the book.

Thanks for reading.

I was given an advance copy of the book for my unbiased review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Book for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a HUGE Martha Hall Kelly fan, and I have read all of her books. "The Golden Doves" is another gem of a historical fiction novel that should be required reading for all who love the genre.

I’ve enjoyed all of Martha Hall Kelly’s novels and this is no exception. She pulls the curtain back on a part of WWII history that isn’t often talked about: what happened to the nazis who inflicted such torture? You can tell this was thoroughly researched and I really came to respect The Golden Doves and all the women like these characters did during and after the war.

Never have 500+ pages flown by as it did for The Golden Doves. I fell in love with Martha Hall Kelly's writing when I read The Lilac Girls and the sequels. Even when she writes about historical periods I don't usually like reading, I love the book. So I was disappointed that it took me this long to get to the book, but at the same time I'm glad I had it to read during my vacation this week. I didn't have to put the book!

In The Golden Doves, Kelly returns to WWII and women who were imprisoned in Ravensbruk. The story is told from two points-of-view and in multiple timelines. Josie is the daughter of an American diplomat. During WWII, Josie, her mother, and grandmother were left behind in France while her father was in Rome. In the book's present day (the 1950s), she is working for U.S. Army intelligence helping to locate prominant German scientist to recruit to the USA so that Russia doesn't get them first. In reality though she is hunting Germans that have escaped arrest. During the war she worked for the Resistance as a radio operator.

Josie's partner was Arlette and Parisian woman who was raised by her German aunt. She becomes pregnant by her German sweetheart as he has been sent to the front, her aunt sees a way to curry favor with the Third Reich. She takes Arlette to a Lebensborn home. Arlette escape with her child and flees to France where her parents had lived before their deaths. With the help of the Resistance, she is able to locate the apartment they had left to her. In the book's present day, she works at a local coffee shop that only employs people who had been in the camps. She is also desperately looking for her son - she never believed he was the day after he disappeared from the camp near the end of the war.

The flashbacks to the war years and the changing points of view were easy to follow. Little snippets are dangled in front of us, and I was anxious to return to their war service to see what happened.

I really liked the characters. I wonder if there will be a series spun from this book. While complete on its own, there were moments at the end that could leaad into a a sequel.

Of the three novels, tthis is my facorite book - at leat until a new book comes out.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reqad come - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2023/05/3-historical-fiction-stories-you-may.html

The Golden Doves was well done and engaging. I’ve enjoyed Martha Hall Kelly’s previous books and appreciated the return to the WWII era. The alternating storylines were equally interesting and I loved how the story came together in the end.

What happens after you are spies for the resistance, captured and sent to a concentration camp and then liberated? Does life go on? American Josie Anderson and Parisian Arlette La Rue meet when they are paired up to work together with the resistance. They become friends and confidants, known as the Golden Doves, but after the war they each carry their own scars and burdens. Josie joins the US Military and Arlette works in a café with fellow war survivors. They stayed friends, and ended up reconnecting while each is on a quest for something lost.

"The Golden Doves" by Martha Hall Kelly is a powerful and interesting historical fiction novel about two women spies during WWII and their activity and passion for bringing nazi criminals to justice after the war. Full of devotion, personal motivation and confusion, this novel is wonderful. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved this book, as well as all of her orders. The two timelines were woven together so seamlessly, and I loved learning about what happened to the Nazis after the war ended. I would definitely recommend this book to any historical fiction lover! I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Review will be posted on 5/25/23

Former resistance fighter, Josie Anderson, should be starting her life over now that WWII is over, but she finds herself working undercover at Fort Bliss, Texas. She has been offered the job of tracking down Nazi physician, Dr. Snow, who experimented on people at Ravensbruck concentration camp. This is very personal for Josie as Dr. Snow "worked" on Josie's mother. Then there's Arlette, a former resistance fighter who partnered with Josie, who had her son taken from her during the war. She hopes to be reunited and heard that there is an orphanage in French Guiana for children that were separated from their parents during the war. After so many years apart, she gets a tip that her son might be there, but once she arrives at the orphanage, things aren't as they seem and something sinister lurks in the shadows. Martha Hall Kelly's The Golden Doves is another historical home run, but it is very heavy at times, so readers should be in the right frame of mind before they pick it up.

One thing I can count on Kelly for is a well-researched historical novel. I always learn something when I read her novels and they always really move me. Whether I am experiencing anger at the atrocities committed during WWII, extreme sadness for the victims, or both, Kelly always packs an emotional punch. Readers that enjoy stories based on real-life events, as well as female spies, will especially enjoy this one. I know I was personally blown away by learning the details surrounding Operation Paperclip as well as the Catholic involvement in transporting Nazis to South America. My mind was blown! And even though it was tough to read at times, isn't that the point of a good historical novel? I am glad that Kelly took the time to shed light on some details of the war that often get forgotten.

A young French woman, Arlette LaRue, and American Josie Anderson worked together with the French resistance in World War II. Known as “the Golden Doves,” the women were eventually captured and sent to Ravensbruck. While imprisoned, Arlette loses her toddler son and Josie’s Jewish mother is selected for extermination. Their concentration camp experiences inform their choices in 1952: Josie is with Army Intelligence tracking down ex-Nazi officials, while Arlette tries to find out what happened to the child taken from her at Ravensbruck.

I liked that this historical novel focused on the aftermath of the war. We learn about the ratline run by the Vatican to smuggle Nazi elite out of Europe to South America. We learn about “Operation Paperclip” run by the US military to bring Nazi scientists to America, lest they share their expertise with the Russians.

Suspense builds slowly, but it does build. I raced through the final third of the book. While there are some cameo appearances from a few Ravensbruck personnel in “Lilac Girls,” this is not a sequel.

(Thanks to Netgalley and Ballentine Books for providing a review copy.)

I’ve read all of Martha Hall Kelly’s previous works (and count Lilac Girls as one of my best WWII reads) so when I saw The Golden Doves, I knew I had to read it. American Josie Anderson and Parisian Arlette LaRue are brought together working for the French resistance in Paris during World War II. Their partnership leads to some incredible work stealing Nazi secrets and they soon become known as the Golden Doves. However, their bravery is tested when they end up at Ravensbruck concentration camp along with Josie’s mother and Arlette’s son.

Ten years later, the war is over, but both women are dealing with the loss of their families at Ravensbruck and struggling to right the wrongs that they witnessed. Josie works as an Army Intelligence officer and will stop at nothing to find the doctor she holds accountable. Arlette receives a tip that her son may be living in a boys camp overseen by a wealthy French family in French Guiana. Their paths cross again when they find justice can be served for both of them in South America.

I will always admire Kelly’s ability to take real stories and do right by them when turning them into historical fiction. She has once again crafted characters I’m invested in and treats this WWII story with the respect that it deserves. I feel like the best historical fiction works have me reading the author’s note and then doing research of my own to learn more about what I just read. This book did just that and shone a light on the lives of Nazi scientists after the war that I didn’t know nearly enough about. Thank you to Random House – Ballantine and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC.

Josie and Arlette are working in the French Resistance as female spies. They are on a very risky mission to track down a Nazi doctor who committed heinous crimes during World War II. They provided so much vital information that they became known as The Golden Doves. When they are captured, they are sent to Ravensbruck, a concentration camp. Josie's mother is also there and a victim of this infamous doctor. Arlette's son is with her; then taken from her for an adoption. Their quest takes them across Europe to eventually French Guiana. Will Arlette ever reunite with her son?
It was great to learn about places Jews escaped to and re-established their lives trying to escape Nazi control. I cannot image such a life of turmoil and oppression. Martha Kelly tells a wonderful story based on fact. It is joyous at times, sad and thrilling. I highly recommend this book to historical fiction lovers who enjoy stories based on facts.

Martha Hall Kelly's latest novel, The Golden Doves, explores WWII and the ratline - the path where high-ranking Nazis obtained false paperwork, crossed the Alps into Italy, and aided by the Vatican, escaped to South America. I had heard of this before, but this is the first book I've read that explores this topic, so it was a different take on WWII.

Teenagers American Josie Anderson and French Arlette Larue team up in Paris, working for the resistance by receiving, decoding, and delivering German messages they receive over their ham radio. They become known as the Golden Doves. While befriending a street child, they are taken by Nazi soldiers to Ravensbruck. The story then alternates between their time at the camp and the horrific things they saw and experienced, and after the war in 1952, where Arlette works in a cafe and Josie works for Army Intelligence. As the Americans, Russians and Italians all seek the former Nazi scientists, Josie is sent to find and bring back Dr. Snow, who was at Ravensbruck.. When Arlette follows a lead to French New Guinea, she reaches out to Josie, and the Golden Doves once again team up to bring justice to the past.

With enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, this is Martha Hall Kelly at her best. If you liked Lilac Girls, then this is a must-read for you. Thanks to Netgalley for ARC of this book; all opinions are my own.
#netgalley
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The Golden Doves
Author Martha Hall Kelly
(This review is from an uncorrected ARC from NetGalley)

This is a well-researched historical novel which has a World War theme..
The hunt to find German scientists after the war is a race with Russia to see which country can get their hands on them.
Josie Anderson was an American working in the French resistance during the war. She had been partnered with Parisian Arlette LaRue. When they were caught, they and their families were shipped to Ravensbruck. Both survived, although their relatives were either killed or went missing. The book is based on true events.
A decade later, the Doves fall headlong into a dangerous dual mission: Josie is working for U.S. Army Intelligence and accepts an assignment to hunt down the infamous doctor Dr. Snow, Arlette’s son is stolen from her, never to be seen again, while a mysterious man tells Arlette he may have found her son.
The story goes between the two women back and forth during the war period and 1952.
The Golden Doves embark on a quest across Europe and to French Guiana, discovering a web of terrible secrets, and must put themselves in grave danger in search of justice and protect the ones they love.
This is an unforgettable story about female spies, and I highly recommend the book.

Bravo! Highly recommend for fans of historical fiction!

I found this dual timeline story to be intriguing, starting in 1952 with flashbacks to 1943-45. It tells the story of two courageous young women and their mission to hunt down a war criminal. The author skillfully reveals their past, as she jumps between their present mission to the past, giving the reader tantalizing details of their former existence as spies during WWII.

While I read a lot of books set in WWII, it was refreshing to have a slightly different spin, as the author takes her heroines across the world as they seek to bring justice to some of the criminals who escaped the Nuremberg trials.

The author sets a high bar of excellence with her masterful research and her gift of storytelling. Not only was the story told in dual timelines, each was told from two points of view as well. With expert plot pacing, I found myself intrigued from the first to the last page, thoroughly captivated by Arlette and Josie's story. I realize that their story reflects the many untold stories of the real heroes of that time period.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley and the author/publisher. I was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Great historical fiction by a favorite author! Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.

I will read anything related to WW2 and have read all of Martha Hall Kelly's previous novels. Just like all of her back catalog books, this did not disappoint. This story is about two female spies who get paired up together in Paris and also develop a deep friendship. They get caught and sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp. The story opens with present day, after both have been liberated from the camps. One is on the hunt for a Nazi that committed atrocious medical experiments on prisoners, while the other is on the hunt for her son with whom she was separated from. The story goes back and forth from present time and their time in the camps (and prior). And the characters present lives intersect. I found this book to be well researched but also at the same time a bit contrived and over the top. It felt like it went on a action / espionage/ thriller-esque spin towards the end that i felt was unnecessary in a historical fiction story such as this. That being said, the short chapters and the suspense of the story kept me hooked. I'll still read anything MHK writes, but this may have been my least favorite. Id still recommend it - its worth the read.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.