Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this. This book had me from the prolog. I related to the characters. And fell for all of them. You might want to grab some tissues for this one.

Thanks to NetGalley for a pre read of this book. I have never read anything by this author but love books about WWII. I was immediately drawn into the story of Raya and Nicholas and all their struggles during the war.

Raya runs a leather shop in Paris and Nicholas is a writer. The story is their love story as they fight the Germans and fight to save those whom they love around them. They risk their lives and put others before themselves ultimately costing them. This was a super easy read.

Things I loved:
The storyline was very easy to follow despite toggling between two main characters. Often times I find that when books toggle between two characters and different time periods they can be hard to follow. This was not the case at all. It was so easy to follow. I found it hard to put the book down once I started.

Super clean read despite having a rape victim. The rape scene isn’t graphic at all just alludes to what has happened. This would be an excellent high school book to read to learn more about the resistance fighters during the war. Also no language which I appreciated.

Things that could have been better
Character development/descriptions of people and places were lacking at times. I felt the author missed an opportunity especially when Hugo was found to describe the dire conditions. Yes, he was chained and appeared dead, and there was some description of the smells, but I felt it was still flat. Also I felt there could have been more about Raya’s life at the concentration camp. The author did a phenomenal job describing the roll call and I can envision these women standing there holding each other up, but I felt like there could have been more descriptions like that.

Overall captivating story and I am already looking forward to reading another book by the author. One of my favorite books this year

I enjoyed the story! It kept me entertained, and I wanted to know what happened to the characters. It left we me wanting another story about what happened in their futures.

The Glovemaker’s Daughter highlights a brave woman who put others’ needs first and risked everything to fight an enemy she loathed.

Upfront and honest:

This book would have worked better for me had it been written in a chronological timeline. I was so frustrated trying to keep characters straight in my mind that I didn’t need the added agony of trying to figure out how it all fits together. It did not, however, affect my appreciation of the book.

Yes, the Holocaust had been featured in the majority of wartime historical fiction published in the past few years.

Yes, the resistance movement has been examined in depth, too. Especially, French resistance.

But. Hear me out.

1) Few have brought this level of emotion and insight into this heartbreaking and astounding part of our history. I can’t imagine the panic Raya felt at having no control over the ‘treasure’ she left hidden in the shop nor the urgency she felt in seeing that it was safe. We have little concept of the pain in making tough decisions with little time and few options like those in wartime experienced. It’s important to read about what enabled them to endure.

2) Furthermore, Ryan is careful not to portray stereotypes but focuses on how antisemitism gains strength. It’s important to be aware of how an evil seed can spread if left unchecked. She crafts each character with a sense of “this is my story” and readers can’t help but be pulled in with Ryan’s writing ability. I always look for how Ryan crafts the tension between her characters, their faith and their community. Faith played no part in how she treated everyone; she acted out of human kindness and decency, with little regard to how it would affect her.

3) I can be certain that she’ll raise timeless moral questions that give her writing urgency and relevancy.

I finished this book with a fresh appreciation of the connection between past and present and of the Jewish identity that has been shaped by history. Equally important, I loved reading about selfless people who took a stand to help the innocent and didn’t allow anything to step in the way of what they wanted to be remembered for - their love and compassion for their fellow man.

In a world where selfies and entitlement take precedence, this is an essential and poignant read. We need more people like Raya and Nicholas. This is a spellbinding and moving story of enduring love, remarkable sacrifice and unfaltering resolve - it needs to be on every historical fiction lover’s night table.

I was gifted this copy Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Raya has been taking care her entire life. She raised her brother after their parents deaths, she has taken care of the leather goods shop they left them to ensure their family legacy. She sent her brother to university while she pays for his education. And as the Germans impose more and more restrictions on Paris, and it’s Jewish citizens she will hide her best friend and her parents to keep them safe. When she meets a reporter with ties to the resistance she will have someone to lean on for the first time. But Raya has yet to face her greatest challenge and sacrifice, which will test every ounce of strength she has.

Definitely a tear jerker. Raya is such kind and genuine of a character. The romance was endearing and beautiful. This is one of those stories that showcases love and kindness in the midst of chaos and fear.
I’ve never read a @authorsharijryan book before but I will definitely seek out some of her other books based on this one.
Thank you to @netgalley and @bookouture for letting me read this one early in exchange for a review.
If this sounds like your kind of book it hits shelves September 18 2023.
#bookstagram #theglovemakersdaughter #readforjoy #bookworm #historicalfiction #booklover #readersofinstagram #reading #readmorebooks #reader #ww2 #booksbooksbooks #bookreview #bookrecommendations

Reading this story truly made me imagine how so many daring, scary, and life threatening situations occurred daily during the occupation of Paris in WWII. Such a well written, description story that has you routing crying and cheering the characters throughout the book. A beautiful read.

Another amazing story from Shari J. Ryan. I could not put this down and read it within a couple of hours! Definitely one of my favourite books by this author and I would recommend it to everyone. Yet again, Ryan looks into a different part of wartime history to tell us a story of people who we sometimes forget about in the war narrative.

From the very first sentence, Shari Ryan transports you to German occupied Paris and into the shoes of one of the most selfless characters I have come across as of yet.

I am so grateful to Shari, Bookouture and her entire team for allowing me the opportunity to read her historical novels before they hit the shelves. It never fails how quickly I’m lost within the pages, seeing the world through the eyes of her characters. I’m always surprised when I come to the last sentence because I simply cannot put her books down. They’re that good.

The Glovemaker’s Daughter is the story of Raya Pascal, a selfless young woman left to keep the family business afloat after the death of her parents and ensure that her younger brother achieves his dreams…even at the expense of her own. When the Germans invade and then begin enforcing racial laws, she’s determined to keep her Jewish best friend and her parents safe from the imminent round ups. By hiding them in a hidden room in her home, she puts herself at great risk but she simply won’t let anything happen to them if she can help it. When she meets Nicolas, she lets down her guard just a bit. He is a part of the resistance and she wants to do more to help regain France’s freedom. When she is wrongly arrested and sent to a camp, it’s her skill as a glove maker that keeps her alive but it’s her love for Nicolas and the thoughts of the future that keep her from not giving up.

Nicolas wants to do his part for a free France but the need to keep Raya safe often leaves him torn between the two and he’s often in the wrong place when he is needed in the other more. And then the unthinkable happens, Raya is arrested and his is too late to save her from the trap she fell into. In her absence, he works to keep this Raya cares about safe as well as trying to find her.

While this story is purely fiction, it does paint a picture of the small acts of resistance that happened all around Europe during the war. The people that risks everything to save the innocent, the people that tried to stall the Germans and eventually stop them in their tracks and the people that still looked forward to a future after the war…that hope that carried them from one day to the next.

Thank you so much Shari for this incredible story!

The glove makers daughter was a joy to read! Fantastic author! Pick up this novel and you will find it hard to put it down again, and when you have read it, you will find it easy to believe that you have actually been there experiencing the story yourself.

“The Glovemaker’s Daughter” is by Shari J. Ryan and is a WWII historical fiction book. This book is told in two timelines - one in October 1943 and another in May 1942. I felt a lot of confusion (frustration?) at first because the timelines are so close that the 1943 storyline, though so different from the 1942 one, seemed more like flashes of what was to come opposed to a solid story line - and while the 1942 storyline gave background material, at times it dragged. As the story progresses, the pace sped up and it became a lot more interesting. Do hang in with the story (in other words, don’t give up like I nearly did around the 23% mark) - trust in Ms. Ryan as she always pulls things together so the dual timelines do make sense. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

This is another powerful read from Shari Ryan. It covers most of the Nazi occupation of Paris through the end of the war and the immediate aftermath as well as two years of internment in Ravensbruk. We view all of this through alternating chapters of a barely dual timeline that begins with Raya's story in October 1943 and that of Nicholas in May 1942. I found the barely separate time periods frustrating for the first half of the story but then the pace picked up rapidly, fully grabbing my attention. I suggest a large box of tissues for the last few chapters unless your heart is made of stone.

Both Raya and Nicholas are noble characters, ultimately making the kinds of choices we all hope we'd make in dire circumstances. I think this quote from the father of Nicholas sums it up best: "Promise me you'll always stand up for the innocent. Never let something bigger than you get in the way of what you want to be remembered for. This world needs love & compassion, and far less hate." Words to live by, for all of us.

Many thanks to NetGalley & Bookouture for the opportunity to read the digital ARC. All opinions and the review are my own.

THE GLOVEMAKER’S DAUGHTER by SHARI J RYAN is a heart breaking story of the ravages of war during the German occupation of France, the hoorors of Ravensbruck and of the inhumane treatment of the Jews. We can feel the palpable fear of a people whose country has “lost its heart.” It is also a story of sacrificial love, undying hope and of putting another’s safety above one’s own.
We see this lived out by Raya Pascal, the glovemaker, and her boyfriend, Nicholas Bardot, a frustrated journalist and member of the Resistance, with their support of the Levi family and love for one another, their friends, families, and baby Amalie.
The book is beautifully written and inspirational, with plenty of suspense and a heart warming love story. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good WW11 story.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Bookouture. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

Once again Ryan's writing style had me finishing the last two thirds of this in a single day. It is a testament to her writing that it has me hooked every single time.
Though I found some parts of the structure of 'The Glovemaker's Daughter' to be frustrating at times, the payoff was definitely worth it, and I ended up enjoying the non-linear structure much more than I expected to. I really enjoyed the multiple weaving aspects to this, something many historical novels struggle to do well.
Overall, I enjoyed this a lot, and ended up quite emotional by the end of it. But that is to be expected for Ryan's novels now, I believe.