The Silent Resistance by Anna Normann is a gorgeous story about courage, family (especially mother/daughter), sorrow, hardship, love, and perseverance. Set in Norway late in World War II, danger lurks everywhere and war changes everyone. Nazi collaboration is suddenly rife. Desperate times call for desperate measures and people do what they wouldn't in times of peace.

In 1945, Anni does what she can to comfort and bring joy to her precious little girl, Ingrid. Anni's husband has not returned from the war. Besta, Ingrid's delightful grandmother, is an important part of their lives and has ways of gifting even though items are nearly impossible to procure. They have much-deserved occasional treats and times of play. All Ingrid knows in her young life is war. She can differentiate between "good" and "bad" men. When a Nazi comes to their home asking to billet there, Anni has no choice. She now has a stranger,..an enemy...under her roof with her daughter, and danger is inescapable. Anni also has a secret life of sorts.

Interspersed throughout are chronological timelines after the war which give the reader glimpses into the characters' later lives, seamlessly done. The Bigamy Law and fraternizing with the enemy were very real and carried serious repercussions.

The historical details are incredibly detailed such as rationing, "Blue milk" and shortage of ordinary items including boots, especially leather. We take so much for granted such as safety pins, buttons, butter, and oranges which then were akin to treasure and invaluable bartering tools. People had to become enterprising and resourceful.

I like that the author based her book on a family member who lived through Haugesund. What a lovely way to honour her and showcase this lesser-known part of the war in Norway. This book grabbed me immediately. Not only is the setting unusual but the writing is intelligent and full of heart. It was very easy to love several of the characters.

My sincere thank you to Allison & Busby and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this life-enriching novel which really stirred me.

This was a gripping historical read that had me totally engrossed from the start. I knew nothing about the war in Norway which was supposedly a neutral country. Germany realised very quickly that they wanted this country to stop a lot of the resistance activities that were centred there, helping the allies and to have yet another country to rule. The two main characters are Anni and Ingrid her daughter but all the family, friends, villagers and the dreaded Germans were all described excellently.. The story reflects on many emotions such as hatred, love, kindness andd above all devotion to others. The story line deviates a part way through to gve the story of the war period and the aftermath and this is so well written that it is easy to follow the situations that Anni and Ingrid were faced with and the tough decisions that both took.. The story displays clearly the shame that the decisons made by the exiled government showed. The Bigamy rule and other changes to the Norwegian government rules that were changed basically to penalise the women who had survived rationing, being forced to be nice to the occupiess, Germans, and trying hard to bring up their children in the best possible way and not trying to let them see the fear that surounded the adults even though they knew that there were bad men in their country.
I would highly recomend this book to anyone interested in the second world war as it shows the human side across both Norway and germany.

A great WW2 novel set in Norway, which makes a refreshing change. Anni and Ingrid are great characters and you really become invested in what happens to them but at the same time I also learnt a lot about Norway in the war that I didn't preciously know. Very compelling storyline and definitely recommended to fans of this genre

This is one of the best WW2 novels I’ve read. It is set in Norway towards the end of the war, and in the years afterwards as Ingrid tries to unravel the mystery of what happened to her beloved mother Anni.

The book opens with 8-year-old Ingrid being bullied by classmates, with accusations that her mother was a collaborator in a relationship with a Nazi. We then move back: we see how brave Anni is as a member of the resistance, and how her feelings grow for Herr Gerber, the German billeted in their house. The story also moves forward through the twentieth century as Ingrid finds snippets of truth about what happened. The awful truth is heartbreaking and had me in tears.

At the heart of this book is the depth of love of Anni for her daughter Ingrid, a relationship that is beautifully drawn. But it's also a page-turner: I feared for the family’s wellbeing, and wanted to know what happened next.

It was refreshing to learn about Norway as a place, and what happened there during and just after the war. I had heard of Quisling, and was aware that Norwegians are uncomfortable about the degree of Nazi collaboration - but that was the limit of my knowledge. This book shows that, as often happens, women were victimised and marginalised.

If you enjoy WW2 stories and want a new perspective, I highly recommend this book.

I read an earlier draft of this book and was enthralled. Reading the published version, I remembered all the reasons I’d loved it so much.
Anni is such a terrific heroine. She’s self-sacrificing and strong, but very human. Her relationship with her daughter is beautifully drawn. We see her love, her good humour and patience. Anni is a woman who puts others first, whether that’s her child, or her mother-in-law, or her friends in the Resistance and the Allied men they help. Every decision she makes (and she’s forced into some tough ones!) is written with empathy and it’s impossible not to respect her constant desire to live a fulfilling life whilst doing the right thing.
I know little of Norwegian history but this book made wartime come alive. The deprivations and determination of ordinary people to get through hardship and oppression; the way even the most trivial aspects of life were affected by the war and the Nazi occupation. The book offers a balanced view, showing the grey areas that cause good people to suffer dilemmas. It’s a powerful story of how women so often suffer for reasons they have little or no control over.
If you enjoy historical fiction, and especially stories set in Europe during WWII, you won’t regret reading this book. It’s a tense, heart-rending story of love, war, and what they both cost us.

A revelation of the injustices perpetrated specifically by the Norwegian goverment in exile during World War II with their infamous, unjust, Bigamy Law.

To quote the authors Anan Singh and Natalie Normann (Anna Normann is their pseudonym), "The Bigamy Law allowed Norwegian men who had found new partners abroad during the war to get a divorce from their unsuspecting spouses and remarry. Many of their new foreign wives were not aware that their husbands were already married and possibly had children. Norway was the only country during the Second World War to pass such a law. The shame hung heavily over the victims of the Bigamy Law...."

Anni and Ingrid Odland were two such victims. Anni's husband Lars was in the merchant marine and hadn't been home since Germany invaded Norway in 1940.

In occupied Norway, Anni and 7-year-old Ingrid face all the difficulties and dangers Nazi occupation brought with it: rations, privations of almost everything - bread, milk, cofee, tea, butter, eggs, meat, vegetables barring turnips and potatoes, clothes, footwear, winter wear, coal in a bitterly cold country..., sudden arrests, sudden disappearances, fear. The only ones who seem to have it made are the quislings - Norwegian Nazi collaborators.

Danger is compounded when a German civilian officer is billeted in their tiny home - they can hardly refuse to house him - because Anni is part of the underground resistance. Now, it's too dangerous for her to participate in their activities or allow her home to be used by the resistance.

But does she continue to help the resistance? Is she caught? Does Lars Odland return? Does Anni become one of those "filthy, Nazi whores", who the entire populace turned upon once liberated? What happens to Herr Kerber the German civilian officer? Killed? Sent to a concentration camp? Deported?

Why is Ingrid separated from her mother? Does she ever reunite with her again, or did Anni abandon her? But if she was arrested...

The hard to put down novel is expertly woven with several threads, all converging at one point - Occupation and post Occupation treatment of women who were the victims of the Bigamy Law, or were seen as traitors for being the mistresses of Nazi officers (did they have a choice?) - the silent resistance.

We may think the Nazis are all uniformly bad and unjust and the Allies are universally gentlemanly and innately just. This novel stands those tropes on their heads. One bad egg bent on vengeance, messes up many lives, separating children from their parents, through unjust accusations, lies and leading to the imprisonment of true patriots.

Extremely well written, this novel is not to be missed and now Anna Norman has become an automatic addition to my TBR.

I was given a complimentary copy of the book. But all opinions are my own and unforced by any consideration.

A thoroughly enjoyable and absorbing read. Fascinating to read a novel set during Norway's darkest years. My only slight criticism is that, IMO, I think the novel could have benefited from an antagonist, a proper "bad guy". Yes, the German occupiers are the bad guys but I feel we could have had one character representing the evil force of occupation. Nonetheless, it's an emotional journey, well-written and memorable.

Living under the German occupation of her home country of Norway Anni is doing her best to keep her young daughter safe, warm, and fed. With her husband in stuck in England she is doing the best she can to hold everything together by herself until the war is over. When her home is commandeered by a German it sets off a series of events which will lead to one impossible choice for Anni.
In postwar England Ingrid has been living with her father and stepmother. As the years pass her recollections of the war fade, but two questions remains. Where is her mother? Why did she leave her?
I really enjoyed this book. There were quite a few things I didn’t know about Norway during the war that I learned. This was an incredibly heartbreaking story about a mother who did everything she could for her child under impossible conditions, and how the effects of the war lasted well beyond it’s conclusion.
Thank you to @allisonandbusby and @netgalley for letting me have an advanced copy of #thesilentresistance
#bookrecommendations #bookreview #readersofinstagram #historicalfiction

A poignant tale with much emotion. The historical details are plenty and while it's heartbreaking it's also inspiring. The characters are courageous and the story is palatable.

I haven't read many stories about the war where Norway is such a key player in the proceedings. This was a fresh take on the war story and really made me think and open my eyes.

This book, which is set in wartime Norway, centers on Anni as she tries to survive while living under Nazi rule.

With her husband missing at sea for years, Anni's primary focus is on protecting her young daughter, Ingrid, and contributing to the resistance.

But when a German officer is stationed in her home, her situation becomes dangerously complicated, forcing her to make a life-changing decision.

Moving on to London in 1952, we find Ingrid as a young lady who is still troubled by the unexplained disappearance of her mother at the end of the war.

Determined to find answers, she sets out on a journey to discover what truly happened to Anni.

The two timelines tell a compelling tale of love, grief, and the bravery required to pursue the truth.

I could not put this book down; it really put me through the ringer emotionally.

Anni lives in Norway throughout the German occupation. Along with her mother-in-law, Guri, they work for the Norwegian Resistance. Anni’s six year old daughter, Ingrid, remembers her mother disappearing one day and never returning.

The story is a dual narrative, told from Anni’s perspective during the war, and also covers Ingrid’s search for information about her mother, post-war. I liked the way the story was gradually pieced together so that we finally found out what happened to Anni, although there was a decade or more which was left unexplained.

Not knowing anything about the German occupation of Norway, or how the Norwegian people and government responded, this was an interesting read.

I loved all the characters, especially Anni. I think there is scope for further books about the characters. I would love to hear Lars’s story of how he met Esme and there is a missing decade which could be explored further. I suspect the authors won’t write these, but I would happily read them if they did.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Silent Resistance is an heart wrenching story of a young girl and her mother opening with them struggling to survive in a Norway under Nazi occupation while separated from the father/ husband who is serving in the Norwegian Merchant Navy. It explores the anguish of separation, the betrayal of trust and the desperate decisions made under duress to protect loved ones and to protect oneself. The book is very well researched and skillfully written from different perspectives across many decades. There are revelations about shocking decisions made by the exiled Norwegian government and about the treatment of suspected collaborators following the armistice. Above all it is a very sensitive story which reads like an adventure easily sucking in the reader making it hard to put down.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Allison and Busby for allowing access to this pre publication edition.

A very good novel! I enjoyed the interesting and thought provoking plot. The characters felt real and the suspense was enthralling. A page-turner!
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I have voluntarily written an honest review.

This is a beautifully written heartbreaking fictional story based on true events during and after the German occupation of Norway in WW2. Anni is betrayed by both her husband and the Norwegian state and both of those hide their actions from her daughter Ingrid who is left not knowing what happened to her mum after the war. It made me angry that Ingrid's family do not tell her about her mum, leaving her feeling betrayed instead of her father owning his own actions and the consequences of them. A book that leaves you feeling so incredibly sad for the innocent victims of the war and in awe at the bravery of those who lived through the occupation.

This was a really interesting book, I didn’t know anything about Norway during WW2. The characters were complex but like-able for the most part. I love a back and forth between timelines and POVs so they had me from the jump.

I really enjoyed this book overall. It was well written and researched and and Tod the story of the war based on Norway’s experience and I felt it was such a real raw well told story
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read and review book

Wow! I absolutely loved this novel for so many reasons! It is so well written. The author really gave great insight into what life was like for many women and children in Norway during WWII. It is written in multiple timelines spanning from the latter part of the war (mid 1940s) to the late 1980s.

It is the story of Anni and her daughter, Ingrid, navigating life, with the help of friends and family, during the end of WWII and years after. Through many twists, turns, and trials they discover how strong they both are and what family truly means.

I love reading historical fiction novels that are set in places I did not know much about. I learned about many things throughout this book! This book is a definite must read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Allison & Busby for my eARC. All thoughts are my own.

A very well-written novel about Norway during WW2; and a bad government decision which led to misery for Norwegian women and children. It introduced me to an aspect of life in wartime Norway I wasn't expecting, and found quite shocking.
The story is set in a small coastal community where most of the men had, after the German occupation, stayed in Britain or Canada. Anni is left with her young daughter and mother-in-law to 'hold the fort' whilst her husband is in the merchant navy overseas. She is capable, resourceful and a member of the Resistance. Then a Germany civil servant is billeted on her ......... The novel is set in the latter years of the war, and then in various years later, and from the points of view of Anni and her daughter.

Please read it; you won't be disappointed.

With thanks to NetGalley and Allison & Busby for an ARC.

I was completely immersed in this accomplished novel that even having finished it some hours ago, my head in still in Norway during the war. The atmosphere, the historical detail, the descriptions of hardship and small joys, will stay with me for a very long time.

In a Norwegian fishing village in 1944 Anni’s existence revolves around keeping her six year old daughter Ingrid warm, fed and happy. In an occupied country, that in itself is far from simple, but their life becomes even more complicated when a German administrator, Hugo Kerber, is billeted with them. Anni’s mother-in-law is concerned he’s been sent to spy on them, as they are both involved with the resistance, which raises the stakes considerably.

Soon after the war Ingrid moves to London to live with her father and his new wife, but she still yearns to find the mother who disappeared. In truth I found her fragmented life less gripping than Anni’s intense story, which plays out over just a few months, but I also appreciate it had to be told that way.

I love historical fiction where I learn something new, and the suffering of the Norwegian people under occupation – and at the hands of their own governments in the 1940s – opened my eyes. But more than anything it was Anni’s story that pulled me in; rich in the telling, perfectly tensioned, and it gripped me to the end.