The Bonds Of Love
Sisters Of The Storm by Lana Kortchik is a powerful World War II novel that I just couldn’t put down.
The reader joins twin sisters, both of whom are nurses, doing their bit for the war effort. The plane carrying them across Albania crashes and the book tells of their fight to survive in enemy-occupied land. They are befriended by partisans and by the people of Albania who are kind, sharing what little they had. “You stay in my house, you are family.” The Albanian people were kindness personified. “What they lacked in material possessions, they more than made up with unconditional love.” With no thought to personal safety, they helped the crashed Americans. “Every step of the way, they were met with kindness. They were welcomed by strangers like they were family.”
We learn about the daughters lives before the war. “Marrying his daughters off was a business deal for their father.” A daughter is cast out when she marries the man of her dreams, who turns out to be a nightmare.
We witness domestic abuse. It’s not always punches; it can be words. “Since they got married, there was a voice inside her head that sounded just like his, hissing and angry and terrifying, telling her she wasn’t good enough or smart enough.” A character believed the lies her husband spoke over her, and is determined not to be that person again. “One of these days I need to stop making excuses for him.” It takes guts to stand up to her husband, and to refuse to be brow-beaten any longer.
You never forget your first love. Although miles from home, there is a chance meeting for a couple who vow never to be parted again.
There is much fear in war. “What scared Nicole the most wasn’t the war or the explosions or the Nazis in pursuit. Her greatest fear was not coming home to her boy.” The hope of being reunited with her son is the impetus that pushes her forwards.
We witness the bonds between twins as they support each other through it all.
Sisters Of The Storm is fiction but based on facts. I thoroughly enjoyed the tale and will leave you with my favourite quote:
“Despite the war and the suffering and the darkness… The world was still a beautiful place… There was kindness everywhere.”
I received a free copy from the publishers. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
JULIA WILSON