book data
856 ratings, 3.69 average rating, 76 reviews
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published
April 1st 2006
(first published 1995)
by Little, Brown and Company
binding
Mass Market Paperback, 296 pages
isbn
0316166588
(isbn13: 9780316166584)
description
The wife of a Resistance worker in Nazi-occupied Belgium falls in love with a wounded American pilot, forcing her to struggle with trust and betra...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1096)
Read in June, 2006
This is a terrific book to curl up with on a rainy day and just read and read. The setting is WW II Holland and the love story that ensues will sweep you off your feet. I did not truly understand what the people of Holland risked when they hid our American soldiers that had been shot down. They were selfless and devoted to a cause greater than their own safety. A truly inspired read.
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Read in November, 2008
I love historical fiction...and to find one by Anita Shreve... even better!!
Wow! Something much different by Anita Shreve. Resistance is such a sweet but tragic love story. Just heart-wrenching! This story had me captivated throughout it's entirety. Shreve gives such vivid descriptions of the characters and wonderful detail in each and every setting. She also gives the reader a tidy ending which I was very happy about... I don't know how I would have gone on not knowing what happ...more
Wow! Something much different by Anita Shreve. Resistance is such a sweet but tragic love story. Just heart-wrenching! This story had me captivated throughout it's entirety. Shreve gives such vivid descriptions of the characters and wonderful detail in each and every setting. She also gives the reader a tidy ending which I was very happy about... I don't know how I would have gone on not knowing what happ...more
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Read in January, 2002
This is more than a tear jerker, this book will dehydrate you. Anita Shreve is one of my favorite authors, and this story line is a great example why.
An American pilot, down behind enemy lines is hidden and nursed back to health by a woman who is risking her life and her family to fight for the resistance. Their love story could easily be a tawdry Harlequin, but Shreve makes the romance secondary to the setting. A country torn in two, neighbors dragging neighbors to face firing squads. This b...more
An American pilot, down behind enemy lines is hidden and nursed back to health by a woman who is risking her life and her family to fight for the resistance. Their love story could easily be a tawdry Harlequin, but Shreve makes the romance secondary to the setting. A country torn in two, neighbors dragging neighbors to face firing squads. This b...more
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I rarely finish a book I don't like. This is one of the few-- and I'm ticked off I spent time on it. The plot was compelling-- a dire, tense situation of a WWII bomber pilot shot down over Belgium and hidden in an attic by a member of the Resistance. Does he make it or not? I had to know the outcome. But the writing--ugh. This is a case of the writer being SO entranced by herself, so hypnotized by her love of poetry and words themselves, that she was not true to her characters. They did no...more
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I've liked most of her books, so hopefully this one will be good too. I'm a few chapters in and enjoying it. It's set during WWII and does go into some of the atrocities of the Germans, so be prepared for that.
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Read in March, 2007
I was surprised at how much I liked this book. I was prepared to dislike it because I really didn't like "The Pilot's Wife". Also because the description on the back of the book really made it out to be quite a bodice ripper. There was a lot more to this book than a romance. It was, however, the romance part of it (of course) that I liked the least. It was little sappy for me. There were some very unrealistic parts to this book. Like the risks they took when Nazis were around. People j...more
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I have been doing some research on the road that led my American brother to meet his French wife. The first half of this book, is very close to the story of a neighbor and friend of my parents who was shot down over occupied Holland during WWII. He found his way to the resistance movement, eventually spending 6 weeks at a house in Chartres, France, hidden by my future sister-in-law's grandfather. So I was quite caught up in the story. Didn't like the way it ended, thoug!
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Read in June, 2007
i had a hard time getting into it. don't know why. but once i did, i really didn't want to put it down. interesting to hear things from the perspective of a belgian during wwii. never really hear about this country and wwii in history class, but this gives a good taste as to the eternal divide between good and evil. i seem to be frustrated with every ending of everybook, but this one (after reflection!!!) had a satisfactory ending. believable, and gives good closure.
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Read in August, 2008
This book takes place during WWII in Belgium. An American pilot goes down in his plane while trying to bomb Germany. He is rescued by a group of resisters in the small town where his plane crashes. I found the book pretty boring, and I didn't really see why I was supposed to care about any of the characters. If it hadn't been really short I don't think I would have bothered finishing it.
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Read in April, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in December, 2007
This book is about an American who crash lands in France during WWII and is nursed back to health by a Resistance fighter who is married. It is a beautiful love story. The ending, however, left me totally pissed off (why do I bother with Anita Shreve?) I had such hope for a lovely ending but, alas, no. I love historical fiction, so that aspect of the book appealed to me.
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Read in November, 2008
Really liked it, but was not 100% excited about the way the book ended, although I understand why the writer went where she went, it just seemed so abrupt.
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Read in March, 2008
recommended to Megan by:
Laura
Very engaging...it's about an American pilot during WWII who crash-lands in a Nazi-occupied Belgian village. Ulitmately it's a love story about him and the resistance worker who hides him, but it was also interesting to learn more about Belgium and it's history...a country we as Americans rarely think about.
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Read in September, 2007
I started last night and I'm nearly half done. It is an engrossing (fictional) story of a (real) plane crash in Nazi-occupied Belgium. Not the typical story from Anita Shreve novel so far, but, as usual, I love her writing style and can already tell this has the potential to be one of my favorites from her.
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Okay, this is kind of a love story, which I don't really go for, but the part that got me is the setting of Belgium during the war, and what people did as part of the Resistance against the Germans, the tension they lived with during the war, and the very real risks they were facing if they were caught.
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This was the first of A.Shreve's books that I read and I was immediately hooked. Her writing is beautiful and the stories grab you and don't let go. I felt, while reading Resistance, that I was actually a part of the story, completely involved, not just a spectator. I highly recommend it!
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Read in January, 2005
Novel about a prisoner of war in 1944 Belgium, saved by the Resistance and hidden by a lonely woman in her home. War presents certain choices and these have aftermaths. Absolutely worth reading to learn about some very brave members of the Resistance in WWII. A sad and touching story.
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Read in January, 2006
I am so in awe of people who literally risked everything to help others in WWII (and every war). This intimate look in to one courageous and very personal attempt to help a wounded aviator was historically interesting while being, for me, a good - didn't want to put it down - novel
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FICTION--About members of the Belgian resistance during WWII. I liked the first part so far, more about what people did to resist Hitler's law and the atrocities of the Gestapo. It's starting to get sappy now though because they intertwined a love story. We'll see how it ends.
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Read in March, 2005
Shreve -- who for my thinking sits on the fence between just fiction and what is called chick-lit -- I don't think she is as light as the chick-lit label implicates and so I can't call her work that. this one was solid in my opinion though it's not one of my favorites either.
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