Rose Under Fire
Many of you may have read the highly acclaimed
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. If not, I commend it to you as a first rate historical thriller set during World War II. It shines a light on the RAF's Air Transport Auxiliary, a group of woman pilots who would ferry planes and people about England--and sometimes elsewhere. Two unlikely friends, Maddie and Beryl, experience the war in ways that reveal the author's incredible imagination and literary skill. You must read
Code Name Verity before
Rose Under Fire.
But I digress...Maddie's friend and fellow pilot Rose Justice is an American from small-town Pennsylvania who joined the ATA right out of high school. She's been flying since she was 12, so she is skilled and knowledgeable, not to mention courageous. When she's asked to transport her uncle to an Allied base camp in France, she is thrilled since women aren't permitted to flyer to France. She delivers her uncle and is heading back to England when she spots a buzz bomb--an unpiloted German bomber--and she decides to tip it and cause it to crash before it can reach its destination and wreak havoc. Tipping a buzz bomb takes considerable manouevering and precision, or else it will take Rose down with it. Rose is so focused on this action that she fails to notice two German fighter planes. She is trapped between them and forced to follow them deep into Germany.
Thus begins Rose's ordeal. She has disappeared and assumed to have crashed. No one knows that she is a prisoner at Ravenbruck, a notorious Nazi prison camp for political prisoners. Wein chronicles Rose's harrowing experience in Block 32. Her detailed descriptions and characterizations immerse readers in the camp. Wein seamlessly weaves her historical research into the story, creating a gripping account of prison life and death, of friendships forged, of desperation and bravery.
Rose Under Fire is a terrific story and a worthy sequel to
Code Name Verity. Three cheers for Elizabeth Wein. A must read.
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