Now this is my kind of story! I’ve always loved a good historical romance. I’ve also always been interested in the history of World War II, probably because so many of my family were a part of the war effort including my father and my aunt. To Sleep with Reindeer by Justine Saracen puts the reader right in the middle of the action, mostly in Norway during the German occupation there.
This book tells a fictional account of the Norwegian people’s plight under the Germans from 1942 until the end of the war. It also tells about the struggles of the resistance in this country through the eyes of two women who meet when one, Kirsten Brun, a Nazi resister is saved by an Indigenous Sami, Marrit Ragnar and the reindeer she and her family are herding. The two team up to help the resistance at the risk of their lives and the lives of those they love.
This is a great adventure story, especially since a lot of the tale is based at least in part on true events. The characters, while mostly fictional, fit the tale perfectly. The setting is amazing, and the author did an exceptional job describing the extremely cold, harsh, but beautiful land. Even living in Northern Ontario, the thought of the extreme cold these folks lived and worked in makes me shiver. (In fact, I literally did that since I read a good bit of this novel during a power failure on a day when the temperature barely made it above freezing and the wind chill was way below that.) The story is beautiful, exciting, sad, and even romantic. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to all who love historical fiction/romance with women who love women as main characters.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.
Rainbow Reflections 