Vianne hopes to be as normal as possible while raising her daughter and waiting for her husband to return from the war. That hope is dashed when a Nazi soldier moves into her home.
Isabelle wants to do something -- anything -- to contribute to the war effort. She offers to drive an ambulance, roll bandages ... anything. She ends up being one of the bravest people -- man or woman -- in Occupied France and contributing to the effort in ways she's couldn't have imagined when it started.
Even Vianne ends up doing things she never imagined -- heroic, brave, necessary.
When I interviewed Kristin Hannah she said she wanted to not only show that women played an important part in the war, but to make readers feel what they felt.
She succeeded.
You can hear my interview with Kristin Hannah at WESB.com/on-demand.