BOOKOUTURE BlOG TOUR: UNDER A BRIGHTER SKY BY DIANNE HALEY

Under a Brighter Sky: A completely gripping and heartbreaking WWII historical novel (The Resistance Girl Book 2) by Dianne Haley

1943, Nazi-occupied France. Clinging to her little girl’s hand, a young woman runs through the forest and stumbles in the dark. Behind her there are angry shouts in German and shots ringing through the pine trees. Her heart in her mouth, she prays desperately that her husband and son are safe, and that they will see each other again…

As the mountains come alive with bright alpine flowers, Jewish families flee into Switzerland from Nazi-occupied France. Young Resistance fighter Valérie Hallez has hidden Pierre and his little son in the dusty attic of her mother’s bookshop. At night, by flickering candlelight, Pierre tells Valérie of his fear that his precious wife and daughter have been captured. And as they both look to more hopeful days ahead, Valérie writes letters to her soldier fiancé Philippe, dreaming of the day when they can be safely reunited.

With the police going door to door hunting refugees, Pierre and his son must go further into Switzerland before they are caught. But Pierre will not leave without his wife and daughter, and nobody in the Resistance knows what has happened to them. Desperate to reunite the family, Valérie puts herself in more and more danger. But when Philippe discovers that the Germans have her listed as a key Resistance fighter, he begs her not to go back to the border. If she does, he might never see her again.

Valérie knows the Nazis will kill her if they find her, but she cannot bear to abandon the mother and child. Breaking her promise to Philippe, she crosses over into France to look for them. But one of Valérie’s friends in the Resistance is betraying secrets to the Nazis, and her life is in terrible danger. When Philippe hurries to save her life, will they both survive? And will Valérie’s efforts to reunite the family be in vain?

A completely unputdownable and heart-wrenching novel about a woman who risks everything to reunite a family torn apart by war. Fans of The Alice Network, The Nightingale and We Were the Lucky Ones will be swept away by Under a Brighter Sky.

Buy link: https://geni.us/B09YM8TDJHsocial

My Thoughts

Author Dianne Haley has written a superb book.
There have been many WWII books written and they are good but one that has a different topic covered such as this one really catches your attention.
What keeps your attention is the page after page reading of danger, heart wrenching heartbreak the characters face though not of their own causing. Such injustice done to children just trying to escape to a better life.
I could not put this down; my heart was beating fast, and I was holding my breath while reading this.
You get very invested in the character’s lives, I was hooked as I read about the risks they are taking through espionage and secret communications.
France has fallen to the Nazi’s and Switzerland’s people know they could be next, but a long-time jeweler needs the business with the Germans to survive. As his daughter does bike deliveries for him, she, unknown to her father, smuggles messages for the French Resistance, hidden among his watch deliveries.
It is a huge risk she is taking but she does it while thinking of Philippe, her childhood sweetheart who is a soldier based in secret military fortresses in the mountains.
Someone she knows is betraying secrets to the Resistance, who could be putting them in perilous danger and why?
Heart wrenching story about a woman who risks it all, including her own life to try to reunite a family devastatingly torn apart beyond their own control by war.
When unexpected danger strikes will she stay safe, will her father?
Highly recommended!

Pub Date 25 Apr 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

About The Author

Originally from the north of Scotland, Dianne now lives with her husband in Edinburgh and has two grown-up children. After a thirty-year business career in London and Edinburgh when Dianne wrote between projects, she is now writing full-time.

Dianne and her family have been visiting the area round Lake Geneva since 1992 and love the Alps in all seasons. The inspiration for her series set in WW2 Switzerland came from a drive through Geneva’s old town on a rainy October evening, the cobbled lanes a perfect setting for secrets and hiding places.

Author social media

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dhaley30

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dianne-Haley-Author-105318942048374

Website: www.diannehaley.com

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