Anita Shreve is one of those East Coast American writers who often seem to be facing out over the Atlantic, very, very taken with historical and political events in Europe.
This author had written an impressive list of novels before being thrown into the limelight by Oprah Winfrey who chose ‘A Pilots Wife’ as the choice for her book club. That book is a great read and the film is worth watching as well.
This particular book, ‘Resistance’ is brilliantly plotted and kept me reading long into the night. I did not find it an easy read, in the sense of the subject matter. An American pilot in the Second World War refuses to ‘land’ his damaged fighter plane in the channel as for two of his injured crew it would mean certain and immediate death. He struggles on and eventually crash lands in a field outside a small Belgian village. The consequences and implications of this act form the basis for the story.
I had recently read about the sacking of Leuven in both the first and the second world wars in the Pip William’s book ‘the Bookbinder of Jericho,’ and reading about these atrocities that Belgium suffered in Anita Shreve’s convincingly researched story makes me feel I now need to choose my next read very carefully. Even miles and years away, the horror of what humans can do to each other is chilling.
The two world wars of the 20th century do continue to provide endless inspiration for writers. Maybe this is because all emotions are heightened, whether that be love, hate or fear and this provides authors with endless material for human interactions, upon which most stories are built.
The Guardian quote on the back cover of this book says: ‘ Shreve is prolific, polished, unputdownable. Above all, she delivers serious topics with a readable touch.’ Yes, that says it all I think. Anita Shreve died in 2018. RIP