100. THE HUNTRESS by Kate Quinn (1/1/21)
I wanted my 100th book to be special. Little did I know it would also be finished on the first day of the new year, 2021. I saw that this book, The Huntress, was written by the author of The Alice Network, a book I loved, so this seemed perfect to celebrate my 100th book and the new year, an event so many were looking forward to after the turmoil of 2020.
Quinn continues to follow a World War II theme. Who knew that the Germans called Russian female bomber pilots, “Night Witches”? Who knew that they even had female bomber pilots from Russia? This is what I love about historical fiction, that within the fictional story we can learn more about history.
We are introduced to “the Huntress”, a woman who has killed six innocent Polish children during the war. Next we meet a teenage girl with a penchant for photography and her father who live in Boston shortly after the end of the war. Then we meet a young Russian peasant woman who wants to learn to fly and become part of the war effort. Then, post-war we meet Ian, a war correspondent and his partner Tony who have become Nazi hunters looking for the infamous “Huntress”. From these characters an intricate story is woven filled with historical detail and pace. Through flashbacks and fast-forwards the story begins to take shape and build in suspense.
With three themes, at times this book was hard to follow, but soon realized this was it’s way of building the suspense. I felt the book could have been easily called, “Night Witches”, in that the most developed and interesting character was Nina with all her flaws and wounded spirit. However, I can see why she may not have chosen to dig deeper into the horrific character, “The Huntress”. I enjoyed this book and hope to read other of Quinn’s earlier books.
5 Stars
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