Rose Under Fire

By: Elizabeth Wein

Narrated by: Sasha Pick

Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Finalist, Teens, 2014

Rose Justice is a young pilot with the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War. On her way back from a semi-secret flight in the waning days of the war, Rose is captured by the Germans and ends up in Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi women's concentration camp. There, she meets an unforgettable group of women, including a once glamorous and celebrated French detective novelist whose Jewish husband and three young sons have been killed; a resilient young girl who was a human guinea pig for Nazi doctors trying to learn how to treat German war wounds; and a Nachthexen, or Night Witch, a female fighter pilot and military ace for the Soviet air force.

These damaged women must bond together to help each other survive. In this companion volume to the critically acclaimed novel Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein continues to explore themes of friendship and loyalty, right and wrong, and unwavering bravery in the face of indescribable evil.

©2013 Copyright © 2013 Elizabeth Gatland. (P)2013 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"A carefully researched, precisely written tour de force; unforgettable and wrenching." ( Kirkus Reviews -for Code Name Verity)

An incredibly assured debut novel, full of convincing detail, heart-stopping emotion and tension.' - The Bookseller (for Code Name Verity)

‘This astonishing tale of friendship and truth will take wing and soar into your heart.’ - Laurie Halse Anderson New York Times bestselling author (for Code Name Verity)

his is one of those books I want to thrust into the hands of every young adult ? or adult! ? reader: a story so artful, sound and exceptionally well-written that it would be tragic to miss out on it.' - Toronto Star (for Code Name Verity)

Great writing

Any additional comments?

Elizabeth Wein is a seriously good writer. She manages to write female characters that are not merely love interests, or motivated by romance. These are strong, capable women who find themselves in impossibly difficult circumstances. I was riveted. I have two small quibbles with this book. The narrator was very good most of the time, but faltered badly with the Polish and Russian accents. Jarringly so. Also, I felt that the story lost steam towards the end.I recommend the book, but suggest reading it in print rather than listening to it if uneven narration is a deal-breaker for you.

Story is great

Story is good but the narration annoyed me somewhat. She reads a bit like the entire prose is a poem, disregarding line breaks and punctuation. She does have sufficient pronunciation of the different languages though.

Heart-breakingly fantastic

Such a fantastically written book that everybody should read. It’s harrowing, I cried so many times, but it’s something that I really feel everybody should know more about. The author has done a brilliant job and the narrator was incredible.

Lest we forget

It is obvious that Elizabeth Wein did a great deal of research to write this book. The book is emotional and intense but the subject is important as it captures an important aspect of World War II we should never forget. Rose Justice is an American civilian who is a pilot with the transport service ferrying planes. She is to fly from England to Paris now the area is under Allied control. On her way back to England she is forced down by Nazi planes and taken to Germany. As a civilian she has no protection under the Geneva convention so she is sent to the infamous Ravensbruck concentration camp for women. The story is about the women she meets, the problems of survival in the camp and her escape. She is a lone American in a group of Polish, French and Soviet women many who are being used for medical research. Rose gets extra slice of bread for each poem she makes up. Wein uses the poems to move some of the story. I think the use of the Nuremburg Trials and the British Trials of concentrations camps personnel was a great way to tie up Rose's story with the bigger picture. Rose develops friendship with a few prisoners a 16 year old Polish girl being use for medical experiments, a fellow pilot "Night Witch" a Soviet Air Force Ace fighter pilot and a famous French writer who's Jewish husband and sons were gassed by the Nazi's.
Wein also provides us with what happened to these girls after the war. The book does leave you satisfied with the ending. Sasha Pick does a good job narrating the book. This is a must read book for everyone. The story is one we should never forget and periodic reading about it helps us keep it sharp in our minds.