Review: The Huntress

The Huntress by Kate Quinn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have been reading over the book description just to make sure my review doesn't give spoilers. This is a comprehensive book that covers a lot of historical events that are not well known. The main premise of the book is one I'm familiar with - many Nazi perpretrators were never punished for their crimes. The big fish were tried in Nuremburg shortly after the war. Most were men. What I did not know but the author thoroughly researched, is that there were many who did not flee to Argentina (like Eichman) but somehow finagled a way to enter the United States and begin a new life. Or maybe Canada or England.

The Huntress is based on a real person who brought 6 children into her warm home, fed them a warm meal, treated them kindly, then took them outside and shot them in cold blood. She enjoyed the sport of hunting in the forests around her home. She wasn't hunting animals.

One character in the book is also a new one for me. A female pilot from a Russian regiment of all female pilots. They were treated as inferior by the government and by male pilots so they had to prove what they could do. They were issued old and slow airplanes while their male counterparts had the faster and more nimble machines. Their success and determination was a large reason the Germans retreated west. Adding to this story is the communist political situation which Nina eventually must face.

The other characters are interesting but the book really revolves around these two women plus an American woman who wants to be a professional photographer but has concerns closer to home. She worries about her dad, his store, and her little sister. She has mixed feelings about her stepmother. The development of these three characters is particularly well done. The events highlighted in this book are very well researched.

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