Women in War

A unique and intriguing collection of short stories about European women and their struggles during the Second World War, when the fairytales of the Brothers Grimm and Mother Goose get twisted by the devastation of war.



Stories include:

Little Red Riding Hood:

In Poland, a young woman working in a museum is forced to assist the Nazis in looting her country’s national heritage. She finds a way to hide some small treasures in her basket, smuggling them out to hideâ€"but she’s caught. Managing to slip from their grasp, she runs into the forestâ€"what happens next?



Hansel and Gretel:

A clever British woman grew up with a German father, so has both the German last name and accompanying accent to go with it. Add to that a twin brother who is always in trouble, and she has difficulty finding work in England during the war. Worse, her brother is now in prison for burglary. Others like her have been interred, and she fears that she will be too, and soonâ€"unless she can make her heritage useful . . . and her brother’s skills might be helpful too. Can you actually volunteer to be a spy?



There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe:

An old woman in Belgium is trapped in the basement when her home is bombed. She was there looking for a suitcase in order to evacuate, but she waited too long. It saved her life, she escapes with difficulty, but finds her neighborhood has been destroyed. The only place livable is a shoe shop with living quarters upstairs, but she finds a dangerous secret hidden there, and also others who also need shelter.



Cinderella:

A French girl lost her mother, and then her father married a vain woman with daughters who were worse. Her father died unexpectedly and left the farm and his daughter in the care of his new wifeâ€"but care is not a term they applied to the girl. When the Germans rolled into France, her stepmother and stepsisters found the German officers quite charming. Burning down the farmhouse might have been just an accident, but such skills are now of great use to the French Resistance.