Elizabeth Wein revisits the role of women in World War II in Rose Under Fire, a worthy companion to her Code Name Verity. Linked by Maddie, the pilot friend of Verity in the earlier book, Rose Under Fire follows an 18-year-old American and amateur poet named Rose Justice, who works as an ATA pilot based in Britain in the final year of the war.
Rose dreams of being a combat pilot but spends her days ferrying supplies and personnel. Thanks to her uncle, a Royal Engineer, she is selected for a secret mission to fly into newly liberated France. In the middle of her return flight, Rose is intercepted by two German planes and forced to land in occupied territory. Wein jumps forward to the aftermath of the war, to Rose's flashbacks of what happened after she landed. To Rose's horror, a series of linguistic and clerical errors results in her imprisonment in Ravensbrück, a women's concentration camp. Her survival depends upon both the cruelty of her captors and the humanity of her fellow prisoners. Rose meets women who become like family: loving "Camp Mother" Lisette, amateur filmmaker Karolina, Soviet fighter pilot Irina, and Róża, an impish teen. Over the next six months, they endure hardship, hunger and humiliation.
Rose Under Fire is a gut-wrenching story of war, brutality, friendship and hope. Rose's poems appear throughout the book and effectively demonstrate the havoc such trials wreak on the spirit. Wein boldly offers readers a small glimpse into the horrors of one of the Holocaust's most infamous concentration camps. There are moments of tenderness and camaraderie between prisoners, but there are also times when tempers flare and hope seems lost. Much of the camp and its details feel authentic (an afterword reveals which aspects of the story were true and which were altered), as do the imprisoned women, who stand in solidarity: "Maybe if we'd given up the seven hiding in the tent they'd have let us go earlier. But none of us gave up anybody." The author delicately balances two timelines and expertly weaves them together. Readers will recognize postwar characters and understand the transformations they've undergone. For Rose herself, the war becomes both her undoing and her re-birth as she rediscovers what it is to be young, alive and free. --Kyla Paterno
Shelf Talker: In Elizabeth Wein's gut-wrenching World War II companion to Code Name Verity, an American pilot struggles to survive imprisonment in Ravensbrück.