Sidonie & Nathalie

Spring 1944. Two Frenchwomen are making their way across a bombed-out Germany, together by chance and careful to remain unknown to each other. Nathalie comes from an educated, comfortable marriage and has lost everyone; Sidonie hides her past, though her documents identify her as a kitchen hand once jailed for violence. Spending their final valuables, they cross the strait into Sweden, where they are washed, dressed, renamed Siv and Nanna and set to work in exchange for meals and a bed. Their escape, however, is not over. Decades afterwards Nathalie, living in the north of Norway, grudgingly turns ninety, still splitting logs herself and sitting up through the bright nights with her memories.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novel

Length

317 pages in the original

Genres

War, Migration, Historical (assigned by AI)

Set in

Germany, Sweden, Norway, 1944

First published

2017 by Norstedts

Author's age

75 when first published

ISBN

9789113078960 (original)