The Nine: How a Band of Daring Resistance Women Escaped from Nazi Germany - The Powerful True Story

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'A compelling, beautifully written story of resilience, friendship and survival. The story of women's resistance during World War II needs to be told and The Nine accomplishes this in spades.' Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz 'A truly extraordinary tale, beautifully written, one that chills and excites, [A] work of rare passion, power and principle' Philippe Sands, author of East-West Street and The Ratline As the Second World War raged across Europe, and the Nazi regime tightened its reign of horror and oppression, nine women, some still in their teens, joined the French and Dutch Resistance. Caught out in heroic acts against the brutal occupiers, they were each tortured and sent east into Greater Germany to a concentration camp, where they formed a powerful friendship. In 1945, as the war turned against Hitler, they were forced on a Death March, facing starvation and almost certain death. Determined to survive, they made a bid for freedom, and so began one of the most breathtaking tales of escape and resilience of the Second World War. The author is the great-niece of one of the nine, and she interweaves their gripping flight across war-torn Europe with her own detective work, uncovering the heart-stopping escape and survival of these heroes who fought fearlessly against Nazi Germany and lived to tell the tale. 'Utterly gripping'. Anna Sebba author of Les Parisiennes 'The Nine is poignant, powerful, and shattering, distilling the horror of the Holocaust through the lens of nine unforgettable women...' Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code and The Alice Network

Gwen Strauss is an award-winning children's book author and poet. Her poetry, short stories and essays have appeared in numerous places including The New Republic, New England Review, Kenyon Review, London Sunday Times and Catapult. She lives in Southern France with her three children and her dog Zola, where she works as the Director of the Dora Maar House, an artist residency programme.

A compelling, beautifully written story of resilience, friendship and survival. The story of Women's resistance during World War II needs to be told and The Nine accomplishes this in spades. -- Heather Morris * Author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz * The Nine is a triumph of the imagination... Strauss read memoirs and toured Europe in search of relatives to give the women literary immortality... It is an ingeniously constructed book... -- Christina Hardyment * The Times * This haunting account provides yet more evidence not only of the power of female friendship but that the often unrecorded courage and resilience of ordinary women must be honoured and celebrated. It's a most inspiring read, occasionally the horrific ordeal seems unbearable but then there's a moment of laughter. Utterly gripping. -- Anna Sebba * author of Les Parisiennes * The Nine is poignant, powerful, and shattering, distilling the horror of the Holocaust through the lens of nine unforgettable women. Banding together in the hellscape of Ravensbruck, the nine resistance fighters turned prisoners make a desperate bid for escape in the chaos of the war's end, embarking across battle-ravaged Germany toward home. Gwen Strauss melds a poet's pen and a decade of research into a tale of friendship, courage, and indomitable will. -- Kate Quinn * New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code and The Alice Network * I love this book. It delivers beauty, grace, horror, and suspense-an important work that also happens to be a hell of a read! -- Anthony Swofford * author of Jarhead * At this moment of worldwide chaos and despair, this is a book that reminds us about what is important, and about finding strength and purpose during the worst of times. Highly recommended. -- Goldie Goldbloom * author of Paperbark Shoe and On Division * It's high time we got our Band of Sisters, and there could be no better author to tell their story than the riveting and rigorous Strauss. Equal parts exhilarating, devastating, and inspiring. -- Lauren Sandler * author of This is All I Got * Strauss, niece of one of the nine heroines and third-generation 'Witness of the Witnesses', answers questions and challenges with great finesse. In a writing of rare historical accuracy and deep empathy, a woman of today tells the stories of yesterday. -- Agnes Triebel * Secretary General of the International Buchenwald-Dora Committee * With Gwen Strauss' book and the scope of her research, that whole unknown period came to me as a gift from heaven... The precision of the speech, the delicacy of the style, the joys and misfortunes brought tears that I was happy to shed. -- Marc Spijker * son of Guigui, one of the nine * 'A paean to female bravery and live-saving friendship.' * The i *