Once We Were Sisters

by Ann Bennett

Elise isn’t the same as her father. She’s like a sister to us. She’ll know what to do to keep us safe. She would never betray us…

Paris, 1940. Shops are being boarded up, Jewish children are loaded onto buses and eighteen-year-old Elise’s heart beats hard as she runs down the cobbled streets under the shadow of swastikas. She hates her father with all her he is working with the Nazis and has forbidden her to be friends with Myriam and Salomé, the Goldman sisters who are closer to her than her own family.

Elise will do anything to help the girls she loves as sisters, including sharing her father’s secret business. Every day she creeps out to their apartment, avoiding the cold-eyed soldiers who stalk the streets. But in trying to save them, will she bring terrible danger to their door?

Years later, newly pregnant Jeanne stares at the photograph of three young girls on the beach. She recognises her mother Elise in the centre of the picture, but who does her mother have her arms around?

Jeanne feels such love for the tiny new life inside her and feels desperate to connect with the mother who has always shut her out. Could finding these lost sisters, laughing and vibrant in the crumpled black and white photo, help Jeanne understand her mother and lay the ghosts of the past to rest?

A beautiful and deeply moving story about love and friendship and the bond between women in a time of fear and darkness. Fans of The Midwife of Auschwitz and The Nightingale will fall in love with this heartbreaking, hopeful read.

Genres: Historical Fiction, World War II

395 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication February 9, 2026

About the author

Same as author Ann^^^Bennett

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first read from this author. started off slow, ended up a brilliant and emotional read..Elise daughter is expecting a child she knows nothing about her past her mother is hiding the past, and she wants to know why and looking for the answers...Elise father is helping the nazi she can't believe it as they are friendly with a family of Jews with two daughters Elise is close to and her father demands to cut all ties with them..Elise helps the family but puts herself in danger.a heartbreaking read a definitely a five star book..

[Ashli Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once We Were Sisters is a beautifully crafted, deeply moving story about love, friendship, and the extraordinary bonds between women in times of fear. Ann Bennett brings 1940s Paris to life with vivid detail, capturing the danger, tension, and courage of those trying to survive the shadow of the Nazis. Elise’s loyalty to the Goldman sisters is heart-wrenching and inspiring, and watching her risk everything for them is unforgettable.

The story spans generations, as Jeanne struggles to understand her mother and the secrets of her past, weaving a powerful narrative about family, loss, and the resilience of the human spirit. Heartbreaking, hopeful, and impossible to put down, this novel will stay with you long after the final page.

[Dawn Lawrence Read_with_Lola · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG this book is fabulous! Utterly heartbreaking but sensitively told its the story of Elise a French woman who has joined the French resistance helping to get the Jewish children of France over the border to Switzerland to stop them being taken to concentration camps. This book will make you gasp, cry and feel a whole range of emotions from sorrow to anger. Life was very hard for these unsung heroes who devoted their lives to try and keep their country free. I could not put this book down, my eyes were literally glued to the pages. Highly recommend for readers who enjoy WW2 fiction. Ann has written a cracking story, I loved it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advance copy. Publication date 9 Feb 2026.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story. The characters were compelling and human, and they showed inspiring bravery and courage in the face of the many tragic and heinous events that took place in France during WWII. I needed something more fictional than historical while reading this, and Ann Bennett's new novel gave me exactly what I sought. Some readers might say that "too many" coincidental events happened in the lives of the book's characters, but I have a feeling that the gathering force of the freight train that was Nazi Germany in the 1940s made those events plausible. Set in Paris in the 1940s and in Corsica in 1972, the story follows two French families--one is Jewish and the other is Christian. The main story focuses on sisters Myriam and Salome, and their family friend, Elise. Elise's adult daughter, Jeanne, also plays an important role, acting as a catalyst for the unwinding of her mother's story and secrets. This book highlights friendship, love, and the strength of women, even in the darkest times.
Avoiding spoilers, I will just say that I got chills (and tears) at the ending and most of it was not at all predictable.I am appreciative of Bookouture and NetGalley for the eARC of this beautifully heart wrenching story. All opinions are my own.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once We Were Sisters goes back and forth from the 1940s to 1972. Jeanne the daughter of Elise wants to know more about her mother's life. Elise has been very secretive about her past. She refuses to discuss her father, Jeann'es grandfather or talk about her life during World War 2 and the Holocaust in Europe. Elise was friends with the Goldman sisters. When the Holocaust started closing in and taking innocent Jewish people away Elise makes it her mission the protect the Goldmans. she is disgusted that her own father turns against the Jewish people even joining the Nazis. elise devotes herself to helping hide Jewish children. Jeanne sets out on her own to figure out why her mother refuses to talk about her past. this story is heartbreaking. I found myself hoping that the Goldman sisters and Elise have a good outcome up to the very end of the book. Don't want to give spoilers. I found this to be a good read. I would give this book a 4.5