Play Book Tag discussion

This was not typical of WWII historical fiction. The storyline follows 2 women who are performers in a circus that is still permitted to travel in France during the war. The 2 women are being sheltered by the circus; Astrid because she is a Jew, and Noa, a Dutch girl who was forced to leave her family when she became pregnant. Astrid has been a aerialist (a flying trapeze performer) her entire life and she teaches Noa to be one as well. The two become friends as their lives run into all the obstacles you might expect as they navigate Vichy France with ever diminishing resources. The book is based on a real person who owned a circus and did shelter Jews during the war. I appreciated the unusual setting for a WWII novel. Although there are many performers in the circus, we only see a few of them up close and personal, but there was always the feeling that they were a family doing what they needed to do to get by and to protect each other. Despite this feeling of protecting each other, there was one character who kept inviting the anger of the Nazis, and I found that difficult to believe. The story pivoted around his act of defiance, and this made the story feel somewhat manufactured. I did love the ending, when Astrid makes her way to America and we meet her children. So 3.5 stars rounded up for Astrid and Noa, who I grew to love.