The Edelweis Sisters by Kate Hewitt follows the story of the three Eder girls, Johanna, Birgit, and Lotte. Each one very differnt in their own ways, they’ve lived a relatively peacful and normal life until World War II approaches their doorstep. The invasion of Austria is swift and mostly non-violent, and suddenly life is drastically different.

Lotte – the youngest believes she will find peach at the convent through a vocation. Birgit finds herself falling for a soldier, and Johanna falls in love with her father’s apprentice, a Jewish man. The story of each sister wraps its way around the others – showing how connected the three are even when physical distance separates them. Each story is uplifting and heartbreaking its own way, and none of them end quite the way I expected.

The Edelweis sisters really highlighted how the lives of everyday people were altered by the war – and not everyone made it out alive, healthy, or able to return to life as it was before. Work camps, interrogations, worrying about those you care for the most, and trying to find a way to do what you think is right all take a toll on the girls, and the toll was a real one.

Kate Hewitt did not shy away from the horrors of the Nazi regime, but she did find the very delicate balance between showing what happened and being too graphic for many readers. So many very heavy topics were addressed beautifully and in a manner that really showcased how life during war might have been.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**