The Huntress — A review
A post WW2 fiction set in the year 1945 that brings together the lives of a Nazi war criminal in hiding, a budding and ambitious photographer, a journalist and his associate intent on bringing war criminals to justice and a former Red Airforce pilot .
What drew me to this book in the first place (other than the fabulous ratings on Goodreads) was the plot synopsis according to which,one of the main characters was from an all women military aviation regiment nicknamed the “Night Witches”. I am somewhat of a history enthusiast and naturally this particular snippet caught my eye and lead me to many hours following up on the Night Witches and their extraordinary tale and astounding courage.What I happened to find about these brave women really blew my mind and also lead me to think what a real pity it was that people today barely know anything about them or their achievements. The book was therefore an introduction to these little known soldiers of the war and for that it shall always be quite special to me
The story follows three main characters- Jordan , who aspires to become a top professional photographer journalist, Ian a former reporter during the war who along with his associate Tony has dedicated their energy and lives to catching war criminals and Nina a fearless and hardened pilot in the Red Airforce who was one among the famous Night Witches during the war. The main link between all the characters is an enigmatic woman who was a former mistress of a high profile SS officer and a cold blooded murderess better known by the nickname that she is given in the book- “The Huntress”. The pace of the story is initially somewhat lukewarm but more than makes up for it in the later chapters as we follow the protagonists on their chase for the Huntress. The characters and their growth throughout the book is remarkable particularly Jordan’s transformation to the strong independent woman who is not afraid to chase her dreams and her career. What is quite remarkable about this book is how the three main women in the story are all fierce , resourceful and daring in their own ways. The huntress with her cunning schemes and deceptive maneuvers, Nina with her brutal efficiency and survivalist mentality and Jordan with her courage and sharp instincts all give us very different , diverse yet strong and willful female characters that leave an impression in the mind. The male characters though no less interesting fails to bring out the same kind of intrigue as their female counterparts .
I enjoyed this book immensely while I was reading it however the author’s note at the very end of the novel about how the characters in the book were inspired by many personalities who were very real, took my fascination to another level. For some of the events in this book , had seemed rather forced or driven by the plot , but as the note reveals many such unbelievable and extraordinary things happened during those desperate times. The current year marks the 75th one since the bloodiest of wars in human history, has come to an end. The war claimed an estimate of 70 million lives, of which a disturbing proportion was not a result of the confrontation in t battle front. The survivors of the war lived on to find that for them the war was never really over , rather it took a different form as they struggled to return to normalcy after living through such a traumatizing time.Those that we recognize as war criminals are not just those who were at the head of the Nazi regime who steered the German population and the rest of the world into one of the darkest phases of humanity. There were countless people who deserved the title just as much but melted away into obscurity. This was merely because their crimes were overshadowed by the more blatantly grotesque ones that caused nations all over the world to shudder in barely repressed horror.
The post-war era was a defining one for many nations and more importantly the people of the nation. The people who survived to live the tale . This book does a commendable effort in telling the tale of many such people who survived -how they coped , how they found their path in the new world and how they battled with their own conscience and made their choices while they faced situations that tested their moral alignments. If such stories stir you and make you thoughtful of the world in which we now live, then you might want to try The Huntress .
