THE SHOCK OF THE LIGHT

A young British woman and her twin brother fight to remain close to each other as World War II threatens to tear them apart.

Tessa Armstrong has always felt so bonded to her twin brother, Theo, that it’s as if he is a physical part of her. That’s what makes it so hard when Theo joins the Royal Air Force to fight for the British in WWII. Unable to sit idly by while her dear brother and so many others are at risk, Tessa ends up joining the clandestine Special Operations Executive, where she’s presented with the opportunity to spy for Britain. Not one to shy away from drama, Tessa soon finds herself jumping from a plane into France and getting embroiled in one close call after another. Taking up a false identity and working as a farmhand, she discovers that one of the British spies in her network is a double agent. Unfortunately, she can’t seem to convince anyone else in the network to believe her. As Tessa falls deeper into danger, the book jumps abruptly to the future, where it starts following Theo as he tries to locate his sister. It’s unclear whether the pair will ever be reunited and if either will have achieved their objectives. Told in a close third-person throughout, the narrative shows both Tessa and Theo struggling with secrets while also pursuing personal ambitions. Where Tessa’s sections are full of action and intrigue, the portion of the story that follows Theo feels gloomier, and at times, tedious, full of incomplete recaps and a more sluggish narrative pace than the portion before it. Despite the uneven tempo, the book is full of evocative details about France and Britain during the war, as well as information about violent tactics of the Nazi forces and the espionage the British practiced in order to thwart them. The great strength of the novel comes from its description of the deep and unique bond between the siblings and from the author’s insightful exploration of the question of how well we really know even the closest people in our lives.

A wartime story of lost love and sibling bonds that will satisfy fans of historical family dramas.