Title: Sapphire skies /
Authors: Alexandra, Belinda
Year: 2015
Subjects: Women fighter pilots Russia History Fiction.; Spy stories.; World War, 1939-1945 Russia (Federation) Fiction.; Man-woman relationships Russia Fiction.; Suspense fiction.; Russia (Federation) Fiction.; Moscow (Russia) Fiction.
Abstract: In 1942, after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, a squadron composed entirely of Russian women fighter pilots was formed. Most were no older than twenty and, because they were women, were given obsolete planes to fly. However, under the skillful command of record-breaking aviatrix Marina Raskova, the squadron soon became one of the most feared in the history of the Second World War. The women would fly to a certain distance within the enemy encampments, cut their engines and then glide silently over their targets. Such missions took nerves of steel. The Germans were so terrified of these women that they called them -Nachthexen,? Nightwitches. his is the story of Katya Makarova, downed from France and in danger of capture by German soldiers. Saved by a Frenchman, the two lovers try to find each other again after the war through a maze of Soviet red tape, lies and deception.
Contents: Paperback -2000: The wreckage of a downed WWII fighter plane is discovered in the forests near Russia's Ukrainian border. The aircraft belonged to Natalya Azarova, ace pilot and pin-up girl for Soviet propaganda, but the question of her fate remains unanswered. Was she a German spy who faked her own death, as the Kremlin claims? Her lover, Valentin Orlov, now a highly-decorated general, refuses to believe it. Lily, a young Australian woman, has moved to Moscow to escape from tragedy. She becomes fascinated by the story of Natalya, and when she meets an elderly woman who claims to know the truth behind the rumours, Lily is drawn deeper into the mystery. From the pomp and purges of Stalin's Russia through the horrors of war and beyond -- secrets and lies, enduring love and terrible betrayal, sacrifice and redemption all combine in this sweeping saga from Belinda Alexandra.