As a WWII historian who specializes in resistance movements, I often find myself enjoying the historical novels but disappointed in the romantic milieu surrounding this very dangerous work. Often, the heroine frames her story in a romantic, glamorous story. Noble, brave, and beautiful, these fictional freedom fighters lose their reality in the hazy, dangerous, dark world of spies. So when I saw the title Resistance Women I was intrigued but prepared for another superficial treatment. Instead, RW serves as a great example of blending fact and fiction to create a compelling, realistic evolution of the resistance cell, the Rote Kapelle. The three main characters, all female, are well educated and well placed in German society. They provide a glimpse into the powerful era of Nazi Germany and the destruction of civil liberties in the creation of a totalitarian state . Starting before the ascension of Hitler to power, you follow Mildred, Greta, and Sarah as they try to find themselves in an quickly changing world. Their reactions to the ever increasing shadow of the Nazi regime and how it alters their lives provides the driving narrative.Operating an informal network based on idealism, fear, and the need to topple the government, the women gradually spin a deeper and deeper web of deceit, treason, and hatred of the Nazis. Their work is based on the actual operations carried out by their partisan group. Dubbed the Rote Kapelle by the Gestapo, this communist resistance group was decimated ranks when they were caught. The Nazi government had no tolerance for partisan activity of any type, especially by Germans. The ruthless and merciless end to their work resonates in the last third of the book.While some of the characters have socialist leanings, their motives revolve more around bringing down the Hitler's regime than furthering a Soviet agenda. Long disgraced and forgotten due to the politics of the Cold War and one of the prosecutor's post war lies, the Rote Kapelle receives a powerful revival of its legacy in this novel.One of the best things of RW, is how the author weaves real life events into the day-to-day lives of the main characters. Chiaverini stays true to the historical events and uses them as the driving forces to the main characters. Written in linear form, each chapter covers a certain time span and is written from the point of view of one of the women. The author does a wonderful job of keeping it realistic and never has a sense of straining too hard to create a coincidental consequences. Her story rings true. A great example of this is the ever growing disregard for Jews in German society. Instead of modeling the Germans into evil monsters or heroic helpers, Chiaverini shows how devastating German indifference was to the Jewish population. You didn't have to be cruel or a ranting Nazi to show anti-Semitism. She reveals the sheer power of collective disdain and its powerful effect on society. Chiaverini also doesn't empower her women beyond the societal norms of the times. Often they are reminded of their places as women in a man's world, even by their husbands.Resistance Women taxes the soul and mind of freedom loving people. It is often hard to wrap one's head around the ever rising hatred and rhetoric of the Nazi regime. But viewing it through the eyes of these women provides a wonderful historical perspective that caught real people in its web of destruction.