Sewing Resistance - Seamstress, spy, survivor? - J.H. Foster - ★★★

AUTHOR: J.H. Foster

SERIES: Rebels and Resistance

GENRE: WWII Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: November 7, 2025

RATING: 3 stars.

In a Nutshell: A historical WWII fiction featuring a mix of real and fictional people. Good plot, varied characters. A bit too widespread in its inclusions, making it feel slightly rushed. One half of a parallel duology, with this novel being aimed at adult readers and its partner aimed at middle-graders.

Plot Preview:

1938, Paris. After witnessing a traumatic attack by the Nazis a year before, Hannah escapes from Austria along with her young son Freddie and goes to Paris, hoping to meet her estranged best friend Kat. Though Kat isn't too happy at being suddenly saddled with two Jewish refugees without any papers, she agrees to help out until Hannah can find a place for herself. But when the war reaches Paris, the difficult situation turns even more precarious. When some nightmares from the past make a reappearance at Kat’s doorstep, Hannah realises that it is time to stop being the ‘maus’. Is it time to finally rebel and roar back at the occupiers?

The story comes to us in Hannah’s first-person perspective.

The 'Rebels and Resistance' series offers a pair of interconnecting novels, where each book stands alone and yet works in sync with the other. This novel comes from a young mother's perspective and aims at adult readers.

The book begins well. There is no joyful background or any slow prelude to Hannah’s life. Instead, we start with a scene of direct terror. It offers a memorable beginning to the novel.

From this scene till a few chapters in, until just before Hannah’s second job, I was fairly invested in the story. But after a point, I felt like the plot was spreading itself thin, with too many subplots and not enough depth. Some arcs are connected to the French resistance and their efforts at countering the Nazis. But as everything comes from Hannah’s first-person POV, she is always at the centre of everything. It feels like a single character is handling too much. Some part of her role seems very convincing (especially her prowess with stitching and her willingness to do relatively menial work), but some aspects seem a bit convenient, especially as she isn't even trained to handle those things.

Hannah isn't the typical kind of Jew you see in WWII books. She was born a Jew, but due to certain circumstances not in her control (not going into spoilers), she follows the Catholic faith. I wish this duality had come into stronger play at some point in the plot. But after the halfway mark, this factor, as well as her dyslexia, stays relatively unaddressed.

The two key characters, Hannah and Katarina, have an interesting dynamic that is explored well in the novel. Some of their initial conversation feels stilted, which might be because of the long years apart, the drastic difference in circumstances, and the awkwardness of reuniting under unfavourable conditions. But we soon see their bond reignite in a realistic way, without going back to the jubilant friendship of their younger years.

The plot tries to make us feel sympathy only towards Hannah, but I also felt sorry for Kat. She also sacrificed a lot and it wouldn't have been easy to jeopardize everything she had for the risky endeavour of sheltering Jews, especially knowing her conservative family members. I wish we could have heard more from her perspective also, though I accept that the ‘companion novel’ idea wouldn’t have worked had this book contained a dual narrative.

Young Freddie is also a great character. I found it intriguing that this sweet little fellow doesn't even talk in this story, and yet he is the main character in the companion novel. I’m quite curious to see how his perspective is presented in that book.

Other than the above trio, the story also contains several real-life people, details of whom are present in the author’s note at the end. Some of these inclusions are popular figures such as Coco Chanel, but there are also several actual but unknown resistance fighters playing active roles in the storyline. I appreciate how the author provided details on these in her note, because I wouldn’t have known of their real-life antecedents otherwise. I also love how she clarified the parts where she took creative license with the facts for the sake of the plot.

I wish the cover depicted Freddie holding hands with his mom. The current cover design – that of a woman with a bag in hand and her back to the camera - has become overly common in this genre. Having a young boy in her arms or next to her would have created a nice differentiating factor.

I was glad that I read the free prequel (The Rebellious Maus and the Pogrom) the author sent with her mailing list. It helped a lot in understanding some of the background details, because they aren’t revealed in this novel even though they have a bearing on the events. Of course, this book can be read even without knowing the prequel story. Just that the prequel helps us understand certain character reactions better.

The story spans from 1937 till the end of the war, so it feels a bit too hurried. In covering such a lengthy time period and multiple subplots, it compromises a little on the emotional depth and structural integrity. The result is comprehensive but felt a bit disjointed and flat to me. I also wasn’t a big fan of the chapter titles. They offered spoilers at times.

To be fair, I've read way too many WWII novels and have probably burnt myself out in this genre now. I rarely pick up WWII fiction these days, unless there’s something in the blurb that stands out. The main reason I picked this book is the fact that it comes with a middle-grade companion novel. I don’t think I have ever heard of such a concept before – a single series aiming at two separate age groups! Plus, a middle-grade WWII novel is a challenging concept – providing information about such a tragic part of human history without traumatising young readers can't be easy.

On paper, the idea of this series of “companion novels” works brilliantly. But does the execution match up? I will update my review once I complete this book’s content partner, 'Boy Resisting '. As the two are meant to be in sync with each other, it ought to be interesting to see these events from little Freddie's perspective, especially as he's silent in most of his scenes in this book.

In the meantime, recommending this novel to those interested in WWII fiction and in a story about the French resistance.

My thanks to the authors for providing me with a complimentary copy of “Sewing Resistance”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

The two indie authors behind this clever concept of paired WWII novels aiming at two distinct age groups have an ongoing (As of August 2025) Kickstarter campaign for this series. For more details, visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/janfoster/exciting-uplifting-ww2-french-resistance-duology