Publication Date: July 1, 2025
For fans of Kate Quinn and The Nightingale, a gripping story of a young Jewish girl who joins an elite Russian sniper unit and embarks on a mission targeting the highest prize of World War II: Adolph Hitler.
With the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, Elena Bruskina’s world collapses. The ambitious university student and her Jewish family are quickly forced into the Minsk ghetto where thousands are immediately murdered, including her father and brother. Then her younger sister is publicly executed on false charges and her mother is shot. Alone with her grief, Elena escapes the ghetto, determined to avenge her family’s deaths.
Heading to Moscow, she enrolls in the Red Army’s newly created Central Women’s Sniper Training School. After rigorous training, she becomes a member of an all-female sniper platoon, a community of brave young women willing to give their lives to defend their country. Then Elena is chosen for a secret mission—a daring and highly dangerous plan to capture the face of evil itself: Hitler.
Inspired by the real-life female snipers and interpreters in the Red Army during World War II, The Night Sparrow is a portrait of friendship, resilience, courage, and sacrifice under extraordinary circumstances.
Within the pages of history outlining the events of World War II, there’s little mention of the courageous women who trained as snipers in the Soviet Union.
Author Shelly Sanders remedies that in her historical fiction novel, The Night Sparrow. Based on true events and journals written by the sniper girls, the author creates Elena Bruskina.
Elena, a young Jewish girl, brutally loses her family to the Nazis. As retribution, she escapes and trains in an all-female sniper platoon. From a reader’s standpoint, Elena’s inner struggle is palpable.
Being selected for an elite mission thrusts her in the midst of danger. Her experiences, coupled with those of the women around her, highlight the challenges faced by this group not only in battle but from the men around them.
The Night Sparrow showcases the courage and resilience of passionate women from diverse backgrounds as they strive to make their mark during World War II.
Shelly Sanders is the bestselling author of the adult novel Daughters of the Occupation and the acclaimed young adult historical novels The Rachel Trilogy. She began her writing career as a freelance journalist working for major publications, including the Toronto Star, National Post, Maclean’s, Canadian Living, Reader’s Digest, and Today’s Parent. She lives in Ontario.
