Jacques Dorme flies fighter planes for France until German forces shoot him down in June 1940. The captured pilot finds himself imprisoned and transported east to a POW camp. Dorme breaks free and flees across the wasteland into Russia, where he eventually enlists with a Russian air squadron. In the burning ruins of Stalingrad during May 1942, he encounters a nurse and falls deeply in love with her. Their romance flourishes among the devastation until Dorme receives orders to depart for Siberia, where his new mission involves transporting American aircraft delivered through Alaska for Soviet forces. On New Year's Eve 1944, while crossing polar skies, Dorme makes a desperate attempt to rescue his fellow aviators but crashes fatally into an icy mountain peak. Years later, a Russian war orphan now living in France returns to his homeland, driven by memories of his brutal childhood and an urgent need to uncover his origins. His search reveals an unexpected connection between his own story and the fate of Jacques Dorme.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, military-fiction, adventure
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: France, Germany, Russia, Siberia, Stalingrad
Period: 1940, 1942, 1944
221 pages · Hardcover · Uitgeverij De Geus
Content warnings: war