daughters of the night sky by aimie k runyan

I’d read quite a lot about Russian women, including during the war, though rarely (if ever?) military women, and certainly not pilots. Excited about this, I was further pleasantly surprised to learn the book not only takes place in Russia, but also amongst an all-female pilot regiment. Having spent a number of school years reading anything I possibly could-historical or fiction-on World War II, it was easy to deduce the novel was set in this era. Runyan’s Daughters of the Night Sky, I headed over to check out the blurb, catching sight of her cover on the way. Upon being asked to read and review Aimie K. When the smoke of war clears, nothing will ever be the same-and one of Russia’s most decorated military heroines will face the most agonizing choice of all. The Germans quickly learn to fear nocturnal raids by the daring fliers they call “Night Witches.” But the brutal campaign will exact a bitter toll on Katya and her sisters-in-arms. Marina Raskova, first woman navigator in the Soviet Air Force and female instructor at the Zhukovskii Air Academy, later founder of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, via Wikimedia CommonsĪfter years of arduous training, Katya is assigned to the 588th Night Bomber Regiment-one of the only Soviet air units comprised entirely of women. Not even the entreaties of her new husband-a sensitive artist who fears for her safety-can dissuade her from doing her part as a proud daughter of Russia. With the Nazis on the march across Europe, she is called on to use her wings to serve her country in its darkest hour. From childhood, she’s dreamed of taking to the skies to escape her bleak mountain life. Katya Ivanova is a young pilot in a far-flung military academy in the Ural Mountains.

RunyanĪ novel-inspired by the most celebrated regiment in the Red Army-about a woman’s sacrifice, courage, and love in a time of war.

Daughters of the night sky by aimie k runyan