"This is the best kind of historical fiction—compelling, deeply human storytelling that brings a true moment to life."

– Meg Waite Clayton, New York Times bestselling author

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About The Night Witches

On sale November 10 in Canada, January 19, 2027 in US

1941: As the Nazis flatten her country, Marina Raskova, a record-breaking Russian flight navigator, forms the first and only all-female aviation regiment in WWII. Forced to fly archaic open-cockpit biplanes, made of canvas and wood, with a top speed of just 94 miles an hour, these women endure harsh disadvantages. After their most tragic night of the war, the females in this unprecedented regiment must overcome their grief and shaken composure to complete their missions safely and prove their worth to their male coun­terparts, who have persistently undermined their confidence. Told through the eyes of Major Raskova, Commander Dunka Bershanskaya, a single mother worried about her son back home, Lina Gelman, a loyal Jewish navigator, and Nadia Popova, an aspiring singer and daring pilot, The Night Witches is the story of valiant women in the face of staggering odds.

Inspired by real women and true events.

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About Shelly

Shelly Sanders is the bestselling author of historical fiction celebrating unsung women entangled in underexplored historical events. Her novels include the bestsellers,The Night Sparrow and Daughters of the Occupation, as well as three acclaimed young-adult novels. She is renowned for her "exquisitely rendered portrayals of lives under extraordinary strain" (Kirkus) and her authentic depiction of history, which she attributes to her years as a journalist. Shelly has written essays for Writer’s Digest,LitHub, the Jewish Book Council’s PB Daily, and she has spoken about the Forgotten Female Fighters: Jewish Women on the Frontline at the Virginia Holocaust Museum, The Magnes Jewish Book Festival, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal, The Jewish Community Library in San Francisco, synagogues and libraries. In 2025, she was awarded a fellowship at the Ventspils International Writer’s and Translators’ House. Born in Canada, Shelly was raised in Chicago and now lives in Ontario.

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"A gripping, edge-of-the-seat story about a group of Russian women who defied the odds to become a record-breaking regiment of World War Two aviators." 

—Gill Paul, International bestselling author of The Secret Wife on The Night Witches

"With compassion and insight, Shelly Sanders brings to life a little-known chapter of history that deserves to be remembered."

—Genevieve Graham, USA Today & Canadian Bestselling author of The Secret Keeper on The Night Witches

“A beautifully written tale of female courage and bravado.”

—Judy Batalion, author of the New York Times bestseller, The Light of Days on The Night Witches

"The Night Witches is an impeccably researched tale, bringing to life stories based on the real heroines who swooped down from the sky and terrorized the Nazis… an excellent addition to the bookshelves of readers of WW2 fiction.”

— Donna Jones Alward, author of When the World Fell Silent

“The title of this haunting novel refers not only to the victims of Latvia’s Holocaust, but also to their descendants.”

—WASHINGTON POST on Daughters of the Occupation

"…exquisitely rendered portrayals of lives under extraordinary strain.” 

—Kirkus Review, The Night Sparrow  

Also by Shelly

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Latest Blog Post

Jewish Sisters in The Night Witches: Only 1 Survives

Meri and Ida Zhukovitskaya were from a large Jewish family in Ekaterinoslav, on the west bank of the Dnieper River (Today, it’s Dnipro, Ukraine). Meri, two years older than Ida, was born in 1918. By the time Ida came along, in 1920, the city’s Jewish population was nearing 40 percent. Ekaterinoslav was located within the Pale of Settlement, a million square kilometers of land far…