The untold story of female snipers
in WWII and the secret hunt for the
most evil Nazi of all.

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About The Night Sparrow

Coming spring 2025

Determined to seek revenge for her family, murdered in the Minsk ghetto, Elena enrolls in the Central Women’s Sniper Training School in 1942. Eight months later, she’s part of an all-girls sniper platoon on the eastern front. Soon, she’s ashamed of her low tally of kills. Then, she’s injured, re-deployed as an interpreter, and entangled in a secret hunt for the most evil fascist of all.

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About Shelly

Shelly Sanders is the author of The Night Sparrow, coming spring, 2025 from HarperCollins, as well as the Canadian bestseller Daughters of the Occupation, and several other historical fiction novels. She graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in English Literature and Ryerson University with a graduate degree in journalism.

Her work is inspired by her Russian Jewish ancestry, and she is especially drawn to untold stories about little-known women who defy expectations.

Full Bio
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“A riveting story that will keep you  turning the pages way into the night.”

—JOY FIELDING, bestselling author, All the Wrong Places on Daughters of the Occupation

“A gripping historical saga that skillfully addresses the trauma of the Holocaust.”

—KIRKUS, Starred Review on Daughters of the Occupation

“Daughters of the Occupation is one of the most authentic and profound works of historical fiction I have ever read about World War II and the Holocaust.”

—BOOKTRIB

“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

“A highly emotional tale, charged with heartbreak and suffering, yet awash with perseverance, persistence, and a strong will to survive, this is a read that will stay in the minds of those who are lucky enough to read it.”

—NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS on Daughters of the Occupation

“Daughters of the Occupation is a neatly crafted saga… a story of tentative hope in a world of menace, as three generations strive to understand who they are, where they came from, and how they can feel free.”

—LUCY ADLINGTON, author NYT bestseller, The Dressmakers of Auschwitz

“In an artful way throughout this absorbing, chilling tale, characters wonder what can stop the tragedy of hatred… a question that will prompt readers to wonder the same.”

 

—BOOKLIST, Starred Review on Rachel's Secret

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Also by Shelly

ON SALE NOW!

Daughters of the Occupation “vividly recreates the nerve-wracking fear and carnage of wartime Riga, as well as the city’s feeling of grim paranoia during the late Soviet period.”
–Kirkus, Starred Review

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Latest Blog Post

Nina Petrova: The only grandmother-sniper in WWII

Nina Petrova was 48 years old when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, far beyond the age of conscription. Yet Nina, who’d raised her daughter on her own and was now a grandmother, clearly considered age as insignificant when it came to combat. She joined the Red Army as a sniper of the 284th Infantry Regiment and, with years of working as a shooting…

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