Available Formats
The Night Sparrow: A Novel
By (Author) Shelly Sanders
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
HarperCollins
30th December 2025
United States
General
Fiction
Second World War fiction
Religious and spiritual fiction
813.6
Paperback
368
For fans of Kate Quinn andThe 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 Bruskinas 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 familys deaths.
Heading to Moscow, she enrolls in the Red Armys newly created Central Womens 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 missiona 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 Sparrowis a portrait of friendship, resilience, courage, and sacrifice under extraordinary circumstances.
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.