Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Rain Doesn't Fall on Angels is an historical fiction novel written by Erin Eldridge. It was 1940, and Bastian and his mate, Friedrich, were chilled and terrified as they waited in the Ardennes Forest for their orders. The two young men had gone through Tank School together and now were assigned to the same Panzer 111. Gunther, their commander, frowned at their youthful hi-jinks as they wrestled in an attempt to burn off some of the nerves and cold, and he wondered at the folly they were embarking upon. Invading France could only end in tears, yet he had no choice but to follow orders and send his tankers on what seemed a doomed mission. Bastian would actually be the only one in his tank to survive the trap set for them by the French, and the badly burned young soldier was brought to the home of Dr. Emil Joubert and his daughter, Damiane, where they would try to nurse him back to health. He was not the only injured combatant they would be treating, however. Shortly before that, a RAF pilot had lost his plane and parachuted down, badly burned, outside the little village of Chalonsay. Both men’s injuries would have been more properly treated in a hospital and caring for them would take every bit of experience Joubert had with burn victims. The potential conflict between the German and English patients was something Joubert and Damiane would have to worry about later.

Erin Eldridge’s historical fiction novel, Rain Doesn't Fall on Angels, is a powerful and intense novel focusing on the impact of the German occupation on France during World War II and the rise of the French Resistance. Eldridge instantly grabbed my attention with her accurate and detailed accounts of both the RAF planes and their missions, and the sorties of the Tank Battalion Bastian belongs to. I was mesmerized by the reality of Sandy’s Hurricane being built of cloth and wood, and so vulnerable to attack, and found the strategy used by the French to neutralize the threat of the tanks to be stunningly simple and final. Eldridge’s plot is marvelous, and her characters are credible and unforgettable. Rain Doesn't Fall on Angels is a worthy addition to the canon of World War II literature, one that kept me willingly enthralled throughout my reading experience. It’s most highly recommended.