A soldier, a pilot, a peasant, and an heiress match wits against a league of German spies and saboteurs in this World War One novel of adventure and romance.
May 1915. After tragedy strikes during the Second Battle of Artois, Frenchman Julian Olivier will do anything to get out of the trenches. So when British Intelligence recruits him to spy behind enemy lines, he jumps at the opportunity. Just before he begins, however, he has a chance encounter with a young French woman who leaves his heart marked for the remainder of the war—even if he doesn’t know her name.
Warren Flynn is a Canadian airborne hero, and dogfights with the Germans are all in a day’s work. Second only to his love of flying is his fascination with Claire Donovan, the daughter of an American munitions manufacturer living in Paris. Warren flies Julian into Germany and soon receives orders to post the Allies’ newest operative—an attractive peasant woman named Evette—in Claire’s home.
As a dangerous ring of spies and saboteurs threatens to turn the war against the Allies, Julian discovers goodness in his enemies’ hearts. But even if he survives, will he ever be reunited with the woman whose memory he can’t erase? Will Warren survive the war, and will Evette unearth the infiltrator in her own territory before it’s too late?
The Spider and the Sparrow is available in paperback, ebook, and audio book (narrated by Jason Tatom), at Amazon, Audible, Barnes & Noble, Deseret Book, and Seagull Book.
Here are a few extras: The Spider and the Sparrow Book Club Questions, and The Spider and the Sparrow Pronunciation Guide.
Praise for The Spider and the Sparrow:
A. L. Sowards has done it again! Another riveting story that puts you on the streets of France and Germany, giving you a first-hand, pulse-racing view of spies and World War I heroes that is sure to keep you reading and guessing long into the night.
–Rebecca Belliston, author of the Citizens of Logan Pond series
Sowards had crafted a captivating story that brings the horrors of trench warfare during WWI to life. You can almost smell the gunpowder, mustard gas, and mud as you wade through the opening scenes. Coupled with lifelike characters showing ordinary people caught up in a deadly game of espionage, this is a captivating novel that takes the reader on a roller coaster of emotions from despair and desperation to love and hope. A great read!
-KR Machado, former A-10 pilot, US Air Force
More interesting than your high school history class (and probably more informative), this look into the Great War aptly shows the conflict from both sides of the trenches and the cost for soldiers and civilians.
-M. Grant, MA in Military History
All right; I’ll admit it. A. L. Sowards has become one of my favorite authors. When I pick up a Sowards’ novel, I tend to drop everything else and keep my nose stuck between the pages from beginning to end–or as close to that as I can manage. Her newest novel The Spider and the Sparrow is a harrowing, well-researched story of espionage, the privations of war, loyalty, treason, compassion, and love . . . Sowards’s characters are a mixture of strength and flaws that make them real and allows the reader to share their emotions and fears. Their conversation and the social mores of the time period lend to their realism and evidence the author’s attention to research. The settings and background of this story are well done. I could almost feel and taste the mud of those rain filled trenches along the French/German border . . . Terrible sacrifices are asked of the characters in this story as in the all too real war a hundred years ago, but though it was a terrible time and included horrible events, the overall story leaves the reader with a sense of hope and faith.
–Meridian Magazine
More reviews available on Goodreads, Amazon, Meridian Magazine, and these blogs: Wishful Endings, My Book A Day, Joy in the Moments, Katie’s Clean Book Collection, Mel’s Shelves, Bookworm Lisa, LDS Writer Mom (Julie Coulter Bellon), LDS and Lovin’ It, The Things I Love Most, Singing Librarian Books, Love. Pray. Read., Getting Your Read On, Literary Time Out, Seeking with all Yur Heart, and Rockin’ Book Reviews.
Published by Covenant, February 2016. Paperback ISBN: 978-1-68047-938-6; Kindle ASIN: B01ATRPZ4E; Audio ISBN: 978-1680479393.
Related books: Espionage, Sworn Enemy, Deadly Alliance
A. L. Sowards 
Heard you on Astonishing legends last week! I’ll be grabbing this to get me ready for BF1 come fall.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, Nick! It was fun to be part of that podcast. I hope this book gives you some good historical context for the game!
LikeLike