From Amazon:
In 1933 Berlin and Munich, fifteen-year-olds Katarina and Maria, who have never met, share the same dream: to become nurses who care for all regardless of race, creed, or colour. They achieve their dreams, but their determination to rise above prejudice brings them into conflict with the authorities and very close to danger of arrest. As a result, they both find themselves sent to the same hospital in France, more for their own safety, where they meet unexpectedly and become firm friends. They look so similar to each other that people often mistake them, which leads them to play tricks on the people they meet. The nurses find themselves on the Mediterranean Sea, bound for North Africa. Misfortune strikes when their ship, the Meer Königin (Queen of the Sea) strikes a mine and begins to sink. Alone and adrift in a life raft, Katarina and Maria want to help others live, but that will never happen unless they find a way to survive.
5.0 out of 5 stars A heartbreaking sagaReviewed in the United States on May 19, 2024
Such a book, for sure. The story is about two young women, both age 15 years, and looked like twins, but grew up in Berlin and the other Munich. They both became young nurses, and then early on, they became head patrons in charge of their own ward. The war had begun, and Germany was a land of either you were a Nazi or you weren’t, but you had to be careful in speech so nothing could be construed as against whichever sude you were on. War is serious business. So is nursing. The trials, the triumphs, the jubilation, the fear, and horror were pervasion. These two young women became as close as sisters, and I would not be surprised if they turn out to be twins, for that has been alluded to in the book a few times.
When Angels Fly 