Book description
What is the price of acting morally in a time of great evil, when sin and necessity seem twinned? Saints and Villains is a strikingly resonant novel that dramatizes this painful dilemma through the fictional re-creation of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. This emblematic figure risked his life--and finally lostâŠ
Why read it?
1 author picked Saints and Villains as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
The historical figure, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, is a striking exemplar of courage in response to the atrocities of World War II. Denise Giardinaâs historical fiction book, Saints and Villains, portrays the interplay of Bonhoefferâs moral values as a Nazi resister and as a German theologian. Factually, Bonhoeffer could have fled from the horrors of war, but he chose not to do so and ended up involved in a failed plot to assassinate Hitler. I donât think of Bonhoefferâs characterization as a model of virtue, but I rooted for his ordinariness, his questions, and doubts that made him morally complex. MyâŠ
From Evie's list on the intertwinings of war, conscience, and religion.
If you love Saints and Villains...
These Blue Mountains
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancĂ©, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, HeddaâŠ
Want books like Saints and Villains?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Saints and Villains.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,366
readers submitted
so far, will you?
đ If you like Saints and Villains, you might also like...
Pioneer Paddles of the Colonial South
Award-winning novelist William Auman, author of If Trees Could Testify..., takes the reader on a time-traveling odyssey featuring 345 bodies of water in six states within the historical context through which they unfold.
Journey into remaining Colonial-era wilderness with stories of pirate treasure, epic frontiersmen, Indigenous Peoples, and RevolutionaryâŠ
A Winter's Disgrace
Cyprian, a marquessâs heir, will not let his mother choose his next bride. Leaving a house party in a blizzard to avoid her stratagems, he finds a woman trudging half frozen toward the London road. Rosamund fled disgrace, hoping to reach the one person who might shelter her, but evenâŠ
