Time is a slippery thing in Under the Same Stars, which takes place across three decades and encompasses three sets of protagonists connected by a massive, magical German oak. The Bridegroom’s Oak in the Dodauer Forest allegedly unites soulmates if you write to it, but has also been blamed for the disappearance of three teenagers. This is a dark, redemptive, and beautiful tale that weaves its secrets carefully.

The book begins by following Sophie Muller and Hannah Schmidt, two girls trying to cope with the beginning of World War II and the nightmares therein. They are separated by their parents ideals; Sophie is Jewish but hiding that fact, while Hannah’s family supports the Nazi party. Both girls are in the Hitler Youth, but they slowly but surely come to learn what being loyal to the Nazi party means. Sophie’s family goes to Lodz, and Hannah’s falls under suspicion for lacking patriotic fervor. Hannah becomes more and more disenchanted with Hitler and fascism as the war goes on. When the girls are reunited, they create their own resistance movement, printing their own antifascist paper. The two girls – along with Oskar Gerber, a fervent Nazi who has been trying to court Hannah – mysteriously disappear from the Dodauer Forest during the winter solstice.

Then we follow Jenny Campbell and Lena – an American transplant and a German punk rocker – living in the divided Germany of the 1980s. Lena writes doggerel dedicated to her never-ending rebellion and pushes back against the bourgeois – which include Jenny’s parents. Jenny starts to realize she’s not straight as she falls in love both with Lena and her music and ideals. She joins Lena’s band and plays the violin in it, and together they experiment with drugs, girls, boys and alcohol in a very teenaged way. Lena’s big dream is tearing down the Berlin wall; her brother is an East German smuggler and being in contact with him is dangerous. Jenny, meanwhile, is obsessed with the mystery of her neighbor, Frau Hermann, who is rumored to be a witch but is actually a psychologist. Jenny agrees to carry Frau Hermann’s letter to the Bridegroom’s Oak and from her, learns more and more about Sophie and Hannah’s disappearance.

Finally, Miles and Chloe – two bored American teens stuck in lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic – decide to investigate the mystery of The Bridegroom’s Oak, spurred on by a package Chloe receives from her grandmother containing a grainy article about the case. Chloe is rich and Miles is not, and while the disparity bothers him sometimes, he has a big crush on her and hopes that their investigation will bring them closer. The story of Hannah and Sophie’s heroism inspires Miles to take part in activist activities, including protests against George Floyd’s murder, instead of simply supporting them from a distance. All the while, the question lingers; did Sophie and Hannah really magically disappear on the night of that fateful Winter Solstice? Or did they blend into the chaotic World War II world and manage a getaway?

You know the threads here have to connect somehow. Readers will be happy to know that Bray does indeed knot all the ends together in an inventive way. Under the Same Stars has less magical realism in it than other of Bray’s novels which, here, works well. Everything feels brutally real in the best ways.

I deeply loved the 1980s sections, but Bray manages to make the story of Hannah and Sophie unique among World War II fictions. They are brave and flawed, and reading about their lives is a privilege.

The 2020s narrative feels the most teenagerly, but the problem of Covid, the terminal illness of Chloe’s grandmother, and Miles’ feelings about his self-described cowardice and being the biracial kid of two moms all provide narrative tension. All three plotlines dovetail well together, and while you may suspect where the story is going, the mystery of Hannah and Sophie is genuinely surprising.

This is a handsomely written book – touching, brave, and nervy, and strongly anti fascist in these trying times. Teenagers will like Under the Same Stars – and adults will like it just as much.