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The Ruins In Which We Bleed by Steve N Lee

Jun12

Heart-Breaking & Inspiring

The Ruins In Which We Bleed by Steve N Lee is a powerful historical novel that I read in just two sittings, pausing only to sleep. It is the third book in the World War II Historical Fiction series but can be read as a stand-alone.

This is a book that will both horrify and inspire you. This is a book that will impact you and not leave you unchanged – because this is a book that is based on real lives.

What the lead character went through seems unbelievable, it seems impossible – but this impossibility is in fact true.

This is a story about a sixteen-year-old who was brave and resourceful. As you read the tale, it is all too easy to forget that she was just sixteen. She was wise beyond her years.

The story is set in the Warsaw ghetto. We hear about life both before and after the Warsaw uprising. We see the importance of family, and of having someone else to live for. Complete isolation would break a spirit. People needed to have someone to live for. “She smiled at the furry little creature. Even in hell, it appeared that friendships could blossom.”

Resistance came in many forms. “This was her sixteenth notebook… The other fifteen had been buried around the ghetto in tins… She couldn’t fire a gun, but she was deadly with a pencil – this was her way of resisting.” Without written records and personal testimonies, how would the world know? “Resisting isn’t only about picking up a gun but about refusing to simply lie down and die… We are resisting… because we’re still here.” There was a strong spirit to survive. “She’d vowed to survive to tell the world.”

Life in the Warsaw ghetto was horrific. Steve N Lee has written sensitively, whilst still relaying the horrors to the reader. “What kind of a world had they built where it was normal for streets to be littered with the corpses of emaciated children?”

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The Singer Behind The Wire by Shari J Ryan

Jun8

Songs Of Hope

The Singer Behind The Wire by Shari J Ryan is a powerful historical novel that will simultaneously horrify and also break your heart as you witness man’s inhumanity to man.

The action is set in Warsaw during World War II before moving to Auschwitz. We see that there were those who could not stand by and do nothing. When they witnessed the persecution of others, they felt compelled to act, regardless of personal safety.

Life was hard for all, but especially for the Jewish population. We witness the erosion of their liberties until they were squashed behind the ghetto walls – 400,000 in the Warsaw ghetto.

We see that love can still happen – even ‘banned’ love. A young couple meet where they can – even eventually forced to meet in a sewer. “They can force us to behave in a certain way, but they can’t control the way we think.” When minds are free, there is still hope.

Hope is what kept people going. A hope for a better tomorrow – but also aware that today was all they had. “Anything can happen tomorrow, so today is important.”

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I Am David by Ann Holm

May7

So Powerful

I Am David by Ann Holm is a children’s classic published in 1963. It is perfect for ages ten years and over, with the power to affect your life whatever your age.

I Am David requires the reader to think as we become totally immersed in the life of David.

David is a twelve-year-old whose life, that he can remember, has so far been spent in an unnamed concentration camp. We do not know for how long or where. David is the microcosm for all those souls who endured the camps.

I Am David is a journey of discovery – literally, and mentally for both the reader and David. We hear about the lessons that a man called Johannes taught David in the camp. “Johannes said greedy people can never be happy, and I would so very much like to know what it feels like to be happy.” David is wise beyond his years but also retains an innocence about him as there is so much that he does not know about a ‘normal’ childhood.

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The Lost Story Of Sofia Castello by Siobhan Curham

Apr25

Capturing Your Heart

The Lost Story Of Sofia Castello by Siobhan Curham is a totally gripping dual timeline novel that I adored. It is set in 2000 and during the war years, mainly in Portugal.

We see that secrets that have been kept for over fifty years now need to come to light. Fact is stranger than fiction, and I confess to reading with dropped jaw as the book sped towards its conclusion.

The war years were a time of fear and suspicion. There were agents and double agents, and the Gestapo, all lunching in plain sight. As Siobhan Curham sets the scene, my heart rate and pulse rate rose.

We see that friends are born in adversity as a young singer puts aside all thoughts of personal safety in order to rescue a young Jewish girl from the clutches of the Gestapo.

There are all the wasted years as we ponder on what might have been.

Portugal is a vibrant place, even in times of war. The golden sands and the heat contrast sharply with the grey London skies.

Characters maintain their joi d’vivre even into their eighties, persuading others to abandon their straight way of thinking, throw caution to the wind, and dive into life.

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