Archives

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.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

Franci’s War by Franci Rabinek Epstein

Mar28

Brave & Resourceful

Franci’s War by Franci Rabinek Epstein is a powerful account of the author’s time spent in various concentration camps during World War II.

We also briefly hear of the author’s background and there is an afterword by her daughter. The inclusion of photos is great to be able to put faces to names.

Although Franci Rabinek Epstein’s family was Jewish, they were not practicing Jews. Indeed, her father said “I am a Czechoslovakian citizen of German nationality.”

As the 1930’s progressed and their liberties were eroded, her father “believed in German decency, justice, honor and civilization.”

Her mother was in the business of haute couture, and the author followed in her footsteps. This was to be of an advantage in the camps as she was able to work as a seamstress. Later the author worked as an electrician (her father’s trade) in the camps. She was resourceful. This plus luck, helped her to survive.

Continue reading →

Bamboo Heart: A Daughter’s Quest by Ann Bennett

Mar26

Powerful & Heart-Wrenching

The Bamboo Heart: A Daughter’s Quest by Ann Bennett is a powerful historical novel. It is based on the author’s father’s wartime experiences as a POW on the Thai Burma railway and is absolutely heart breaking.

The novel is set over two time periods – 1943 onwards in Malaya, and in London in 1986. It is linked by the young man in 1943 who became the elderly father in 1986.

The father had never spoken of his time as a POW. It is only after his death that his daughter goes on a quest to find out about her father’s lost years.

Ann Bennett pulls no punches. This is a very hard-hitting read. The Japanese (though a gentle nation now) were brutal to all those in captivity. The comprehensive detail of the sufferings makes this a very hard read. But it is a necessary read. We need to know what happened so we never forget the generation of young men who went to war, and returned changed, if they returned at all.

We witness a beautiful budding love that is brutally ripped away by war. This contrasts sharply with a selfish, young, egotistical young man in 1986.

The title Bamboo Heart “means that the heart has been permanently weakened by starvation” at some time in the past.

Continue reading →