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The Baby In Her Arms by Suzanne Goldring

Sep28

Letters From The Lost

The Baby In Her Arms by Suzanne Goldring is a powerful and heartbreaking dual timeline novel that I never wanted to end.

The action is set in Paris during World War II and in 2024 in England. Nazi-occupied Paris was a terrible place to be. We witness a young Jewish mother make the ultimate sacrifice – leaving her newborn baby at the mercy of a stranger finding and caring for her, during a random round-up. We see the appalling treatment and are horrified. In contrast, we applaud the mother’s decision based on sacrificial love, to give her baby a chance of life.

There are strong women throughout the novel. They are prepared to stand up and be counted. Where they see injustice, they seek to right it. They do what they can, when they can, in whatever way they can.

Letters thrown from trains departing eastwards are found and delivered if they have addresses, or ultimately published in the hope that someone will read the letters from the lost.

A grandmother in present day is searching for her roots. She wants to know where she came from – and what she uncovers is amazing. Finally, the jigsaw pieces fit, and she can celebrate where she comes from, and who she is.

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The Storyteller Of Krakow by Carly Schabowski

Sep20

Of War, Captivity, & A Bear Called Wojtek

The Storyteller Of Krakow by Carly Schabowski is a powerful historical tale that consumed me from the start. It is a blend of fact and fiction, educating the reader as we go.

The tale follows lead character Lena, who is Polish. We follow her through her war – first the Russians over-ran Poland and Lena and her parents ended up in the Gulag. Then Russia swapped sides, freed everyone in the Gulag and recommended that the Poles make their way to Uzbekistan as that was where the Polish army was in exile.

The army included a mascot of an orphaned Syrian brown bear called Wojtek. We see that bond he forms with Lena and how he recues her on more than one occasion. Their bond is beautiful.

Lena’s war sees her travel through Egypt and ends up in the blood-bath of Monte Cassino.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Storyteller Of Krakow. It is told in two time periods – the second World War and 1994 as we drop in on Lena. She is still feisty and out to protect the under-dog.

This tale will educate you as you read. I certainly did not know about the war from the Polish viewpoint. And I did not realise that Wojtek was real. The author tells us that there are statues to Wojtek in Krakow and in Edinburgh as he ended up in Edinburgh Zoo after the war.

I received a free copy. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

JULIA WILSON

Images from Google Images https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=0cdee08023f22ac1&sxsrf=APpeQntrIU7VGcgAbcjf7CMMljTjzOGRlQ:1789902150498&udm=2&fbs=ABfTbFVyMZGZf1hfvX9uKjN_-G8c4u0nXx4bEIpwm1lnNH832VstEKsVDqPorK0Gahnm2no1YAFtlsByIZaJlK7yr6gIShz8_nfnRyCFKBFanfbilRY_0kwdNHtgmcDRLQV2EOTgQQNHPW-40y0BLSqR0sKVQJ9SqohMh3B7F-UdYZ8Eakj42P4nLXxFdbhvy4Un33Fa98qr2pLi-KTIxWjIK9UoYjN6lQ&q=wojtek+the+bear&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjsufOOgf2WAxV8_rsIHU9RGkoQtKgLegQIJhAB&biw=1912&bih=948&dpr=1#sv=CAMSURoyKhBlLXZWWEkxS0tkd3FZVXVNMg52VlhJMUtLZHdxWVV1TToOSHN3VXAxNHZmd1FxUU0gBCoXCgFzEhBlLXZWWEkxS0tkd3FZVXVNGAEwARgHIJbQqY4LSggQARgBIAEoAQ

A Christmas Proposal by Rose Warner

Sep7

Carpe Diem

A Christmas Proposal by Rose Warner is a charming historical novel. It is the second book in the Teacher Evacuees series but can be read as a stand-alone.

Although there is ‘Christmas’ in the title, the book is actually set from Autumn 1940 to Spring 1941 in a fictional tale in Norfolk as we join three teachers and their pupils who were evacuated from London.

The leading character is in her 40’s. She is part of a generation of women who lost their husbands, sweethearts and brothers in the mud and mire of World War I battlefields. “Most of the men she [mother] would have considered suitable lay in the fields of Flanders their broken bodies turned to dust.” Though the class barriers were breaking down, there were still those of the older generation who tried to maintain their lofty upper-class positions as they throw out their orders.

A second world war brings to mind all that was lost in the First World War. Fears spring up. “Even if you tried to ignore them, fears didn’t lesson… facing life… head on.” Sometimes, in order to defeat our fears, we must face them. We must not let fear stop us from doing what is right.

Within the classroom we hear a child’s logic. “I don’t see the point in doing sums if we’re all going to be blown to bits.” You can’t argue with that!

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The Hotel Dancer by Ellie Midwood

Sep6

To Save A Life

The Hotel Dancer by Ellie Midwood is a powerful historical novel that I just could not put down.

The action is set in Warsaw during 1943. Chapters are interspersed with ones from ‘the writer’ in 1974. As the action unfolds in the past, the writer interviews a different person in 1974, giving their perspective on actions past. Who is the writer? My jaw fell as the penny dropped. I was reminded of the Jewish saying that whoever saves a life, it is as if he saved the whole world.

This is a book about bravery at a time of great evil. Characters could choose to go out with a whimper, but they go out with a bang.

Dancing under the noses of the Nazis, a young Jewish girl does what she does in order to survive – but surviving is not enough, she wants to rescue as many as she can from the Nazis reign of terror.

The reader witnesses the growing relationship of love – is it real? Or has a woman been duped? Read the novel, and make up your own mind.

Ellie Midwood has created an atmosphere of terror. Lives were balanced on a knife edge as they could be snuffed out in an instant.

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