Tag Archive | Penguin Books

Baby Love by Jacqueline Wilson

Sep24

Nothing Wrong

Baby Love by Jacqueline Wilson is a powerful and heart-wrenching YA historical novel that I just could not put down. I greedily devoured it and was emotionally invested in the lead character.

The novel is set in 1959 and moves into 1960. It surrounds lead character fourteen-year-old Laura. We see all the action through her eyes and in the first person.

Laura is incredibly likable. She has a huge heart, looking out for those who are marginalised as she has walked in their shoes.

Laura earnt a scholarship to the Grammar School. Her parents, though poor and living in a prefab, are also proud and don’t want hand-outs. They like to try to pay their way.

Laura has struggled to fit in, and recognises herself in eleven-year-old Moira, who has just started at the Grammar School. Moira has a kind heart too. Her friendship is pure, and contrasts sharply with Nina, the local G.P’s daughter who uses her ‘power’ in a ‘friendship’ with Laura. As she dangles the carrot of friendship, Nina can also be rather cruel.

Laura’s innocence is taken advantage of by an older French exchange student. All the blame lies firmly at the feet of Laura. She is not the only girl to end up in a mother and baby home for young girls, after males in authority have abused their positions. It is always the girls who are cast off. The men get away scot-free.

Attitudes to single girls and their babies in 1960 were appalling. The girls were shamed and their babies taken from them to be adopted into ‘good’ families. Identities of the babies were hidden, meaning there was no chance of re-unions in later life. A whole generation of babies never knew their mothers. The modern reader is horrified. We see the damage inflicted on those poor girls whose babies were ripped from their arms.

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All The Broken Places by John Boyne

Jun15

Innocent? – Or Not?

All The Broken Places by John Boyne is a powerful novel set over four different time periods that consumed me from the start. It is the sequel to The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas but can be read as a stand-alone. I recommend reading book one first as there are references to scenes in there. This is Gretel’s story who is the daughter of the commandant of Auschwitz, and therefore sister to Bruno, the lead character in The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas.

The story in set in London in 2022, and also in Paris in 1946, Sydney 1952, and London again in 1953. The chapters alternate between 2022 and the other time periods.

Gretel is ninety-one in 2022. She has had a lifetime of hiding and guilt consuming her, despite only being twelve-years-old when she first went to live at Auschwitz. She has been running from the truth ever since.

Blame is laid on her youth. She claims her youth equals her innocence – but she knew exactly what was going on, and she is only fooling herself.

We see the truth of Edmund Burke’s famous statement that for evil to flourish, it just needs good men to do nothing. “By doing nothing, you did everything.” People are complicit in the Holocaust by their inactivity.

There are Holocaust survivors. Their stories cannot be compared to Gretel’s. She chose to do nothing, to say nothing. She has guilty hands. The Jewish people had no choice in their fate.

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By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

Aug4

There Was Once A Girl

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult is a marvellous dual timeline novel that I really enjoyed. It has its’ roots in fact and will educate you as you read.

There are actual historical figures including Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. The leading lady in the sixteenth century is Emilia Bassano who we know actually existed. Jodi Picoult’s notes at the end of the book are fascinating. Emilia Bassano is the focus of the novel and has links to present day author Melina who is researching her as she is her ancestor.

There are many parallels between the two women as they are both seeking to write, and both are marginalised in favour of men.

Jodi Picoult has created a fascinating tale around the subject of invisible women. “There was a girl who became invisible so that her words might not be.” Women, it seemed, were invisible in all sorts of walks of life. As they aged, they were passed by.

Writing about Alice Arden who murdered her husband Thomas, Emilia Bassano says: “For a woman to have status, she must be married. Yet a married woman loses everything – her name, her body, her property, her money. It all belongs to her husband. A widow… is given back all that rightfully belongs to her… It is a wonder there aren’t more husbands murdered.” It is very sad to see women “sidelined because of gender.”

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Last Stop Auschwitz by Eddy de Wind

Feb26

The Powerful Spirit

Last Stop Auschwitz by Eddy de Wind is a powerful account of the author’s time in Auschwitz until the end of the war.

The book was actually penned whilst the author was in Auschwitz. We get a first-hand account of daily life in which Eddy de Wind pulls no punches. All his memories were still in tact as he was still in the camp.

We witness the cruelty of the Nazi war machine. Like most bullies, the guards fled as the Soviets approached. Those who valued their lives were “keeping hope alive.” Without hope the people will perish.

In Auschwitz, morals were abandoned due to starvation and desperation. There were those who worked for the good of others but they are overshadowed by those who looked out for themselves.

As well as needing hope, luck was needed too. People needed to keep their wits about them and try hard not to be noticed, as the guards needed no excuse to end a life.

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