Review - The Lilac Girls
The Lilac Girls
by Martha Hall Kelly
release date 4/5/2016
487 pages
Chapter length: medium
5 out of 5 stars
According to the publisher, “New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.
An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.
For the ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. Once hired, though, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.
The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women. Their stories cross continents—from New York to Paris, Germany, and Poland—as Caroline and Kasia strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.”
I wanted to write this review much sooner, but I have so many feelings about this book, I haven’t known how to start my review. As you can tell from my five-star rating, I definitely enjoyed this book. However, to simply say it was one of my top two books of 2018 (I can’t decide which book gets first place between The Lilac Girls and The Nightingale) feels superficial.
I loved this book, and it is one of the top two books I read last year. But the reason I loved it so much is because of the depth of emotions that it made me feel. While it might sound weird to say, this book will break your heart in the best way possible.
The Lilac Girls weaves a unique narrative, showing three different perspectives of World War II. With Caroline, we get the familiar perspective of what Americans experienced during the war; with Kasia, we see the cruelty that the Polish people suffered under Nazi oppression, and the struggle that they endured after the war ended to take their lives back; interestingly and controversially, we also are asked to experience WWII from the perspective of a Nazi “doctor." As an American and someone who has read quite a bit of nonfiction accounts from people who lived through the war, Caroline and Kasia were familiar to me, even before I got to know the characters. When it came to reading the chapters written from Herta’s perspective, I really struggled. The author does an amazing job of creating a character who blurs the lines between human and monster. We know inherently that Herta is the antagonist, so it makes it especially startling to lose yourself in the narrative and empathize with her. Without taking into consideration any other aspect of the book, I have to commend the author for asking us to find the line between good and evil, and do it so delicately that we don’t realize a moral conundrum is being explicitly asked.
I truly enjoyed Kelly’s writing. She created a narrative that you don’t want to put down without resorting to cheap suspense tactics. As I realized halfway through reading, The Lilac Girls is based on a true story, and I appreciate the author giving the respect that is owed to the women who actually lived through the events depicted in the book.
This book made me laugh, made me cry, and taught me about a group of extraordinary women who I might not have encountered without this book. I have been recommending this book to everyone I know, but fans of historical fiction will especially enjoy it.
If you read and enjoyed The Lilac Girls, keep an eye out for the prequel, Lost Roses, coming out this April!
by Martha Hall Kelly
release date 4/5/2016
487 pages
Chapter length: medium
5 out of 5 stars
According to the publisher, “New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.
An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.
For the ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. Once hired, though, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.
The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women. Their stories cross continents—from New York to Paris, Germany, and Poland—as Caroline and Kasia strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.”
I wanted to write this review much sooner, but I have so many feelings about this book, I haven’t known how to start my review. As you can tell from my five-star rating, I definitely enjoyed this book. However, to simply say it was one of my top two books of 2018 (I can’t decide which book gets first place between The Lilac Girls and The Nightingale) feels superficial.
I loved this book, and it is one of the top two books I read last year. But the reason I loved it so much is because of the depth of emotions that it made me feel. While it might sound weird to say, this book will break your heart in the best way possible.
The Lilac Girls weaves a unique narrative, showing three different perspectives of World War II. With Caroline, we get the familiar perspective of what Americans experienced during the war; with Kasia, we see the cruelty that the Polish people suffered under Nazi oppression, and the struggle that they endured after the war ended to take their lives back; interestingly and controversially, we also are asked to experience WWII from the perspective of a Nazi “doctor." As an American and someone who has read quite a bit of nonfiction accounts from people who lived through the war, Caroline and Kasia were familiar to me, even before I got to know the characters. When it came to reading the chapters written from Herta’s perspective, I really struggled. The author does an amazing job of creating a character who blurs the lines between human and monster. We know inherently that Herta is the antagonist, so it makes it especially startling to lose yourself in the narrative and empathize with her. Without taking into consideration any other aspect of the book, I have to commend the author for asking us to find the line between good and evil, and do it so delicately that we don’t realize a moral conundrum is being explicitly asked.
I truly enjoyed Kelly’s writing. She created a narrative that you don’t want to put down without resorting to cheap suspense tactics. As I realized halfway through reading, The Lilac Girls is based on a true story, and I appreciate the author giving the respect that is owed to the women who actually lived through the events depicted in the book.
This book made me laugh, made me cry, and taught me about a group of extraordinary women who I might not have encountered without this book. I have been recommending this book to everyone I know, but fans of historical fiction will especially enjoy it.
If you read and enjoyed The Lilac Girls, keep an eye out for the prequel, Lost Roses, coming out this April!
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