Turning oneself to the misfortunes of others is the best way to dispense with personal troubles. Hadn’t Lord Byron himself said, ‘The busy have no time for tears’?
– Martha Hall Kelly
Inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this powerful debut novel reveals an incredible story of love, redemption, and terrible secrets that were hidden for decades.
On the eve of a fateful war, 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 sinks deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement.
In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspect neighbours, one false move can have dire consequences.
For ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life.
But, once hired, 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 female-only Nazi concentration camp.
The tragedy and triumph of their stories cross continents from New York to Paris, and Germany to Poland, capturing the indomitable pull of compassion to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.
In “Lilac Girls”, the author Martha Hall Kelly has crafted a remarkable novel of unsung women and their quest for love, happiness, and second chances.
It is a story that will keep readers bonded with the characters, searching for the truth, until the final pages.
The setting (of the story) is mainly during the years of World War II, but the later third or so take place some years afterward.
For me, at first the book sound painful but worthwhile read.
It was very hard to read, and I almost quit, but I became so invested in the women that I had to finish it.
The women in the concentration camp standing in cotton dresses in the freezing sleet for five hours add a new dimension to the word “cold”.
This book, to me, presents a unique view about the horrific time of World War II.
It is a particularly a female’s viewpoint.
I love this book as it brought the time period into a horrifying reality.
