Book: The German Girl
Wednesday, 24 April 2019 23:45![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elusivek
The German GirlArmando Lucas Correa
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Berlin, 1939. Before everything changed, Hannah Rosenthal lived a charmed life. But now the streets of Berlin are draped in ominous flags; her family’s fine possessions are hauled away; and they are no longer welcome in the places they once considered home. A glimmer of hope appears in the shape of the St. Louis, a transatlantic ocean liner promising Jews safe passage to Cuba. At first, the liner feels like a luxury, but as they travel, the circumstances of war change, and the ship that was to be their salvation seems likely to become their doom.
New York, 2014. On her twelfth birthday, Anna Rosen receives a mysterious package from an unknown relative in Cuba, her great-aunt Hannah. Its contents inspire Anna and her mother to travel to Havana to learn the truth about their family’s mysterious and tragic past.
Weaving dual time frames, and based on a true story, The German Girl is a beautifully written and deeply poignant story about generations of exiles seeking a place to call home.
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I think I decided to read this book because of a book club that I haunt (as in, I look into their discussions but I don't participate)... now I don't remember which it was.
Anyway, this was an interesting read. There are 2 points in time (or 2 points of view), going from Hannah in Germany just before WWII to Anna in modern-day every other chapter. Both girls seemed a little "out there" in their musings, but I kind of got more annoyed with Anna's flying thoughts.
Basing on the true life event of the Saint Louis voyage that faced the ultimate betrayal of countries closing their doors to Jews escaping Germany, it was a really sad read.
Trying not to spoil the details, but I suppose I would think like Hannah's mother - "I shall taint their soil by being buried here where they don't want me"... and I guessed right all along about Leo (I got EVERYTHING about him right... again, not spoiling it here).
I enjoyed the book very well.
