Friday, October 21, 2016

The Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

My rating: 5.0

This is a WWII book unlike any I have ever read (and I have read a lot of them!). This is told from three different female perspectives:

  • Caroline is a New York socialite working at the French consulate
  • Kasia is a polish teenager who has to grow up far too quickly (this is the only fictional character)
  • Herta is a German doctor assigned to work in the concentration camps


Through these three women in three different countries, Kelly deftly weaves a complete picture of the autracities of the Nazi and the various political perspectives. Sometimes the details are uncomfortable. Always, they are real and the characters come to life. I can't believe that this is Kelly's first novel. Phenomenal.

8 comments:

  1. Adding to library reserve list now. You are the second trusted reader to recommend this book. Happy Weekend!
    Jeana

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you love it Jeana. Let me know!

      Delete
    2. Absolutely loved this book! Thanks for recommending. Martha Kelly has moved to my auto read list.

      Jeana

      Delete
    3. So glad you loved it! How do you put an author on your auto read list (I assume this is in Goodreads but I can't find that feature!) Thanks Jeana. xoxo

      Delete
    4. Oh, not a setting on GR. I just keep a list of authors that I love and will automatically read anything they write:)

      Jeana

      Delete
  2. So glad you reviewed this book. I'm more than halfway through it and hope to finish it today. It is such a good read.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isn't it fabulous? Couldn't believe those two characters were real (and so well researched!) and that this was her first book.

      Delete
  3. Glad you enjoyed this one Elle! It was the tip top of my summer reading this year! My neighbor in Palm Springs recommended it to me - she loved it as well. This same neighbor is now reading "The Milliner's Secret" which is.... yes, another WWII novel - she says it's wonderful, not quite as good as Lilac Girls but still quite good. I looked and it wasn't available on my library website, so I got it for my Kindle. We'll see how it measures up!!!

    ReplyDelete