"He [father] loved these [lilac bushes]. It's a lovely reminder of him, but terribly sad too, to see his favorite Abraham Lincoln lilacs blossom without him.....But it's fitting in a way---Father loved the fact that a lilac only blossoms after a harsh winter....It's a miracle all this beauty emerges after such a hardship, don't you think?"
-Caroline Ferriday, from the novel
At close to 500 pages, this one took a while to get through but it was well worth the time spent! Kelly weaves a tale of three women of the WWII era, two of them based on real people. The stories proceed chronologically from 1939 to an epilogue of sorts set in 1959. The narration alternates between the three women: Caroline Ferriday, a volunteer at the French consulate in New York; Kasia Kuzmerick, a teenager in Lublin, Poland who becomes involved in the underground resistance after the Nazi takeover; and Herta Oberheuser, a female German doctor at the infamous Ravensbruck concentration camp. Many cliffhangers inspire you to read on.
This reader found herself immediately predicting how the stories would collide and trying to guess the significance of the title. Caroline is an admirable activist trying to help French orphans and victims of the war and one feels deep sympathy for Kasia who experiences unspeakable horrors of Nazi occupation, even undergoing the "experimental surgery" at Ravensbruck. But Herta is the one you love to hate, going against her conscience in blind subservience to the Reich. Lilac Girls is a story of bravery, determination, survival and single-minded loyalty leading to extreme cruelty.
There is only a bit of humor in this captivating story but a couple of love stories woven into the plot do relieve the intensity. If you enjoy historical fiction, I recommend Lilac Girls. I give it a 5 rating.
No comments:
Post a Comment