In this novel, Helena (a 16 year old girl) and her mother are trapped in a Warsaw Jewish ghetto. during World War 2 and the invasion of Poland by the Nazis. Each page of the novel describes the suffering, starvation and fear that they go through on a daily basis. The ghetto is a hell hole and people struggle to survive. Helena’s story is heartbreaking as she has lost her teenage years, family, friends and neighbours just because as they are Jewish, the Nazi see them as lesser, worthless beings.
I can’t say I enjoyed this book because the storyline is so sad, showing how low humanity is prepared to go to “win”. Each page reveals the Nazi’s hatred and determination to wipe out fellow human beings whilst the ghetto residents are struggling just to survive whilst still maintaining their humanity and caring for others.
I couldn’t read more than a chapter at a time as the storyline is relentless. The fact that that this is based on a true story made it even harder to get through. Helena’s devotion to Sparkle and the baby boy in the underground shelter, for example, showed on the one hand how the characters retained their humanity and caring selves but also how sometimes they had to do something they never imagined they would have to do in order to survive the nightmare that had become their life.
The book is beautifully written. The author doesn’t focus on describing the blood and gore, he lets the reader think about it by, for example, only briefly mentioning someone falling from a roof when set alight. He focuses on the characters and how their characters are shaped as they struggle to survive. The characters aren’t relatable as none of us will (hopefully) ever go through anything as traumatic as living/ existing in a ghetto but they do draw the reader in to feel for them and hope that life gets better in the next few pages of the book.
I didn’t “enjoy” this book or read it in one sitting but that is because the storyline, whilst perfectly paced and planned out, is just so heartbreakingly sad. There are no real winners in war, there is just death and destruction and even though Helena’s story is set (and the real life version took place) over 80 years ago, it still feels like I was reading about her life in real time and it was happening as I read the book.
I was lucky enough to be gifted this novel but I will download the two other novels in the series to read over the summer (they are currently available on Kindle Unlimited).
I was gifted this book but this does not affect my review.
