REVIEW: The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff

The Orphan's Tale
by Pam Jenoff

Publisher: MIRA
Page Count: 353
Release Date: February 21, 2017
Format: Trade Paperback

How got: personal buy @ B&N

First attention getter: cover design and already knew author's work

Synopsis:

From GoodReads:

A powerful novel of friendship set in a traveling circus during World War II, The Orphan's Tale introduces two extraordinary women and their harrowing stories of sacrifice and survival.

Sixteen-year-old Noa has been cast out in disgrace after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier and being forced to give up her baby. She lives above a small rail station, which she cleans in order to earn her keep. When Noa discovers a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, she is reminded of the child that was taken from her. And in a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night.

Noa finds refuge with a German circus, but she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. But as the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another - or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything.

My Thoughts:

Star Rating - 5

Pam Jenoff has always been hit or miss with me. I usually either love the book or hate it so much I drop it. This one, thankfully, was a homerun. Rich descriptions of a hidden world, flawed characters who make me fall in love with them, and a suspenseful tale of survival kept me thoroughly engaged.

The world of the circus inherently has that allure and mystery of the unknown. Whether it’s true or not, circus individuals are shown in various media outlets as closed off from outsiders, a world of secrets and intrigue. Now imagine all that in a setting like Nazi Germany and World War II, and you’ve got a captivating background for our story. The background story of a circus hiding Jews during the war is also a true story; I remember first reading about it in middle school when we were studying the Holocaust. That also gives it more weight, knowing elements were true.

Jenoff did a fantastic job in making us live and breathe a circus in freefall. In a world where being different can mean a death sentence and money is tight everywhere, trying to make a living as a circus was almost impossible. Yet, we still get a sense of that magic a circus can bring. The wonder of the exotic animals, the death defying flight of the acrobats, and the overall excitement all bleed through to make the reader experience this world of enchantment.

Her characters were also stellar here. Every single one are beautifully flawed and intrinsically human. From insecurity to fear to deep love, all emotions shine crisp and vivid. I love how each character grew in changed on this book journey. Noa, especially, showed this growth. She started out as such a broken down and lost individual; finding Theo gave her the push to leave her grinding situation at the train station and develop as she strived to save him.

I also loved Astrid and Peter. Both of their lives were destroyed by the Nazis and Stalin; yet they both had the incredible courage and fortitude to stay strong despite that. They both showed defiance in their own way, showing the world that evil would not crush them. Yet, for all that defiance, their emotional scars from the tragedy of their lives prevented them from reaching true happiness. In a world where life and death could be decided on the turn of the moment, this story element truly hits the heart when it comes to these two.

This tale hits the ground running from page one with a daring winter rescue. From that point, the action and suspense doesn’t let up. As the reader gets drawn into Noa’s and Astrid’s story, we get daring rescues, hair-raising close calls, and the knowledge that betrayal could come from anywhere. As we build to the suspenseful climax, the reader can’t help but turn page after page in a desperate struggle to keep up with the pace of the story. The power of the ending and the big reveal at the end is excellent pay-off and truly satisfying.

I’m glad this is one volume of this author’s that I truly enjoyed. She balances suspenseful storytelling and complex characters in a world so vivid I could hear the roar of the circus crowds beautifully. I look forward to another in-depth and fascinating exploration of World War II and the Holocaust from this author’s talented pen.

REVIEW: The Beast's Garden by Kate Forsyth

The Beast's Garden
by Kate Forsyth

Publisher: Random House Australia
Page Count: 512
Release Date: August 3, 2015
Format: Trade Paperback

How got: personal buy via ebay

First attention getter: fairy tale retelling in Nazi Germany... hell yes!

Synopsis:

From GoodReads:

The Grimm Brothers published a beautiful version of the Beauty & the Beast tale called ‘The Singing, Springing Lark' in 1819. It combines the well-known story of a daughter who marries a beast in order to save her father with another key fairy tale motif, the search for the lost bridegroom. In ‘The Singing, Springing Lark,' the daughter grows to love her beast but unwittingly betrays him and he is turned into a dove. She follows the trail of blood and white feathers he leaves behind him for seven years, and, when she loses the trail, seeks help from the sun, the moon, and the four winds. Eventually she battles an evil enchantress and saves her husband, breaking the enchantment and turning him back into a man.

Kate Forsyth retells this German fairy tale as an historical novel set in Germany during the Nazi regime. A young woman marries a Nazi officer in order to save her father, but hates and fears her new husband. Gradually she comes to realize that he is a good man at heart, and part of an underground resistance movement in Berlin called the Red Orchestra. However, her realization comes too late. She has unwittingly betrayed him, and must find some way to rescue him and smuggle him out of the country before he is killed.

The Red Orchestra was a real-life organization in Berlin, made up of artists, writers, diplomats and journalists, who passed on intelligence to the American embassy, distributed leaflets encouraging opposition to Hitler, and helped people in danger from the Nazis to escape the country. They were betrayed in 1942, and many of their number were executed.

The Beast's Garden is a compelling and beautiful love story, filled with drama and intrigue and heartbreak, taking place between 1938 and 1943, in Berlin, Germany.

My Thoughts:

Star Rating - 5

This book took a while to get into; but once hooked, it was a wild ride to the finish. I went in expecting a fantastic retelling of a beloved fairytale in a time era that fascinates me. What I got was so much more! Drama, resistance, love, and horror all play a large part in the story. There's something for everyone in this Kate Forsyth work.

The characters, by and large, are sympathetic and feel real. Let's just say I fell in love with Leo from the very beginning. He's an honorable and dignified man, from a privileged background, who is faced with horrible decisions and the tragedy of the Nazi hierarchy. Some of the choices he’s forced to make will make your heart bleed; needless to say, the reader will find him very relatable.

I ended up loving Ava as well. It took me a while to warm to her; at times, she could read a bit Mary Sue-ish. However, as tragedy upon tragedy is visited upon her family and friends, I could see her mature and grow as a woman as she made difficult decisions. As the tension ratcheted up with each resistance group and subtle act of defiance Ava involved herself with, the reader can't help but be sucked in chapter by chapter, not wanting to stop for anything.

I have to give special props to the author for her careful attention to historical detail. From the minutest snapshot of daily life in Nazi Germany to the discussion of the various formats of German resistance, the reader gets a real picture of a society under siege from fear and horror. Where a simple word or stray glance could send you to prison and the guillotine, the subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, actions Ava and Leo took stand out all the more.

I enjoyed learning about the various formats in which that German resistance took shape. From college students handing out pamphlets to major movements in the military, the reader gets a real sense of how people from all steps of German society contributed to the attempted overthrow of a megalomaniac tyrant. I personally had never heard of some of these movements like the Baum Group nor knew much about such organizations as the Red Orchestra and Canaris' Abwehr. For this alone, the book is worth recommending as historical fiction done right.

Yet also impressing me was the author’s very careful attention to the Holocaust details as they took place in, and impacted the community of, Jewish Berlin. So many times in the past I've seen authors summarize or skim over small details to hurry the story along. When one even gets the big details of such a tragic event wrong, I feel like history is being dealt an injustice. And yes I know, this is only historical fiction and not a documentary on the Holocaust, but I feel writing such an event and using it as a backdrop or device in the story requires respect.

For what areas use Holocaust aspects, I felt the author did this. From the intimate horrors of Kristallnacht and how it impacted one particular family to the tiny details of deteriorating daily life of the Berlin’s Jews leading up to the last big round up of 1943, the reader gets a real sense of the pain and tragedy experienced during this event. The author even went so far as to give hints of the fate of one of the first transports sent to Riga in November of 1941 from Berlin, a detail so small even some devoted Holocaust scholars might not know it. That's attention to detail, folks!

What started out as just an intriguing idea of a fairytale retold in Nazi Germany quickly grew into something else entirely. I fell in love with the characters the story was told through; both leads are empathetic and realistic, even if Ava could come off as too perfect in the beginning. However, what really drew my love and respect was the author’s attention to the slightest detail, respect for the material, and the suspenseful tale she told of tragedy, survival, and love. This was my introduction to Kate Forsyth, and I find it sets a high bar for me when it comes to her writing. I feel very comfortable recommending this book to anyone, whether you enjoy historical fiction, fairytale retellings, or just the tale of a girl trying to survive and build a life in a world gone mad.