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bkish's review against another edition
5.0
During this time of great crisis in the world this book is relevant altho it is about the persecution of the Jewish people (I a a Jew) during era of nazi germany and it carried over to other countries occupied by germany and here most of Francoise's life is in France. She herself was from Poland. A great lover of books and fluent in other languages she opened in 20s with her husband (he is not mentioned in this memoir) a french literature bookstore in Berlin. She was there on Kristallnacht and she left shortly after for Paris.
This book she wrote under a different title in 1945 about her life and her decision to take care of herself and not be deported or sent to a death camp. She mentions a few of the camps in France - Gurs and Drancy. So this is a woman who goes through Hell to stay alive
When french military in support of nazi plan to destroy all jewish people were rounding people up in Vichy (not sure which city as she moved to different places in France to stay alive) she was faced with letting them take her or fleeing..
"the instinct of self preservation had won out. The bitterness of this truth weighs on me still and will to the end of my days"
This is an extraordinary rendering of a time that should never have happened
from Judy G
This book she wrote under a different title in 1945 about her life and her decision to take care of herself and not be deported or sent to a death camp. She mentions a few of the camps in France - Gurs and Drancy. So this is a woman who goes through Hell to stay alive
When french military in support of nazi plan to destroy all jewish people were rounding people up in Vichy (not sure which city as she moved to different places in France to stay alive) she was faced with letting them take her or fleeing..
"the instinct of self preservation had won out. The bitterness of this truth weighs on me still and will to the end of my days"
This is an extraordinary rendering of a time that should never have happened
from Judy G
gr8reader's review
4.0
Very interesting and a compelling read. Remarkable story of how one Jewish woman managed to survive the war though she was living in Berlin and running a bookshop when Kristallnacht occurred. This is the story of how she managed to evade being captured and sent to a camp or killed.
laurenc18's review
4.0
I love hearing stories about how people survived the Holocaust. This story was very powerful as you saw the amount of courage it took for the author and friends to keep her alive. This book gave me hope that humanity is not always bad when faced with a difficult decision of going against the majority when someone knows it is morally wrong.
mazza57's review against another edition
1.0
I read this as the "group Read" for the SRC summer 2020 reading challenge - it also goes under the title of [b:A Bookshop in Berlin|50945996|A Bookshop in Berlin|Françoise Frenkel|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573919729l/50945996._SX50_SY75_.jpg|74527593]. That group read category "Female Entrepreneurs"
The book has nothing whatsoever to do with a bookshop and even less to do with female entrepreneurial activity. I could question that she had nowhere to lay her head as she seems to have been very well helped by some French citizens in what was undeniably an awful period of history.
More than anything I just feel that this book is like a whistle-stop tour through that period and fails to provide and depth or feeling to the narrative. It adds nothing to the knowledge base of history in the World War II era.
Whilst I have sympathy with her plight I really want a book to evoke the era and this just failed to do it.
The book has nothing whatsoever to do with a bookshop and even less to do with female entrepreneurial activity. I could question that she had nowhere to lay her head as she seems to have been very well helped by some French citizens in what was undeniably an awful period of history.
More than anything I just feel that this book is like a whistle-stop tour through that period and fails to provide and depth or feeling to the narrative. It adds nothing to the knowledge base of history in the World War II era.
Whilst I have sympathy with her plight I really want a book to evoke the era and this just failed to do it.
jenna_cross's review
3.0
3.5 rounded down. This woman persevered because of the kindness of community and her steadfast resolve. Her plans for safety and escape kept getting thwarted. It’s amazing she kept hope alive.
tuesdaydg's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
2.0
My review is in no way meant to invalidate Frenkel’s story, hardships, or experience. A Bookshop in Berlin is undeniably an important book—it just wasn’t for me. I think I, like many other reviewers, had a less fruitful experience reading this story due to its misleading marketing. I expected both the author’s bookshop and the city of Berlin to play important roles in the story, but was disappointed in that respect. Had I read this memoir with different expectations at a different time, I likely would have had a much better reading experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Deportation, and Antisemitism