Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

6 reviews

emeister3's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

If you watched “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” and you still want to cry over true-story-inspired WWII trauma, then this book is for you. I can’t say that it’s for me, per se - it was my book club’s pick this month. I can say the following:

The second half of the book is much better than the first. The first 50% of the book alternates between 3 different female POVs and, as a result, I kept pinging between 3 different feelings - boredom, sadness, and shock. It had me feeling so downtrodden that I didn’t want to finish it. However…these atrocities are a part of history. They happened to real humans and, tragically, were committed by real humans. And their stories deserve to be heard, then to never happen again. As Norman Cousins wrote, “…what is told here is not a glimpse into the bowels of an imaginary hell but part of our world.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Hate crime, Antisemitism, Cursing, War, Death of parent, Death, and Genocide

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Rape, Torture, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Minor: Car accident, Rape, Medical content, Child abuse, Alcohol, Child death, Animal death, Cancer, Infidelity, Racism, Infertility, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Incest, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abortion

saliwali's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Deportation, Genocide, Police brutality, War, Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Antisemitism, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Torture, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Murder, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Animal death, Hate crime, and Self harm

Moderate: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Blood, Rape, Sexual assault, and Infidelity

mnatale100's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, and Deportation

Moderate: Antisemitism, Cancer, Child death, Death, Self harm, Infertility, Murder, Gore, Violence, Torture, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Animal death, Lesbophobia, Slavery, Alcohol, Ableism, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Xenophobia

ems_rxlibrary's review

challenging dark informative tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Rape, Antisemitism, Sexual violence, Racism, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Torture

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Pregnancy

claudiamacpherson's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Based on the true story of the “rabbits” of Ravensbruck, this book followed the alternately heartbreaking and inspiring story of three women during and after the Second World War. Caroline Farraday is a wealthy New York socialite working for the French embassy and dating a married French opera singer. Kasia Kuzmerick is a teenager in Poland who decides to join the Polish resistance movement. Herta Oberheuser is a rare female doctor, and when she struggles to find a practice willing to take on a woman, she decides to respond to a posting at a government facility—Ravensbruck. The lives of the three women weave together as the war puts them in situations they could never have imagined.

A few years ago, I visited Auschwitz, one of the largest concentration camps from WWII. It was not (and should not be) an enjoyable visit, but it feels important to go and witness the place where such atrocities were committed, to mourn those who suffered and were killed there. Similarly, this story felt important to read and understand. I have trouble reading stories with graphic violence and cruelty, but I am glad to know the story of the women upon whom the Nazis performed their experiments. It is not a story I have read about or seen in movies or TV shows before. One of the reasons I love historical fiction, particularly when it focuses on women’s lives, is because they are often overlooked or seen as less important in the face of other, “bigger” historical catastrophes. If you have any interest in this period of history, I think this book did a great job of telling the story, especially because it did not end with the end of the war but continued, following the journeys of the three women and how their lives were affected.

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe of the ending): I don’t know that a story like this could ever be said to have a happy ending, but this ending is probably about as close as it gets. It was inspiring and, for the most part, very cathartic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia

Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Cancer, and Panic attacks/disorders

kelly_e's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Title: Lilac Girls
Author: Martha Hall Kelly
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 3.5 
Pub Date: April 5 2016

T H R E E • W O R D S

Slow-paced • Educational • Memorable

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Inspired by actual events and people, and spanning continents, Lilac Girls tells the story of three vastly different women, whose fates converge during and in the aftermath of WWII. Caroline Ferriday is a real-life New York socialite volunteering for the French consulate at the outset of war, and who undertakes philanthropic engagements to help orphaned French children in France. Kasia, a Polish teenager actively participating in the underground resistance, is arrested and sent to Ravensbrück, the only all female concentration camp in Nazi Germany. Herta Oberheuser is hired as a doctor at Ravensbrück, and performs unthinkable experimental surgeries on the prisoners. Spanning several decades, this is a powerful story of friendship and love, or bravery and survival, of forgiveness and redemption.

💭 T H O U G H T S

As a fan of historical fiction, particularly WWII stories, Lilac Girls was an anticipated read for me from its release date. Martha Hall Kelly has crafted a carefully researched and poignant debut. Written in alternating, parallel perspectives offering glimpses into both the dark and light sides of human nature, and exploring a number of interpersonal themes, including female friendship, mother-daughter relationships, love, infidelity, and mental health, is what makes this an important story. It's another beautiful tale which shines a light on women in WWII, this time from the often overlooked polish perspective, and educates the reader about the horrific sulfonamide experiments that took place at Ravensbrück, and tells the story of the women known as "the rabbits". Kasia's strength in the face of adversity and unthinkable loss is inspiring, her story so compelling.

The fact this novel included parts of the aftermath of war, a part often left out, is one of the reasons I liked it. However, the novel spans so many years it needs to pack so much story into one book, and from my perspective hurt it, finding it long and at times disjointed. At times it felt as though I was reading three books, and I anticipated the three women would be interconnected more than they were. When I got to the Author's Note and learned Paul was fictional, I felt this invented romance was not needed, and took away from the power of the stories.

I did enjoy this book, but not as much as I'd anticipated. It is painful and horrific, yet also filled with love and hope. For me there were so many unfinished aspects; the relationship between Herta and Kasia's mother, Caroline and Paul's story, among others, and it felt so much could have been expanded on, certain scenes bring rushed. For that reason, I couldn't classify it among my favourite WWII historical fiction novels. With all of that said, I will be reading the second installment in this series Lost Roses and following the story of Caroline's mother.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Historical fiction readers
• WWII aficionados
• fans of The Alice Network
• Bookclubs

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

" 'I'd walk with my head high and on the way hand this bouquet to the guards and tell them not to blame themselves for what they did.' "

"How easy it is to get tangled up in your own fishing net." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Torture

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Infidelity

Minor: Cancer

strangulation (hanging), execution (lethal injection), PTSD