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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
Kelly Rimmer has once again delivered a story that I soon won't forget.
I just finished this book and my mind is swirling with all that Rimmer was able to include in this story. Familial love, sacrifice, overcoming hardship, perseverance, deceit, ethics, and love just to name a few.
Elzbieta is a teenager in Warsaw, Poland in 1942. She has a front row seat to WW2 as it unfolds before her very eyes. She is unable to sit idly by while she knows of the travesty that is befalling the Jews in the ghetto. Roman is a teenager who is living in the ghetto and is experiencing the horrors that befell the Jews.
Roman's and Elzbieta's paths cross and their lives will never be the same. As the years pass, their paths continue to cross.
4.5 stars rounded up to 5.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts & opinions are my own.
I just finished this book and my mind is swirling with all that Rimmer was able to include in this story. Familial love, sacrifice, overcoming hardship, perseverance, deceit, ethics, and love just to name a few.
Elzbieta is a teenager in Warsaw, Poland in 1942. She has a front row seat to WW2 as it unfolds before her very eyes. She is unable to sit idly by while she knows of the travesty that is befalling the Jews in the ghetto. Roman is a teenager who is living in the ghetto and is experiencing the horrors that befell the Jews.
Roman's and Elzbieta's paths cross and their lives will never be the same. As the years pass, their paths continue to cross.
4.5 stars rounded up to 5.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts & opinions are my own.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“The human spirit is a miraculous thing. It is the strongest part of us-crushed under pressure, but rarely broken.”
“I’ve learned the hard way that loneliness was difficult to survive, but grief is infinitely worse.”
“I’ve learned the hard way that loneliness was difficult to survive, but grief is infinitely worse.”
Amazing page turning historical fiction read. Love, family, and freedom.
Kelly Rimmer did it again! Again, think about this one so often. The story of Irena Sedler being told thru a main character was an amazing touch and made me learn so much.
Amazing. Lots of tears again!
Amazing. Lots of tears again!
“There are many ways to fight. Striving for justice will always be worth the battle.”
This was told in a very compelling way - from polish citizens, both inside and outside the Jewish ghetto and how their paths crossed. The perspective of each character showed the many ways humans process war and ended with a resilient spirit.
Trigger warnings: rape, war, Holocaust, murder, starvation, loss of a family member, unwanted pregnancy
Emilia Slaska's parents and brother were killed and she is living with the Rabinek family in Warsaw under the false identity of Elzbieta Rabinek. Only her adoptive parents Truda and Mateusz know about her real identity and that Emilia is Jewish. When Elzbieta is recruited by her neighbor friend Sara to go into the Jewish ghetto to help the children, she is shocked and appalled at what she sees.
Roman Gorka is living in the Jewish ghetto with his family even though his deceased father is Catholic and he adheres to the religion. They live with several other families in the apartment that once housed only Roman's family. Roman's mother has just given birth to a baby they must keep secret, but the baby is malnourished and may not live much longer.
Elzbieta meets Roman when she and Sara come to offer the family some help by taking the baby and placing her with a non-Jewish family that just lost an infant. Roman is enraged and scared about his family separating, but when he witnesses children in the orphanage being marched off to concentration camps he persuades his parents to let the baby go.
Roman has the heart of a soldier and tries to fight for his Jewish brothers and sisters, then for all of Poland's independence. Emilia sees the danger in tying herself to him even as she falls in love with him.
This novel depicts the harsh realities of the Holocaust and is not for readers who are disturbed by starvation, rape, and mass murder. Recommended for those who read stories like this so they will never forget the atrocities committed during World War II.
I received an electronic galley copy of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Read the review here: https://guenevol.wixsite.com/novelmaven/post/warsaw-orphan
Emilia Slaska's parents and brother were killed and she is living with the Rabinek family in Warsaw under the false identity of Elzbieta Rabinek. Only her adoptive parents Truda and Mateusz know about her real identity and that Emilia is Jewish. When Elzbieta is recruited by her neighbor friend Sara to go into the Jewish ghetto to help the children, she is shocked and appalled at what she sees.
Roman Gorka is living in the Jewish ghetto with his family even though his deceased father is Catholic and he adheres to the religion. They live with several other families in the apartment that once housed only Roman's family. Roman's mother has just given birth to a baby they must keep secret, but the baby is malnourished and may not live much longer.
Elzbieta meets Roman when she and Sara come to offer the family some help by taking the baby and placing her with a non-Jewish family that just lost an infant. Roman is enraged and scared about his family separating, but when he witnesses children in the orphanage being marched off to concentration camps he persuades his parents to let the baby go.
Roman has the heart of a soldier and tries to fight for his Jewish brothers and sisters, then for all of Poland's independence. Emilia sees the danger in tying herself to him even as she falls in love with him.
This novel depicts the harsh realities of the Holocaust and is not for readers who are disturbed by starvation, rape, and mass murder. Recommended for those who read stories like this so they will never forget the atrocities committed during World War II.
I received an electronic galley copy of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Read the review here: https://guenevol.wixsite.com/novelmaven/post/warsaw-orphan
So so good! I waited for months and it was worth it!
'The Warsaw Orphan' is a rousing, unflinching novel set during the occupation of Poland that asks readers to feel their way through one of history's darkest nights. Through the eyes of young Emilia and Roman, we see what happens when the spirit of youth meets with the spirit of resistance.
There are horrors in this book I won't soon forget - but what right does any of us have to forget the evils committed within living memory? I don't know if I'll ever be able to comprehend how the Holocaust happened, how anyone could let it happen, why anyone would want it to happen...but I think it's important to remember that it did. And to carry the voices of the lost and traumatised forward with us.
Beneath the atrocity and the tears, is the pulsing heart of this book and its message of resistance and courage. I had no idea about the Boy Scouts and the Grey Ranks - I knew far less of the Jewish Ghetto than I realised - and I was awe-struck by the Polish people's valiant efforts to regain sovereignty over their nation. How people found the resilience to live, love and hope under these conditions is a breath-taking testament to the human spirit. And there is so much spirit in these pages.
Whilst there are many ways to suffer, 'The Warsaw Orphan' is ultimately about the many ways there are to resist oppression - the chief of those being love.
I was thoroughly moved by this book and I'd like to thank Kelly and Hachette for the advanced copy.
There are horrors in this book I won't soon forget - but what right does any of us have to forget the evils committed within living memory? I don't know if I'll ever be able to comprehend how the Holocaust happened, how anyone could let it happen, why anyone would want it to happen...but I think it's important to remember that it did. And to carry the voices of the lost and traumatised forward with us.
Beneath the atrocity and the tears, is the pulsing heart of this book and its message of resistance and courage. I had no idea about the Boy Scouts and the Grey Ranks - I knew far less of the Jewish Ghetto than I realised - and I was awe-struck by the Polish people's valiant efforts to regain sovereignty over their nation. How people found the resilience to live, love and hope under these conditions is a breath-taking testament to the human spirit. And there is so much spirit in these pages.
Whilst there are many ways to suffer, 'The Warsaw Orphan' is ultimately about the many ways there are to resist oppression - the chief of those being love.
I was thoroughly moved by this book and I'd like to thank Kelly and Hachette for the advanced copy.