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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Excellent read. A story about moral convictions and how to fight for what's right, in whatever way is possible, big or small. I haven't had a book that in awhile that I had trouble putting down but this one did that for me.
dark
hopeful
inspiring
sad
5 stars. Kelly Rimmer has written another great historical fiction set in WW2 Poland about the unbreakable spirit of humans under extraordinary circumstances.
The Warsaw Orphan is a heart wrenching story about two teenagers growing up in Warsaw, Poland in the 1940s, trying desperately to survive the severity of the Nazi occupation. Fourteen year old Elzbieta is a girl living just outside the ghetto. She meets Sara, a nurse living in her apartment building. Soon she learns from Sara about what's happening inside the ghetto and is compelled to help. That's where she meets 16 year old Roman. They instantly bond.
Inspired by the real life Polish nurse, Irena Sendler (Kryzyzanowska) who smuggled thousands of Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto, this story is filled with love and hope. I've read many WW2 books but this one has a different bent as we see what life is like through the eyes of young people. In short, life becomes more and more fragile as the war drags on especially inside the walled off ghetto. I won't reveal all the horrors but living in cramped quarters, starving and foraging for foodscraps become everyday realities. If you ever get the chance to visit Old Town in Warsaw you will see it has been restored but the sewer covers are still there - where resistance fighters crawled to make their escape. The hardships endured there should never be forgotten.
As the world currently confronts a global pandemic that forces us all to remain isolated and masked I think about those that lived through WW2, like these characters, and my own relatives.. It's really not that difficult to mask up and stay your distance! There's no comparison to what Roman and his family, and others in the ghetto had to face daily.
Have your tissues at the ready. This one is not an easy read but it's worth it.
Many thanks to Kelly Rimmer for another winner and to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. #NetGalley #TheWarsawOrphan
The Warsaw Orphan is a heart wrenching story about two teenagers growing up in Warsaw, Poland in the 1940s, trying desperately to survive the severity of the Nazi occupation. Fourteen year old Elzbieta is a girl living just outside the ghetto. She meets Sara, a nurse living in her apartment building. Soon she learns from Sara about what's happening inside the ghetto and is compelled to help. That's where she meets 16 year old Roman. They instantly bond.
Inspired by the real life Polish nurse, Irena Sendler (Kryzyzanowska) who smuggled thousands of Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto, this story is filled with love and hope. I've read many WW2 books but this one has a different bent as we see what life is like through the eyes of young people. In short, life becomes more and more fragile as the war drags on especially inside the walled off ghetto. I won't reveal all the horrors but living in cramped quarters, starving and foraging for foodscraps become everyday realities. If you ever get the chance to visit Old Town in Warsaw you will see it has been restored but the sewer covers are still there - where resistance fighters crawled to make their escape. The hardships endured there should never be forgotten.
As the world currently confronts a global pandemic that forces us all to remain isolated and masked I think about those that lived through WW2, like these characters, and my own relatives.. It's really not that difficult to mask up and stay your distance! There's no comparison to what Roman and his family, and others in the ghetto had to face daily.
Have your tissues at the ready. This one is not an easy read but it's worth it.
Many thanks to Kelly Rimmer for another winner and to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. #NetGalley #TheWarsawOrphan
Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this incredibly moving historical fiction novel!
I've read tons of WWII novels, and The Warsaw Orphan is one of the best I've read. It's set in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and then the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, but it focuses more on individual people and their struggles, rather than on these major historical events themselves. The main characters are a young Polish woman named Elzbieta and young Jewish man named Roman, both of whom have to find a way to survive and thrive during these troubled times. They both find different ways to help those in need during the Nazi occupation, and their relationship with each other takes many turns as they both struggle to engage with the world around them. The characters are well-developed and sympathetic, and the story is both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. This is one of those stories that stayed with me long after I finished reading it, and I'll definitely be checking out more of Kelly Rimmer's books.
Highly recommend!
I've read tons of WWII novels, and The Warsaw Orphan is one of the best I've read. It's set in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and then the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, but it focuses more on individual people and their struggles, rather than on these major historical events themselves. The main characters are a young Polish woman named Elzbieta and young Jewish man named Roman, both of whom have to find a way to survive and thrive during these troubled times. They both find different ways to help those in need during the Nazi occupation, and their relationship with each other takes many turns as they both struggle to engage with the world around them. The characters are well-developed and sympathetic, and the story is both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. This is one of those stories that stayed with me long after I finished reading it, and I'll definitely be checking out more of Kelly Rimmer's books.
Highly recommend!
Highly captivating story about the Warsaw Ghetto and German occupation of Poland during WWII. There was a sweet love story intertwined with the horrors of the Holocaust. The characters were so easy to root for and the ending brought me so much joy. Highly recommend!
I had a hard time getting into it at first but found it powerful. Cried at the end.
These books always break my heart. It was wonderfully written and the characters deeply moving.
The most profound impact of The Warsaw Orphan for me is the age of the main characters. They are young - children. Yet, they sound and behave as adults for that is the reality of their lives. Time and time again throughout this book, the events and then the reminder of their ages makes the emotion and the horror that much greater.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2021/06/the-warsaw-orphan.html
Reviewed for NetGalley and the HTP Historical Fiction Summer 2021 blog tour.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2021/06/the-warsaw-orphan.html
Reviewed for NetGalley and the HTP Historical Fiction Summer 2021 blog tour.