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piedwarbler's review against another edition
5.0
Well, this is a remarkable book. I loved it. It has a totally misleading cover design. It looks like some kind of Mills and Boon novel. In fact, it’s a remarkable story of courage and resilience in World War II, by a woman called Trudi who is a successful milliner in Vienna in the 30s.
She manages to evade capture by the Nazis and also to escape to London, and also, incredibly, to save her husband and parents too. She then settles in London and goes into business as a milliner once more.
The really striking thing is that this book sank into obscurity, as did Trudi. I suppose alongside Holocaust accounts by men, this account may seem on the surface rather trivial and quotidian, with its beautifully observed descriptions of clothes and interior design.
However, the surface beauty of the Vienna of the 30s gives way to the murderous activities of the Nazis. Trudi captures brilliantly the feelings of loss, fear, longing, and sense of belonging snatched away as she is forced to escape the German advance across Europe.
I would recommend this book to you with all my heart. It deserves to be so much better known. My copy is a library one. It’s been borrowed three times in the last ten years. This is a huge pity.
Thank you to Ariana Neumann for recommending this book in the bibliography to her own work: When Time Stopped, which is another stunning piece of work about the search into Neumann’s family history.
She manages to evade capture by the Nazis and also to escape to London, and also, incredibly, to save her husband and parents too. She then settles in London and goes into business as a milliner once more.
The really striking thing is that this book sank into obscurity, as did Trudi. I suppose alongside Holocaust accounts by men, this account may seem on the surface rather trivial and quotidian, with its beautifully observed descriptions of clothes and interior design.
However, the surface beauty of the Vienna of the 30s gives way to the murderous activities of the Nazis. Trudi captures brilliantly the feelings of loss, fear, longing, and sense of belonging snatched away as she is forced to escape the German advance across Europe.
I would recommend this book to you with all my heart. It deserves to be so much better known. My copy is a library one. It’s been borrowed three times in the last ten years. This is a huge pity.
Thank you to Ariana Neumann for recommending this book in the bibliography to her own work: When Time Stopped, which is another stunning piece of work about the search into Neumann’s family history.
annemariep68's review against another edition
3.0
A memoir of a woman and her family who fled to London from Vienna to escape Hitler and the experiences from one who had truly lived it. The changing political landscape in Austria, trying to get papers and support from outside the country, British internment camps and the blitz. Quite well written
cimorene1558's review against another edition
4.0
Very sweet and engaging, the memoir of a brave and bright young half-Jewish milliner and her second husband, as they escape Nazi-controlled Austria and start out with nothing in blitz-torn London.
allbookedup_'s review against another edition
4.0
This is fascinating because it offers such a. Different perspective to World War II than I have seen written.
It explains the process refuges had to take at the onslaught of the war and challenges they faced that I haven’t seen described elsewhere.
It explains the process refuges had to take at the onslaught of the war and challenges they faced that I haven’t seen described elsewhere.
lapantofola83's review against another edition
5.0
Quando ho aperto l’ebook sono stata colpita dallo stile e dalla cura del file, che mi ha ridato il piacere ‘tipografico’ della lettura (e ne ho ampiamente scritto qui). Ma questo ebook è molto di più.
Una storia d’amore candida e sincera. Un punto di vista privato, umano, sull’orrore della guerra e dell’Olocausto.
Una storia vera di coraggio e determinazione. Un romanzo commuovente fino alle lacrime.
[...]
da LaPantofolaDigitale.Wordpress.com
Una storia d’amore candida e sincera. Un punto di vista privato, umano, sull’orrore della guerra e dell’Olocausto.
Una storia vera di coraggio e determinazione. Un romanzo commuovente fino alle lacrime.
[...]
da LaPantofolaDigitale.Wordpress.com
little_red_dragon's review against another edition
4.0
This is a lovely, enjoyable book that brings humanity to those forced to flee Austria in the face of German occupation. Despite the hardships facing her and her husband as refugees, Trudi Kanter manages to find joy and beauty in the simple things. Her writing is charming and heartfelt; you'll feel as though you're talking to a friend.
sonia_reppe's review against another edition
5.0
This is a memoir by a Jewish woman who was a hat designer/business owner in Vienna, and this is her story of surviving the war. Many times she and her husband and her parents were in peril. (Her husband was also Jewish). Her intelligence and determined spirit and talent for fashion (which got her jobs and visas) enabled her to survive. Of course there's always luck too, and the kindness of strangers. They went from Vienna to Prague to London; Hitler's attacks followed them. Fascinating and heart-breaking, if you like WWII memoirs you will love this!
christiek's review against another edition
3.0
The narrative style is a little unconventional, and I enjoyed that. I think it shows some of the feistiness that kept Trudi going when things were bleak. I would have enjoyed hearing a bit more about the girls and the hats (really the hat business).