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A review by marilynw
The Orphan List by Ann Bennett
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The Orphan List by Ann Bennett
(The World War Two Orphanage #1)
I have the audiobook ARC The Stolen Sisters (The World War Two Orphanage #2) so in preparation for listening to that audiobook, I wanted to read this first book. Over the last several years I've been reading a lot about the Lebensborn program initiated by Heinrich Himmler. Started as a program to breed a master race of Aryans, the babies bred from the most perfect of women (often, young girls) and Aryan men, were then given to parents who passed the most rigid standards of party compliance. The program was expanded in a number of ways to also kidnap racially pure (or close enough) children from their families to be given to approved true believers of Germany's superiority. Along the way, inferior babies were exterminated and the families of the children that were kidnapped were also often exterminated. The goals of the program were very narrow and any sign of humanity towards humans was to be extinguished.
In this book, we follow several woman and several timelines. This program affected people throughout their lifetimes and on into future generations. Another feature of this program was that the babies born to this program were not to be touched or coddled unless absolutely necessary to keep them alive. From birth the babies were left to cry, to harden to their surroundings, to either thrive or perish. We now know this kind of treatment of infants and toddlers leaves lasting damage to the children who grow into adults who are unable to function emotionally.
Almost all facts of the program were hidden from the girls having babies for their country, from the parents adopting these babies, and from the children, themselves. With this story we get to see events from several directions, including a nurse who was forced to work for the program through threats towards her family. Actually, no one was ever safe, once one was no longer useful to the program they could be sent to various places to be dealt with permanently. Thankfully, so much has come out now, this program is no longer a secret, and people can know something of their history and that of their family that came before them. I'm glad I have the second book already, so I don't have a long wait to learn more. This author is now on my TBR list and she has several more books waiting in the wings for me.
This is a KU selection
(The World War Two Orphanage #1)
I have the audiobook ARC The Stolen Sisters (The World War Two Orphanage #2) so in preparation for listening to that audiobook, I wanted to read this first book. Over the last several years I've been reading a lot about the Lebensborn program initiated by Heinrich Himmler. Started as a program to breed a master race of Aryans, the babies bred from the most perfect of women (often, young girls) and Aryan men, were then given to parents who passed the most rigid standards of party compliance. The program was expanded in a number of ways to also kidnap racially pure (or close enough) children from their families to be given to approved true believers of Germany's superiority. Along the way, inferior babies were exterminated and the families of the children that were kidnapped were also often exterminated. The goals of the program were very narrow and any sign of humanity towards humans was to be extinguished.
In this book, we follow several woman and several timelines. This program affected people throughout their lifetimes and on into future generations. Another feature of this program was that the babies born to this program were not to be touched or coddled unless absolutely necessary to keep them alive. From birth the babies were left to cry, to harden to their surroundings, to either thrive or perish. We now know this kind of treatment of infants and toddlers leaves lasting damage to the children who grow into adults who are unable to function emotionally.
Almost all facts of the program were hidden from the girls having babies for their country, from the parents adopting these babies, and from the children, themselves. With this story we get to see events from several directions, including a nurse who was forced to work for the program through threats towards her family. Actually, no one was ever safe, once one was no longer useful to the program they could be sent to various places to be dealt with permanently. Thankfully, so much has come out now, this program is no longer a secret, and people can know something of their history and that of their family that came before them. I'm glad I have the second book already, so I don't have a long wait to learn more. This author is now on my TBR list and she has several more books waiting in the wings for me.
This is a KU selection