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A review by xcinnamonsugar
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
dark
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
3.0
A highly engaging read from start to finish. Lale's story reflects his incredible resourcefulness and survival instincts, in spite of the unpredictable violence in Auschwitz and Birkenau. The epilogue by Lale's son was also heartwarming, as he described his parents' long and loving marriage for the rest of their lives.
The problematic bit about this story is that it fixated rather heavily and clumsily on the fact that two people found love in a hopeless place. I get that this book is ultimately a work of fiction, but it seems disrespectful to take this much creative license and then brand it as being "based on a true story". It doesn't help that the author later released a controversial sequel to this book, again allegedly "based on a true story". The author didn't even interview the protagonist of her second book. When their family threatened legal action upon its release, her defence was, ironically, that her book was a work of fiction. There is a huge difference between being inspired by true events and being based on them, and given the subject matter it's so important to be precise.
The problematic bit about this story is that it fixated rather heavily and clumsily on the fact that two people found love in a hopeless place. I get that this book is ultimately a work of fiction, but it seems disrespectful to take this much creative license and then brand it as being "based on a true story". It doesn't help that the author later released a controversial sequel to this book, again allegedly "based on a true story". The author didn't even interview the protagonist of her second book. When their family threatened legal action upon its release, her defence was, ironically, that her book was a work of fiction. There is a huge difference between being inspired by true events and being based on them, and given the subject matter it's so important to be precise.