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A review by tamaranr
A Bookshop in Berlin: The Rediscovered Memoir of One Woman's Harrowing Escape from the Nazis by Françoise Frenkel
4.0
This book is a translation of memoir that was published in 1945 after World War II. The memoirist ran from the Nazis after owning a French bookshop in Berlin. She escaped to France, and the Nazis followed. She is also a Jew. As the Nazis close in, Frenkel must go into hiding. She is working her way across the country to Switzerland when she is arrested.
This memoir was very readable. It was told in a very straight forward, not overly romanticized way. This is great for readability, but it makes it difficult to truly feel the anxiety and apprehension that she must have felt. She seems to be telling her story as quickly as possible to avoid the pain that the retelling must conjure in her.
It did leave the reader with a sense of hope in the goodness of people, even in the most trying of circumstances. Frenkel was just very lucky, and the help she had along the way made that luck possible.
The translation was fantastic. It never felt awkward. The prose was almost lyrical and added to the readability.
This memoir was very readable. It was told in a very straight forward, not overly romanticized way. This is great for readability, but it makes it difficult to truly feel the anxiety and apprehension that she must have felt. She seems to be telling her story as quickly as possible to avoid the pain that the retelling must conjure in her.
It did leave the reader with a sense of hope in the goodness of people, even in the most trying of circumstances. Frenkel was just very lucky, and the help she had along the way made that luck possible.
The translation was fantastic. It never felt awkward. The prose was almost lyrical and added to the readability.