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A review by lawbooks600
Catherine's War by Julia Billet
emotional
fast-paced
4.0
Representation: Jewish characters
Score: Seven points out of ten.
What a surprise. I never heard of this author before but I saw her novel in the library. Unfortunately, I missed out on this one for the first time, but not the second. I thought Catherine's War would be a quick read, and I was right, but it defied my expectations. When I picked it up, read and finished Catherine's War, it was pleasantly enjoyable.
It starts with the first character I see, Rachel Cohen, living in a children's home outside Paris, where she has a hobby: photography. Despite the circumstances, the opening pages had nothing catastrophic happening. Everything looks hedonistic and perfect until Rachel alongside others had to escape to another place besides the children's home. All the antisemitism makes life harder for Rachel who found a school she could go to but here's the catch: Rachel must change her name to Catherine to avoid suspicion. The mood quickly changed from hopeful to sombre for the middle section of Catherine's War, but there's a positive note in the conclusion, which I liked. I thought Catherine's War would be a depressing read like another story I've read but shockingly, it isn't.
Score: Seven points out of ten.
What a surprise. I never heard of this author before but I saw her novel in the library. Unfortunately, I missed out on this one for the first time, but not the second. I thought Catherine's War would be a quick read, and I was right, but it defied my expectations. When I picked it up, read and finished Catherine's War, it was pleasantly enjoyable.
It starts with the first character I see, Rachel Cohen, living in a children's home outside Paris, where she has a hobby: photography. Despite the circumstances, the opening pages had nothing catastrophic happening. Everything looks hedonistic and perfect until Rachel alongside others had to escape to another place besides the children's home. All the antisemitism makes life harder for Rachel who found a school she could go to but here's the catch: Rachel must change her name to Catherine to avoid suspicion. The mood quickly changed from hopeful to sombre for the middle section of Catherine's War, but there's a positive note in the conclusion, which I liked. I thought Catherine's War would be a depressing read like another story I've read but shockingly, it isn't.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, and Antisemitism
Full trigger warnings: War themes, World War II, death of parents mentioned, displacement, antisemitism