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A review by jdintr
The Twins by Tessa de Loo
4.0
This was one book I read after watching the movie, "Die Tweeling" (2002). I'm glad I did.
Lotte and Anna Bamberg are twins, separated at the tender age of six after the deaths of their mother & father. Their separate lives illumine the deep divisions that World War 2 created west of the Rhine and throughout Europe (although this book is rooted in the Benelux area).
As elderly women, they meet at Spa, Belgium, and as their treatments stretch out over a course of two weeks, they fill in the gaps of their separate lives. Anna, who remained in Germany, is riveting: a sympathetic character who works as a chambermaid and a nurse during the war. She marries a soldier who enrolls in the SS near the end of the war.
Lotte is taken to Holland at age six, where she grows up in a liberal, Communist household, which will shelter an array of Jews throughout the war. Hers is a fascinating tale, marred by tragedy when her first love, a Jewish pianist, is kidnapped and sent to a concentration camp. Needless to say, the sisters' love interests play a big role in their long estrangement.
The movie is very good. The book far better. I won't go into all of the differences, but the book is deep, the characters rich, the set pieces realistic. As a German teacher, I plan to recommend this to students who loved The Book Thief and show interest in other World War 2-era tales.
Lotte and Anna Bamberg are twins, separated at the tender age of six after the deaths of their mother & father. Their separate lives illumine the deep divisions that World War 2 created west of the Rhine and throughout Europe (although this book is rooted in the Benelux area).
As elderly women, they meet at Spa, Belgium, and as their treatments stretch out over a course of two weeks, they fill in the gaps of their separate lives. Anna, who remained in Germany, is riveting: a sympathetic character who works as a chambermaid and a nurse during the war. She marries a soldier who enrolls in the SS near the end of the war.
Lotte is taken to Holland at age six, where she grows up in a liberal, Communist household, which will shelter an array of Jews throughout the war. Hers is a fascinating tale, marred by tragedy when her first love, a Jewish pianist, is kidnapped and sent to a concentration camp. Needless to say, the sisters' love interests play a big role in their long estrangement.
The movie is very good. The book far better. I won't go into all of the differences, but the book is deep, the characters rich, the set pieces realistic. As a German teacher, I plan to recommend this to students who loved The Book Thief and show interest in other World War 2-era tales.