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A review by marilynw
The War Girls by V.S. Alexander
4.0
The War Girls by V.S Alexander
Narrated by Kelli Tager
Taking place between Sept 1939 and May 1946, we follow the Jewish Majewski family and their neighbor, Janka, a Catholic woman. At the beginning of the story, eighteen year old Hanna has left her traditional family home, in Warsaw, to live with her aunt and uncle in London. She refused to follow the traditional Jewish ways, especially when it came to an arranged marriage. Her estranged family thinks she is safe in London but it's being bombed by German planes and she is in as much danger as her family in Warsaw.
I've read other books and done research about the Warsaw Ghetto and the stories are devastating. The Majewkski family, father, mother, Hanna's sister, Stefa (two years younger than Hanna) and their younger brother, are driven from their home to be crowded into one room in the ghetto. They are fortunate because Stefa's boyfriend, Daniel, is able to get a job that allows his family and hers the privilege of all living in two tiny rooms. Half a million Jews are crowded in the ghetto and it becomes clear that few will get out alive. Disease, starvation, deportation to work/death camps, and slaughter by their captives, on the streets or in their rooms, are constant threats.
Janka, whose cruel husband is all for the extermination of Jews and others he doesn't like, has no one to rely on but she wants to help the Majewski family. Janka sees what the Germans, and even some Polish people, are doing do her Jewish friends. In London, circumstances have put Hanna in a situation where she is being asked to spy for England and when she accepts, she is sent back to her homeland where she might be able to learn her family's fate. In the ghetto, Daniel, Stefa, and her younger brother see that just staying alive isn't enough. They must fight against their oppressors. It seems they will all die no matter what they do and they will not go down without a fight.
Kelli Tager does a lovely job of narrating this story. It is long, there are numerous characters, but I never had any trouble keeping up with them. I was invested in this story despite the fact that it hurt to hear it, especially knowing this really happened, the number of people killed is impossible to comprehend, the cruelty is impossible to get my mind around, and knowing that these kinds of things go on even now. The courage of so many people who had lost everything but their lives, who would lose their lives, who had no hope of survival, is inspirational and heartbreaking.
Pub: July 26, 2022
Thank you to HighBridge Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.
Narrated by Kelli Tager
Taking place between Sept 1939 and May 1946, we follow the Jewish Majewski family and their neighbor, Janka, a Catholic woman. At the beginning of the story, eighteen year old Hanna has left her traditional family home, in Warsaw, to live with her aunt and uncle in London. She refused to follow the traditional Jewish ways, especially when it came to an arranged marriage. Her estranged family thinks she is safe in London but it's being bombed by German planes and she is in as much danger as her family in Warsaw.
I've read other books and done research about the Warsaw Ghetto and the stories are devastating. The Majewkski family, father, mother, Hanna's sister, Stefa (two years younger than Hanna) and their younger brother, are driven from their home to be crowded into one room in the ghetto. They are fortunate because Stefa's boyfriend, Daniel, is able to get a job that allows his family and hers the privilege of all living in two tiny rooms. Half a million Jews are crowded in the ghetto and it becomes clear that few will get out alive. Disease, starvation, deportation to work/death camps, and slaughter by their captives, on the streets or in their rooms, are constant threats.
Janka, whose cruel husband is all for the extermination of Jews and others he doesn't like, has no one to rely on but she wants to help the Majewski family. Janka sees what the Germans, and even some Polish people, are doing do her Jewish friends. In London, circumstances have put Hanna in a situation where she is being asked to spy for England and when she accepts, she is sent back to her homeland where she might be able to learn her family's fate. In the ghetto, Daniel, Stefa, and her younger brother see that just staying alive isn't enough. They must fight against their oppressors. It seems they will all die no matter what they do and they will not go down without a fight.
Kelli Tager does a lovely job of narrating this story. It is long, there are numerous characters, but I never had any trouble keeping up with them. I was invested in this story despite the fact that it hurt to hear it, especially knowing this really happened, the number of people killed is impossible to comprehend, the cruelty is impossible to get my mind around, and knowing that these kinds of things go on even now. The courage of so many people who had lost everything but their lives, who would lose their lives, who had no hope of survival, is inspirational and heartbreaking.
Pub: July 26, 2022
Thank you to HighBridge Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.