Lilac Girls: A Novel

by Martha Hall Kelly

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • One million copies sold! Inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this remarkable debut novel reveals the power of unsung women to change history in their quest for love, freedom, and second chances.

“Extremely moving and memorable . . . This impressive debut should appeal strongly to historical fiction readers and to book clubs that adored Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale and Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See.”—Library Journal (starred review)

New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.

An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.

For the ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. Once hired, though, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.

The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women. Their stories cross continents—from New York to Paris, Germany, and Poland—as Caroline and Kasia strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.

USA Today “New and Noteworthy” Book • LibraryReads Top Ten Pick

• ISBN10: 1101883073
• ISBN13: 9781101883075
• Publish Date: 5 April 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 2 October 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Ballantine Books Inc.
• Format: Hardcover (Deckle Edge)
• Pages: 496
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781101883075

Reviews

[Leigha]

Three women from various parts of the world discover the worst parts of World War II in this adult historical.

For whatever reason, this book has been on my radar for some time. I’m not one to be excited about a historical so it was unexpected to say the least. And, I’m sad to report, I didn’t love it nearly as much as I wanted to love it.

The story is told through three perspectives – Caroline, a New York socialite; Kasia, a Polish resistance fighter; and Herta, a young German doctor. The stories are all unique as each woman goes through the trials and tribulations of war. The audiobook used three different narrators for the main characters, but not all of them did justice to the parts. I couldn’t stand the woman portraying Herta, I tolerated the person playing Caroline, and I enjoyed Kasia’s performance. Disconcerting to say the least.

This story is based off the very real story of the Ravensbrück ‘Rabbits,’ a group of women used as guinea pigs during the war by the Germans, and Caroline Ferriday, a real benefactor to the ladies. When the narrative focused on the real facts, it shined. Unfortunately, most of the story focuses on some weird (made-up) romance Caroline has with a married Parisian and Herta’s dalliances. Seriously, what the hell happened between Herta and Kasia’s mom? I even disliked Kasia by the end of the story, wishing the narrative had focused on Kasia’s sister, Susanna, instead.

tl;dr While I was super excited about this book, it couldn’t hold a candle to my expectations.

[Linda]

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
Lilac Girls follows three young women from the very beginning of WWII, they are in very different situations, and following them was both tough, terrifying and strangely wonderful.



While Lilac Girls is a fiction novel, some of the story is based on a real person, and the letters she sent to people during WWII. I found the story to be incredibly well written, and showing the different points of views of the three main characters in an extraordinary way. One young woman was sent to a concentration camp, with her mother and her sister. Another young woman - who had almost finished her education to become a doctor, and she starts her work in a concentration camp. The third young woman lives in New York, works at the French Embassy, and wants to help French orphans during the war.

As you can probably imagine, the paths of these three women cross, and especially the two women in the concentration camp - at complete opposites - was truly chilling to read about. The doctor was so sure that what she was doing was really furthering science, that Hitler was a good man, and that Germans were the better race of people in the world. Reading the chapters from her perspective may have been what touched me the deepest - because while I still can't understand how it's possible for a human being to do to another human being what she did - it was mesmerizing to read her justifications, and to see how she thought what she was doing wasn't really wrong.

The story spans over decades, and while we don't spend very long moments at a time with each character, it was enough to get to know them, to understand what they were going through, and also to see what made them tick, so to speak. Written in first person point of view, with chapters from each of the women's perspective, and in past tense, this novel is one that should be included in classrooms. There are many important themes here, and I think the most important might be to not demonize that which we can't understand - to see all people as human beings.



Though I was reluctant to tell Mother, low attendance was inevitable, for Americans had become increasingly isolationist. the poll numbers  showed that our country, still smarting from huge casualties in the First World War and from the Great Depression, was opposed to being swept into the new conflict.

It was hard not to become emotional driving through Fürstenberg, for I'd visited a similar town with my parents as a child, for fishing. This was the essence of Germany, so beautiful and unspoiled. What we were fighting for.

She'd always loved her horses and was more comfortable with a currycomb than a silver one, but it was sad to see such a beautiful woman give up on herself.