The Helsingør Sewing Club

by Ella Gyland

Inspired by the incredible true story of how the people of Denmark saved their Jewish neighbours during WW2

Helsingør, Denmark, 1943

In the midst of the German occupation during World War Two, Inger Bredahl joins the underground resistance and risks her life to save members of Denmark’s Jewish community and help them escape to Sweden.

Copenhagen, 2018

Inger’s granddaughter, Cecilie Lund, is mourning her death when a mysterious discovery while cleaning out Inger’s flat leads past and present to intersect. As long-held secrets finally see the light of day, Cecilie learns the story of her grandmother’s courage and bravery, and of the power of friendship, love, and standing for what’s right…even when you have everything to lose.

An inspiring tale of the resilience of the human spirit and the power of community.

Readers love Ella Gyland:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘The characters are so well written they come alive…historical fiction at its best’ Abby

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A superb storyteller and I was hooked from the very start’ Naomi

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A contender for my top book of 2022! … Gyland is legendary when it comes to a double timeline. I’ve never seen one so well done’ Norma

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Ella Gyland writes with warmth and respect…it’s so moving and painful to read at times but it’s also impossible to stop reading!’ Natalie

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Skilfully written…truly inspirational’ Karren

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘ Amazing World War Two story which is so vivid and real that I thought I was there!’ Katie

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I couldn’t put it down, it was captivating, gripping and engaging’ Aria

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Above all it is a story of bravery, courage and heroism’ Karyn

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘An absolute gem of a book’ Angela

• ISBN13: 9780008519650
• Publish Date: 31 January 2022
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
• Edition: Digital original
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[pamela]

I suspect my rating would have been higher if I'd read The Helsingør Sewing Club rather than listened to it through Audiobook, so please keep that caveat in mind with this review.

The Helsingør Sewing Club was an interesting story about an historical event that I knew very little about. The subject matter was therefore very interesting, and I did find Gyland's writing style to be expressive and beautiful.

The audiobook narrator did an absolutely wonderful job. I especially appreciated the correct pronunciation of Danish words. The problem for me was that the book started slowly, with a lot of meandering scene-setting that simply didn't keep my attention in audio form. And when the narrative got going there were a lot of PoV and jumps in narrative from first person to third that lost me a few times if I wasn't paying attention to every moment. Consequently, the characters ended up feeling a little underdeveloped.

I might want to give this a go in non-audio form in the future, as I think there's probably a lot I didn't get out of it due to the format. From a story point of view, I think it's definitely worth picking up - but if you're going with audio format make sure that you're a listener who is willing to fully commit and doesn't mind a slow start.