4 stars
At one time, I was a voracious reader from the Midwest who spent five months in Sweden so of course I was interested in reading about a voracious reader from Sweden who traveled to the Midwest. Sara is invited to the small Iowan town of Broken Wheel by her pen pal and fellow reader, Amy. Sara, a natural loner, is feeling a bit lost after losing her job at a bookstore so decides to accept Amy's offer. Except, upon arriving, she finds that she has come just in time for Amy's funeral. Sara is forced to face Broken Wheel and its inhabitants on her own and find a place for herself in the failing small town where no one reads. This book is a love story to books and readers, and an absolute joy to read regardless of the somewhat unbelievable storyline. I recommend this book to all booklovers who just want to be immersed in a fun story for a while. I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Publication Date: April 5, 2016
4.5 stars
Fiction that explores the horror and bravery of history in such a beautiful and moving way needs to be read. I have read several books about the Holocaust in the past couple of years and this is another that affected me deeply. Following three different women in the years during and after World War II, this book examines survival of the worst atrocities. Caroline Ferriday was a real woman who lived in New York City and worked at the French Consulate during the early days of the war. She is remembered as a philanthropist that helped a group of Polish women, known as the Rabbit Girls, who were horrifically experimented on during their time in the Ravensbruck concentration camp. This book alternates between three perspectives; Caroline, an imagined Polish woman named Kasia and Dr. Herta Oberheuser, a real woman, who was the only female doctor at the concentration camp. This beautifully written novel is at times hard to read but I think that more of these stories need to be told, especially during a time when we are witnessing more outspoken hatred and fear. I received this book from Penguin's First to Read Program in exchange for an honest review.
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