Set against the backdrop of the Second World War, I was reminded very much of Charlotte Gray when following Jake Wallis Simons’ heroine Rosa Klein, the background of Jewish suffering every bit as compelling as Schindler’s List. His novel follows Rosa Klein as her despairing parents manage to find her a place on one of the last kindertransports to leave Berlin.
It is a story powerfully told, demanding your complete attention, involving you in a story of heartbreak, love and loss as Rosa attempts to make a life and career for herself alone in this new bewildering country of Britain. It’s a film waiting to happen although so vivid is Jake Wallis Simons description and attention to detail I feel I’ve seen it already. If you only read one novel this year make it this one.
Judging Panel Fiction Uncovered 2011: ‘As the net closes in on the Jews of Berlin, a family places their hopes for survival in their teenage daughter, sending her from Germany to England. As she fights to make herself understood in a strange land, can she save them in time?’
Like for Like Reading:
Schindler’s Ark, Thomas Keneally
Charlotte Gray, Sebastian Faulk
This powerful, meticulously researched novel is a moving tale of one girl's struggle against a world in turmoil. In 1930s Berlin, choked by the tightening of Hitler's fist, the Klein family are gradually losing everything that is precious to them. Their fifteen-year-old daughter, Rosa, slips out of Germany on a Kindertransport train to begin a new life in England.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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This powerful, meticulously researched novel is a moving tale of one girl's struggle against a world in turmoil. In 1930s Berlin, choked by the tightening of Hitler's fist, the Klein family are gradually losing everything that is precious to them.
The English German Girl features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Recommendations
Paperback. Not Available.
The English German Girl was written by Jake Wallis Simons and published by Polygon An Imprint of Birlinn Limited an imprint of Birlinn General
The English German Girl has 342 pages
