The German Girl by Lily Graham
Genre: Historical fiction, WW2
Read: 6th January 2020
Published: 12th January 2021
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
‘Our parents were taken. And if we go home, the Nazis will take us too…’
Hamburg 1938. Fifteen-year-old Asta is hurrying home from school with her twin brother Jurgen. The mood in the city is tense – synagogues have been smashed with sledgehammers, and Asta is too frightened to laugh as she used to.
But when she and Jurgen are stopped in the street by a friend, her world implodes further. Her Jewish parents have been dragged into the streets by German soldiers and if she and Jurgen return to their house, they will be taken too.
Heartbroken at the loss of her parents, Asta knows they must flee. With her beloved brother, she must make the perilous journey across Germany and into Denmark to reach their only surviving relative, her aunt Trine, a woman they barely know.
Jammed into a truck with other refugees, Asta prays for a miracle to save herself and Jurgen. Crossing the border is a crime punishable by death, and what she and Jurgen must embark on a dangerous crossing on foot, through the snowy forest dividing Germany and Denmark. And when barking dogs and armed soldiers find Jurgen and Asta escapes, she must hold on to hope no matter what. One day she will find her twin, the other half of herself. Whatever the price she has to pay…
A gripping and poignant read that will break your heart and give you hope. Fans of Fiona Valpy, Kristin Hannah and Catherine Hokin will be gripped by the story of a brave brother and sister seeking safety during one of the darkest times in our history.
MY REVIEW:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Lily Graham's latest heartbreaking novel THE GERMAN GIRL (previously title "The Flight of Swallows").
Having thoroughly enjoyed Lily Graham's previous book "The Child of Auschwitz" I was both eager and excited to dive into this one. Graham has a an easy style to her writing that is both revealing and engaging yet without being bogged down in facts - though she does note certain historical events yet without leaving you drowning in them. I read for pleasure and escape, and if I'd wanted a text book I would read one. But Graham's novels are heartfelt, heartbreaking and heartwarming and THE GERMAN GIRL is no exception.
Northern Sweden 1995: In a cabin in the woods surrounded by snow, Jürgen is an eldrly man living alone. His cabin has no electricity or any of the mod cons to help make his life more comfortable. His only form of heating is the fireplace and yet it remains unlit as he silently struggles to collect the firewood from the shed...though he would be loathe to admit that to anyone should they dare to suggest it. He lives a hermit's existence with his only contact in the form of his grand-daughter Ingrid, who comes to check on him daily and give him assistance. A proud man, Jürgen refuses her help, citing there is nothing wrong with him and to leave him alone.
But Ingrid sees the changes in her Morfar (Swedish for grandfather, translated as "mother's father") and knows he needs help even if he refuses to admit it. His arthritis prevents him from collecting wood from the shed to keep a fire burning in his cabin and she has no idea when the last time he bathed was. But it's not just his body that is failing him...his memories are also beginning to fade. Jürgen has Alzheimer's and there are days he forgets to bathe, forgets to eat, forgets to take care of himself. Which is why Ingrid comes to check on him daily, reporting back to her mother her concerns. They both know how stubborn he is.
It is at one such time he is refusing Ingrid's help that he seamlessly slips from Swedish into German. At first Ingrid doesn't notice, as German was second nature to her having lived with her German boyfriend for ten years, but it's not second nature to her Morfar...or is it? Ingrid recalls a time when she was a child when she had a new friend who didn't speak Swedish and so she made every effort to learn German and when her Morfar heard her reciting words in German he flew into a rage that frightened her. Normally so close she had never seen him like that before...but she never spoke German around him again. And then when tidying her Morfar's cabin one day, she comes across what appears to be a sketchbook with the initials J.S. inscribed into the leather. She knew her Morfar loved to sketch and paint, but she had not seen this before. When he discovered her looking through the sketchbook he became angry. Morfar never spoke about his childhood, her mother's mother or anything about his life before. But in those moments when he spoke German, Jürgen was almost childlike in his speech as he giggled and called her Asta. Ingrid knows there is more to the story and after some prompting and a few tears, he relents and tells her of his life before the war, what happened during those times...and reveals a huge secret that he has kept from the family.
Hamburg 1933: It is the beginning of Hitler's rise to power with the National Socialist Party but no one could foresee just how bad things would become under his rule. As laws came into place regarding Jews and anyone deemed inferior to the greater Aryan race, 11 year old twins Jürgen and Asta were oblivious as they created their own havoc, namely with the local ferry boat on one of Hamburg's many canals. The twins lived in a flat in the city with their parents, their father a doctor and their mother a nurse, and were often in trouble for playing pranks amongst the locals.
But life was about to become more difficult in the coming years. With the news of these changes which stripped Jews of their rights, the twins' father urged their mother that they must move before it got worse. His sister Trine lived in Denmark, which was neutral, and had asked them to come and live with her on numerous occasions but their mother refused to leave. She had a job she loved and she didn't speak Danish. Not only that, they would be living in a barn. A barn! But she would come to regret her decision.
1938: One day as the threat of war loomed over Germany, the twins were returning from school when a nurse who worked with their mother rushed to greet them and urged them not to return home. Their father had caused such a fuss at the hospital when some SS officers asked for their papers and he refused so their parents were taken, most likely to one of the many concentration camps. She told them that the Nazis would be searching and staking out their flat, awaiting the twins return so it was no longer safe and they must escape before they are captured. With nowhere to go, Jürgen and Asta broke into the ferry boat they regularly pranked and hid there until the owner discovered them. Fearing he would give them up, Polgo (the ferry boat owner) instead arranged for them to be taken to the border and into Denmark.
This is where things began to go incredibly wrong.
The heartbreaking story told is one of courage, strength and love between the two twins. The lengths to which they went to escape the Nazi rule and into Denmark is tinged with hope as well as sadness. As Denmark was neutral and not under Nazi occupation, the twins knew they would be safe there. They just had to find their aunt despite not knowing her address. But when they are separated, Asta is forced to make the trip on her own.
I have read many books surrounding the Holocaust with many different stories, but THE GERMAN GIRL (as with "The Child of Auschwitz") is such a different tale one would expect to read. As I said earlier, Graham's books are true to life without being bogged down by historical facts, making them easy to read. In her note at the end, Graham does explain that this book is based on a true story. With that being said, it certainly felt true to life without reading like a text book. Graham has the ability to bring fact into fiction and making it an easy and enjoyable read. Stories such as these, like Jürgen's and Asta's, are battles we may not have even known existed and by Graham's hand are made interesting to read.
Beginning in 1990 in Northern Sweden, the story of and elderly Jürgen now in his twilight years begins a little slow but gradually builds a picture of the man he became as a result of the horrors he lived through as a child. It is imperitive to the story to come as we see his gradual decline into dementia as he begins to relive happier days in Hamburg with his twin, the other half of himself. There is a line of his that speaks volumes, revealing that Jürgen is aware of his condition and that one day his story...their story...will be gone. When he relents and decides to tell Ingrid his story but seeing how painful it is for him, Ingrid says that he doesn't have to do it. But Jürgen shakes his head and says...
"No, Inge - you're right. I must speak about it. I can't bear to - but I must, somehow. Because when I go - when my memories do - so will she...so will they."
When his memories go, so will Asta. So will his parents. So will his story. So Jürgen must share it so that they may live on. It is a heartbreaking line that shows an awareness that not everyone with dementia is willing to admit.
It is when Jürgen begins his story that we are then transported back to Hamburg before the war and then his story takes us through those early days of war when they were making their escape into Denmark. While it takes several chapters to build up to this point, as Graham lays the groundwork for Jürgen's story, it is so well written that the slow pace at the start simply fades into the rest of the story. Covering several years, THE GERMAN GIRL is an emotional tale that sweeps us back through the years of the Holocaust and is filled with bravery, perseverance and courage. It is powerful, gripping and completely compelling.
Heartbreaking and heartwarming, THE GERMAN GIRL was previously titled "The Flight of Swallows" and while it underwent a title change I actually feel it's original title is more fitting to the story...for a few reasons. Jürgen's surname, for one, translated into "swallow" and their father used to compare the twins to swallows in flight...never settling until they were home. You will see when you read it, I do believe the original title was better suited that the current one which I feel is somewhat vague.
There are some funny moments that will have you chuckling as you read the escapades of the young Jürgen and Asta in Germany. It makes you a little sad to think how that changed and Jürgen became a grumpy hermit in the woods of Northern Sweden, far removed from the cheeky and mischievous young lad that he was back in Germany...before life changed for him forever.
I cannot say enough about this book without giving too much away. I can only say go out, grab yourself a copy and read it. You will not be sorry. It is an emotional and riveting book that is completely unputdownable.
A definite 5 star read and recommended for fans of historical fiction with an interest in WW2 fiction surrounding the Holocaust and the plight of the Jews.
I would like to thank #LilyGraham, #NetGalley, #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheGermanGirl aka #TheFlightOfSwallows in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
As a child she dreamt of being an author, and had half-finished manuscripts bulging out of her desk drawers, but it wasn't until she reached her thirties that she finally finished one of them. Her first books were written for children, but when her mother was diagnosed with cancer she wrote a story to deal with the fear and pain she was going through - this became her first women's fiction novel, which was published by Bookouture (Hachette) in 2016.
Since then she has written six novels, covering many topics, her first four novels were a blend of light hearted women's fiction and drama, but in recent years she has found her niche in historical fiction, after she wrote The Island Villa - a story about a secret community of Jews, who some believed were living on the island of Formentera during the Inquisition. It is a story about love, betrayal, and courage.
It took getting to her mid-thirties for her to realise that these were the types of stories she truly wanted to write. Since then she has written two other historical fiction novels, including The Paris Secret, a story about a woman, a bookshop and a secret that goes back to the occupation, and most recently, her most daunting book to date - The Child of Auschwitz, which was a story she never meant to write, but found herself compelled to after reading a story about a woman who gave birth to a child after surviving a concentration camp.
Lily has been telling stories since she was a child, starting with her imaginary rabbit, Stephanus, and their adventures in the enchanted peach tree in her garden, which she envisioned as a magical portal to Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree. She’s never really got out of the habit of making things up, and still thinks of Stephanus rather fondly.
She lives with her husband and her English bulldog, Fudge, and brings her love for the sea and country-living to her fiction.
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