REVIEW: The Midwife of Auschwitz by Anna Stuart

The Midwife of Auschwitz by Anna Stuart

Genre: Historical fiction, WW2, Holocaust, Fact with Fiction

Read: 28th May 2022

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Published: 31st May 2022

★★★★ 4 stars

DESCRIPTION:

Auschwitz, 1943: As I held the tiny baby in my arms, my fingers traced the black tattoo etched across her little thigh. And I prayed that one day this set of numbers, identical to her mother’s, would have the power to reunite a family torn apart by war…

Inspired by an incredible true story, this poignant novel tells of one woman’s fight for love, life and hope during a time of unimaginable darkness.

Ana Kaminski is pushed through the iron gates of Auschwitz beside her frightened young friend Ester Pasternak. As they reach the front of the line, Ana steps forward and quietly declares herself a midwife – and Ester her assistant. Their arms are tattooed and they’re ordered to the maternity hut. Holding an innocent new-born baby, Ana knows the fate of so many are in her hands, and vows to do everything she can to save them.

When two guards in their chilling SS uniforms march in and snatch a blond-haired baby from its mother it’s almost too much for Ana to bear. Consoling the distraught woman, Ana realises amidst the terrible heartache there is a glimmer of hope. The guards are taking the healthiest babies and placing them with German families, so they will survive. And there are whispers the war is nearly over… Ana and Ester begin to secretly tattoo little ones with their mother’s numbers, praying one day they might be reunited.

Then, early one morning, Ana notices the small bump under Ester’s thin striped clothing…

An absolutely heartbreaking and page-turning WW2 novel of one woman’s bravery and determination to bring life and hope into a broken world. Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz,The Alice Network and The Nightingale will be gripped.

MY THOUGHTS:

I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Anna Stuart's heartwrenching tale THE MIDWIFE OF AUSCHWITZ.

As much as I have enjoyed Anna Stuart's "based on true stories" tales woven with fiction, I found THE MIDWIFE OF AUSCHWITZ an incredibly heartbreaking one to read. Although all stories about the Holocaust the the crimes against humanity are just as heartbreaking, I am finding it incresingly difficult to read them. However, as difficult as it was to read this one, I'm glad I did. It was a different tale although it began like any other Holocaust story with Jews being ripped of their identities, moved into stinking ghettos before being deported to death camps or the like. It wasn't until they reached Auschwitz that the story took a slightly different turn.

Ester was a young nurse, who is Jewish, living and working in Lodz in Poland when she and her new husband Filip Pasternak along with their families were rounded up and rehoused in the new ghetto as the Germans overtook their town. Their house had been given over to the Germans to house troops while they now lived in barely two rooms all together.

Ana Kaminski, a Catholic Pole, has worked as a midwife for two decades. Alongside her, her dear friend Ester Pasternak learns the art of birthing as together they bring new life into the world in the ghetto and beyond. 

Until one day, ripped from her husband and her family, Ester finds herself on a train bound for Auschwitz in the hope of saving her dying mother. In the cattle-car she is shocked to find her friend and mentor, Ana, looking a shadow of her former self. Together the two women arrive at Auschwitz with the idealistic notion that they can help save the women and their babies. But Auschwitz was nothing if not cruel and unforgiving, the SS officers even more so. The barbaric cruelties they are forced to face change the way they see the world whilst trying to maintain some form of hope. For if they have no hope, what do they have?

In Auschwitz, Ana and Ester bring 3000 babies into the world. Some lived, some died. But through each mother's pain, the two women gave each of them hope...even if it were to die tomorrow. And then a new cruelty is to be inflicted upon them. Perfect blonde babies will be selected from the newborns for Germanisation, ripped from their mother's arms as they suckle to be brought up in "good Fuhrer loving homes". These selections are the worst kind of cruelty.

So Ester devises a plan to one day bring hope to these families torn apart by tattooing the little ones with their mother's numbers, in the hope that they may be reunited once the war is over and the camp has been liberated. In the meantime, they continue to help each other drawing on one another's strength and resilience to make it through.

But then Ana notices the familiar signs and a small bump beneath Ester's thin clothing...

I was both saddened and angered by this tale. Though I shouldn't be surprised at the Nazi's cruelties during that time. The barbaric nature of such inhumanity resonated with me that my heart ached for the women. Already they had been stripped of everything and still they wanted to take even more? How mankind can inflict such cruelties upon each other is beyond me.

Alternating between the narratives of both Ester and Ana, THE MIDWIFE OF AUSCHWITZ is a heartwrenching tale of friendship, motherhood and survival. How anyone can survive a death camp is remarkable. My heart ached for both women but particularly young Ester.

By the end of the book I was just heartbroken that it hadn't ended how I thought it would. But it was still a satisfying end and a tearful one at that. Anna Stuart tells a wonderful tale and is a skillfull storyteller. I absolutely LOVED "The Secret Diary" but this one was just that more heartbreaking.

I would like to thank #AnnaStuart, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheMidwifeOfAuschwitz in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Anna Stuart lives in Derbyshire with her campervan-mad husband, two hungry teenagers and a slightly loopy dog. She was hooked on books from the moment she first opened one in her cot so is thrilled to now have several of her own to her name.

Having studied English literature at Cambridge university, she took an enjoyable temporary trip into the ‘real world’ as a factory planner, before returning to her first love and becoming an author. History has also always fascinated her. Living in an old house with a stone fireplace, she often wonders who sat around it before her and is intrigued by how actively the past is woven into the present, something she likes to explore in her novels.

Anna loves the way that writing lets her ‘try on’ so many different lives, but her favourite part of the job is undoubtedly hearing from readers. 

Social Media links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

PUBLISHER:

Stay up to date with upcoming releases from Bookouture Group by following them on these social media accounts.

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

REVIEW: A Letter from Pearl Harbor by Anna Stuart

A Letter from Pearl Harbor by Anna Stuart

Genre: Historical fiction, Wartime fiction, Contemporary fiction, WW2, Dual timeline

Read: 6th November 2021

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Published: 5th November 2021

★★★ 3.5 stars

DESCRIPTION:

Ninety-eight-year-old Ginny McAllister’s last wish is for her granddaughter to complete a treasure hunt containing clues to her past. Clues that reveal her life as one of the first female pilots at Pearl Harbor, and a devastating World War Two secret.

1941, Pearl Harbor: On the morning of December 7th, Ginny is flying her little yellow plane above the sparkling seas when she spots an unknown aircraft closing in on her. She recognises the red symbol of the Japanese fighter planes almost too late. Somehow, she manages to land unscathed but the choices she is forced to make in the terrible hours that follow have tragic consequences…

2019, Pearl Harbor: Heartbroken Robyn Harris is reeling from the death of the strong, determined grandmother who raised her. Her only comfort is a letter written in Ginny’s distinctive hand which details a treasure hunt, just like the ones she used to set for her as a little girl. Except this time, the clues are scattered across the beautiful island of Hawaii. Despite her grief, Robyn finds herself intrigued as she follows the trail of letters, revealing the truth about Ginny’s service during the Second World War.

But Robyn’s whole world is turned upside down when she’s faced with a shocking secret which has the power to change the course of her own life…

Inspired by true events, this is a heartbreaking and unforgettable WW2 novel about love, loss and bravery. Perfect for fans of The Alice Network, The Nightingale and Kathryn Hughes.

MY REVIEW:

I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Anna Stuart's dual timeline tale A LETTER FROM PEARL HARBOR.

After having totally loved Anna Stuart's previous dual timeline story "The Secret Diary" I jumped at the chance to read this one. A LETTER FROM PEARL HARBOR tells the tale of 98 year old Virginia "Ginny" Harris and her last wish - for her two granddaughters, Robyn and Ashleigh, to complete a treasure hunt containing clues to her past. I thought this a novel concept for a story and it certainly made it interesting, despite the constant bickering between the two sisters, as each clue revealed a little more about their grandmother's past. Set between England and Hawaii, A LETTER FROM PEARL HARBOR is mix of historical and contemporary fiction that is both an emotional and heartwarming story.

England 2019: Robyn Harris stands at the bottom of the driveway of her grandmother's sprawling Oxfordshire house - the house in which she and her sister had spent much of their childhood in while their humanitarian parents were off saving the rest of the world. Her sister Ashleigh beckons her to hurry up in her usual spiky way, an attitude that has become synonomous with her sister since her tragic accident some years previous which left her left paralysed and in a wheelchair for life. Something Ashleigh has had some difficulty in accepting. Despite their bickering, the sisters now sit at their beloved grandmother's bedside as they reminisce about the treasure hunts she used to send them on. 

Which brings Ginny to one final request. 

As they sit at her bedside she gives them her last wish - one final treasure hunt that she has created for them in which the two of them must return to Hawaii together and solve the clues that she has set out for them which will then in turn tell the story of her life and reveal the secrets that she has kept for eight decades.

Intrigued by what their grandmother's story might reveal, the sisters set out together to solve the mystery. But the journey doesn't come without its perils. Ashleigh, confined to a wheelchair, isn't excited by the prospect of such a long haul and then having to squeeze into Robyn's tiny one bedroom apartment for the duration of her stay. Fraught with misunderstandings, the sisters constantly squabble over just about every little thing but as they follow the clues Ginny set out for them, not only do they learn more about their grandmother but also about themselves and each other.

Pearl Harbor 1941: Young and vibrant Ginny Martin is pilot and flying instructor on the beautiful Hawaiian island of Oahu. Her brother Jack, also a pilot, is with the armed forces and recently engaged to nurse Penny. Despite the presence of the Navy and the Army on the island, no one is expecting there to be an attack there as Hawaii is too far from the enemy. Life on the island and is good and Ginny couldn't be happier. She has even made a friend out of the airfield where she works in Lili who she is determined to teach to fly in exchange for the spare room in the house she shares with her father. And as Lili takes to the skies it becomes clear that she is a competant pilot who was born to fly.

Then in the early morning dawn of 7th December as Lili takes to the skies solo, Ginny is instructing one of her brother's colleagues in preparation for his upcoming test...when she spots an unknown plane in her periphery. The horror she feels as she recognises the red symbol of Japan's rising sun adorning the aircraft realising that the attack no one was expecting was about to take place. Taking over the controls from her student, she manages to land unscathed despite the bullets fired at her plane and the sky is darkened as the Japanese swarm the skies above reigning bullets and, to her her horror, releasing bombs over the Naval ships currently in port in the Harbor. The sheer deluge of the Japanese reign of terror was both unexpected and catastrophic. And while only a relatively small number of locals were killed, most of the lives claimed were military on the battleships nesting in the Harbor - some two thousand or more. 

But what about Jack? He was a fighter pilot and surely he would be up there fighting off the Japanese and sending them scurrying back the way they came. Ginny couldn't bare to entertain the thought of losing him. Life would not be worth living if she did. And what about Lili? She last saw her in the skies above the island just moments before the attack. Had she gotten back to land safely? Or had she become another victim of this brazen attack?

Life has come full circle as Ginny breathed her last in her Oxfordshire home in England with her last wish for her granddaughters to follow the clues she had painstakingly put together to slowly reveal the story of her life and a secret she has kept for so long. Now Robyn, now an aeronautical engineer, and Ashleigh must unravel the clues to uncover their grandmother's past.

A LETTER FROM PEARL HARBOR is a wonderful story about family, friendships, love and forgiveness set upon the beautiful islands of Hawaii. It is at times heart-wrenching but also unforgettable as the two timelines are seamlessly woven together to create a beautiful tapestry of a life well loved and well lived. I did feel as if it dragged a little in the middle but aside from that it was wholly enjoyable.

The story of the bombing of Pearl Harbor is a well known and well documented event but one I find that pales in significance to what the British endured for over two years prior to this. The Americans refused to have any part of the war up until this point but as soon as they were attacked in one fell swoop they jumped in guns blazing. And while they thought the attack on Pearl Harbor was horrific, they had not spared a thought for Britain who endured daily and nightly bombings in the Blitz for eight months...and they never complained. Even when Ginny arrived in England to ferry planes with the ATA (Air Transport Auxilliary), she was shocked at the devastation in each of the cities and the rationing that the country was living with. Even after they entered the war, America was still never under the threat of invasion or attack that Britain was for its duration of six long years.

The characters in this story are all well developed even if a little unlikeable in part. Ginny was delightful, Robyn was reserved and Ashleigh was complicated and spiky. The supporting characters in Lili, Jack, Maile and Zak were each of them remarkable in their respective ways. I enjoyed getting to know each of them and a few others along the way.

Overall, A LETTER FROM PEARL HARBOR is a wonderful read that brings an almost forgotten time to life through the detailed description and dialogue written by Anna Stuart's competent hand. There is so much more to be said for this book but to do so would be to spoil it.

Recommended for fans of historical fiction, wartime fiction and dual timelines.

Note...as someone who has been taught UK English, I found myself having to constantly correct my spelling of "harbor" to the American form for this review. In UK English, it is spelt "harbour" and somehow it just didn't seem right spelling it otherwise...lol

And who writes these book descriptions? Ginny's name wasn't McAllister, but Martin before she married when she became Harris. Where does McAllister come from?

I would like to thank #AnnaStuart, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #ALetterFromPearlHarbor in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Anna Stuart lives in Derbyshire with her campervan-mad husband, two hungry teenagers and a slightly loopy dog. She was hooked on books from the moment she first opened one in her cot so is thrilled to now have several of her own to her name.

Having studied English literature at Cambridge university, she took an enjoyable temporary trip into the ‘real world’ as a factory planner, before returning to her first love and becoming an author. History has also always fascinated her. Living in an old house with a stone fireplace, she often wonders who sat around it before her and is intrigued by how actively the past is woven into the present, something she likes to explore in her novels.

Anna loves the way that writing lets her ‘try on’ so many different lives, but her favourite part of the job is undoubtedly hearing from readers. 

Social Media links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

PUBLISHER:

Stay up to date with upcoming releases from Bookouture Group by following them on these social media accounts.

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

REVIEW: The Secret Diary by Anna Stuart

The Secret Diary by Anna Stuart

Genre: Historical fiction, Contemporary fiction, Post-WW2, Dual timeline

Read: 28th July 2021

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Published: 3rd August 2021

★★★★★ 5 stars

DESCRIPTION:

Two women. One house. And a wartime secret that spans decades…

Norfolk, 1945: Only a few months ago Nancy Jones was fighting for her country as a gunner girl. Now she’s struggling to adjust to her responsibilities as a gamekeeper’s wife. After a whirlwind romance, Nancy is deeply in love with her handsome husband Joe but there is still so much they don’t know about each other. When a secret from Nancy’s war years threatens to resurface, will the terrible truth about the worst night of her life shatter their new marriage?

Norfolk, 2019: Devastated by the sudden loss of her husband, Lorna Haynes escapes to the beautiful but crumbling Gamekeeper’s Cottage. There, she stumbles upon a locked room. When she enters, it’s like going back in time. A soldier’s uniform hangs on the back of the door, the flowery wallpaper still intact, the spindle of the record player frozen and ready to play. At the back of the room, Lorna discovers a red, leather-bound diary in a hidden compartment of a desk drawer.

As Lorna battles with heartache, she takes comfort in reading the ink-stained words. Turning the pages of the old book, she learns of the incredible bravery of the woman who lived in the house decades before her. And discovers a shocking wartime secret that will change the course of her own life…

Fans of The Nightingale, The Alice Network, and Lilac Girls will love this unforgettable, poignant tale of love, loss and courage during the darkest days of war.

MY REVIEW:

I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Anna Stuart's fascinating dual timeline tale THE SECRET DIARY.

There is always, it seems, more than one place to keep a secret...

In this case it is in a red leather-bound diary which is at the heart of this beautifully told story that spans the decades. 

2019: Lorna Haynes, recently and tragically widowed, arrives at the Gameskeeper Cottage in Langham with her two young sons Charlie (9) and Stan (5) in tow. Norwich holds too many memories of life with Matt so Lorna has escaped to the country for the summer to find some healing and learn how to move on without her loving husband.

Upon arrival, Lorna is greeted loving by her her newly married mother Mary to the kind and gentle David, a retired GP and inherited owner of Gameskeeper Cottage. Mary leads them to the back of the house to the annex, an add-on to the quaint old thatched cottage after the Great War. And as soon as Lorna opens the door it is like stepping back in time. The annex serves as a separate living area with a kitchenette, living area as well as bunk beds for the boys and a bedroom for herself. It is, however, untouched from the forties in decor with it's old furniture, cerise wallpaper even down to the old wireless sitting on the mantle. 

Once settled, Lorna takes in the history of the room and all therein, even the dressing table with its triple mirror. She opens the drawer and reaches in unconsciously for a hairbrush that isn't there. Instead she feels the telltale ridge of a secret compartment, commonly found furniture pieces of this era. With a tug and a pull and up comes the flap revealing a rich red leather-bound book that was obviously a diary. 

Tentatively Lorna opens the pages and begins to read, transported back to 1945 and a different time...

1945: The war is over! And to commemorate the occasion, Nancy has bought herself a beautiful red leather diary to preserve the memories of her new life with Joe here at Gameskeeper Cottage. When Joe had first brought her home to this beautiful little cottage with the rose arboured entry and the slightly "squint" thatched roof, Nancy couldn't wait for her new life as a gameskeeper to begin. 

But it seems her in-laws had other ideas. Ted and Betty were very welcoming of her as the daughter they never had but having lived through two wars, they had firm ideas on where her place should be. Not out on the estate shooting pheasants and getting her hands dirty. She may have been a gunner girl at the nearby Langham RAF airfield during the war, but in civilian life she was a wife with a home to keep, meals to make and laundry to do. There was no time nor place for her out on the estate with the men.

Joe, however, knew of Nancy's desire to be a gameskeeper and what's more he'd supported it. At least that's what he said. He'd fallen in love with a woman full of life that could he really see her tied to the kitchen and laundry and a life of domesticity? And then came 1st Ocotber - the first day of open season - and there was Nancy in her best frock serving finger food to the men who were about to begin the season. And then she saw Merry, daughter of Lord Langham, dressed and ready for the shoot. When questioning why Merry, being a woman, was allowed on the shoot and yet she wasn't Ted told her because she was aristocracy. Nancy was livid. She was so angered that Joe stood there silently beside his father and did nothing to back her up that she threw the most shocking words at him in front of the villagers joining the shoot before storming off to pack her bags and leave Langham.

However, that stand-off proved to be a turning point and life in the chocolate box little cottage turned something of a corner as Joe and Nancy made some compromises with Ted and Betty which served to enrich their lives in ways they didn't think possible. But still Ted was adamant on one thing - that guns have no place in a woman's hands. Nancy must then resign herself to a life of partial domesticity and helping out on the estate...but her desire to be a gamekeeper still burns deep within though Ted remained unmoved on the matter.

So Nancy poured her heart out on the pages of her leather-bound diary - her loves, her joys, her sorrows and frustrations...and even the secret that she and her fellow gunner girls swore to keep. Then in a moment of clarity, she ripped the pages of those entries out but not wanting to destroy them, sought another hiding place for them. For there is more than one place to keep a secret...and keep it she must.

This historical tale has a unique story to tell and Anna Stuart has captured it beautifully, weaving the two eras together seamlessly from present day to post-war Norfolk through the secret diary that has Lorna discovered. She discovers that Nancy is not so different from herself despite the seven decade gap between them and what the diary reveals is the difficulty that Nancy had adjusting to civilian life after the adrenaline of that as a gunner girl. 

THE SECRET DIARY is a tale of transition for both women as they find their feet in a world so different to the one to which they had grown accustomed and must now get used to living without. Both women are stronger than they realise as they come up against challenges that force them to question everything they thought they knew. The traditional lifestyle to which Nancy finds herself within when she yearns to break out of the mould tradition had shaped for women. I can't understand why others find this aspect so frustrating to read about because it was just how it was then. Just because we live in different times doesn't make those that lived before us wrong. It was just a different way of life and while times have changed, not all of it is good. While people may look back and think men had no respect for women with their traditional views, it is in fact the opposite. Men had far more respect for women then than they do today and it is because they respected them that they preferred to maintain the traditional roles. It's not something that people today can understand and that's fine.

The present day story was good but probably not as engaging or as equally strong as Nancy's, which I loved. Each time I was in the present day, I found myself wanting to go back to the diary and lose myself to time and uncover the secret Nancy and her friends had vowed to keep. It was the past that was true escapism...for both Lorna and myself.

The story weaves seamlessly from past to present and back again in alternating chapters with Nancy's predominantly through her diary which is always a perfect segue into the past. It is so expertly done the reader feels as if they are the only ones privy to Nancy's thoughts having discovered the diary themselves.

A hugely enjoyable read, THE SECRET DIARY is the post-war tale of one woman trying to transition to civilian life and another endeavouring to find the strength to move on in the wake of tragic loss. I loved it so entirely that I didn't want to leave Nancy behind or the characters I had come to know and love.

Perfect for fans of historical WW2 fiction and dual timelines such as Lorna Cook and Kathleen McGurl.

I would like to thank #AnnaStuart, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheSecretDiary in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Anna Stuart lives in Derbyshire with her campervan-mad husband, two hungry teenagers and a slightly loopy dog. She was hooked on books from the moment she first opened one in her cot so is thrilled to now have several of her own to her name.

Having studied English literature at Cambridge university, she took an enjoyable temporary trip into the ‘real world’ as a factory planner, before returning to her first love and becoming an author. History has also always fascinated her. Living in an old house with a stone fireplace, she often wonders who sat around it before her and is intrigued by how actively the past is woven into the present, something she likes to explore in her novels.

Anna loves the way that writing lets her ‘try on’ so many different lives, but her favourite part of the job is undoubtedly hearing from readers. 

Social Media links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

PUBLISHER:

Stay up to date with upcoming releases from Bookouture Group by following them on these social media accounts.

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram