Author: Armando Lucas Correa
ISBN: 978-1-4711-6160-5
RRP: $29.99
The German Girl is a new release already gaining some great reviews. I was approached by Simon & Schuster to feature this one as a book club and it is getting rave reviews in their office so I couldn’t resist. I hope our readers love it just as much.
I have an interesting relationship with historical novels in that I don’t read a lot of them but generally I grow to love the ones I do read. The German Girl is quite recent history and it centres on a terrible time for the human race which I fear is becoming more and more likely to happen again.
The story opens in Berlin, the year is 1939 and the persecution of ‘undesirables’ has begun. It isn’t actually said for a long time who the ‘undesirables’ are but we can put the pieces together to work it out. They are stripped of their jobs, their businesses and pushed out of their homes. Eventually 900 of them manage to buy passage on the SS St. Louis to take them out of Germany to begin a new life.
Hannah Rosenthal is fast approaching twelve and her life has always been charmed, her parents are wealthy and well respected in the community. All of this changes when the red, white and black flags begin being draped all through the city. Hannah and her best friend Leo continue exploring the streets of Berlin, avoiding the uniforms and the turned down noses of the pure. Leo is great at listening to what is going on with the adults and he manages to know what’s going to happen before it does.
A lot has been written about World War II and much of it focuses on the actual war, The German Girl takes us back before war is declared, to when the persecution began. 900 passengers boarded the SS St. Louis in the hope of starting a new life elsewhere. They managed to get together the exorbitant fees for passages and visas, through two different channels,and sail for Cuba where they plan to stay transitionally until they reach the top of the waiting list for entry into America.
Anna Rosen is an eleven year old girl living in New York City who receives a strange parcel of photos from Cuba connecting her to a family she wasn’t aware she had. She travels with her mother to meet her great-aunt Hannah and learn about where her family came from.
The German Girl is well researched and beautifully written, its is a heartbreaking tale of persecution and never finding a place to belong. It tells the tale of displaced persons who were evicted from their homes and unable to find a new one. They worked hard to gain entrance to another country and left their homes in good faith, only to be betrayed again. Families were separated, fortunes were lost and acceptance was never found even where resettlement was allowed.
I think it is important that these novels are still being written to highlight the acts perpetrated in World War II, many of us weren’t around to see it first hand but history certainly seems to be repeating.
There were a lot of things not actually spelled out which I think was a great story-telling tool and certainly spoke volumes about the times Hannah lived through.
I found that The German Girl took quite a while to really engage me, I’m not quite sure why. The story-telling was realistic and emotional, it was well written and the research was well done. I still read the first half in very short bursts, but once I was invested I got through the second half in a day or so. The German Girl tells an important story and I think it is one that we need to remember.
The Author’s Note tells us of the factual basis of the story and it’s heartbreaking to think of what these people went through, and what refugees suffer today.
Armando Lucas Correa can be followed on Facebook.
The German Girl is published by Simon & Schuster and is available now from Angus & Robertson Bookworld, Booktopia and where all good books are sold.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster 30 of our Beauty and Lace club members will be reading The German Girl so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments below.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
Thanks for the opportunity to read this book.
This is the story of two characters- Hannah and Anna across two different times. Hannah’s story is set in 1939 Berlin before the war has begun but the Jewish persecution has started. Hannah and her family board the SS Louis to Cuba to escape the persecution as they are a wealthy family that can afford the passage.
In the present time we meet Anna who is related to Hannah and we find out she has her own life troubles as well as her father being killed in 9/11 before she was born. She receives a parcel that takes her on a journey to find out about her families history during the war.
It is an interesting take on the war and the world as seen through the perspective of young girls. I really struggled to get into this book and had to keep pushing myself to read it but in the end it is well worth a read and gives you another insight into the war.
The German Girl is a novel that I found difficult at first to get into the story, changing between 1939 and 2014. There was much information to take in but once I had read a few chapters I really found the story started to flow for me and from then on I was hooked.
The story begins in Berlin in 1939. We follow the life of 12 year old Hannah Rosenthal and her wealthy and well respected family. We get to see what happens to the Jewish/German community as the outbreak of World War 2 strikes from the eyes of Hannah. The family is set in turmoil as they are stripped of their jobs, business, and finally their home. The family has to pay exorbitant fees to be able to get passages and visas for the sailing on the SS St Louis to Havana Cuba to start a new life.
The story is also set in 2014. Anna Rosen who is also 12 lives with her mum. Anna receives a package from her unknown Great Aunt Hannah of old photos and then has questions and answers about her Father’s family. Anna and her mum then travel to Havana to try to find theses answers about the father that she never met.
The story really made me see things in a different light and opened my eyes to what life would have been like in World War 2 in Germany, a real history lesson.
The German Girl was a great read, and I would highly recommend to everyone.
The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa is a historical fiction novel that spans generations throughout the tale.
We are introduced to Hannah Rosenthal, a German Jewish girl, aged almost 12, who hails from a fairly wealthy background, living in Berlin.
Her best friend is a boy named Leo Martin, who I found to be a delightful character that bought some brightness to this rather confronting story.
It is 1939, just before the war, and the town where Hannah resides is changing, and not for the better.
Friends no longer want to communicate with each other, and the neighbourhood feels unsafe.
Hannah and her parents become 3 of some 900 passengers to board the SS St Louis, a luxurious transatlantic liner that will take them safely to Havana, where they will then be put on a waiting list to gain entry in the United States of America.
But it is not all smooth sailing once they are onboard.
We also meet Anna Rosen, who resides in New York, the year is 2014, and Anna has lost her father to the Twin Tower bombings.
She receives a package from Hannah, who is in fact her long-lost great Aunt.
Anna travels with her grieving mother to meet Hannah, who still resides in Havana after all this time.
This story has a lot of information to process, but it has been researched very, very well, and that really comes across as you read.
I felt at times that there was a little bit too much going on at once, which made it a little complicated, and it did take me quite a bit of time to get really attached to it, but the story is highly emotional, and focuses on persecution and finding salvation and hope in the direst of circumstances.
It is not difficult to see why it is getting many great reviews.
If you are a fan of historical fiction, then this book should be the next one you read.
Personally, I enjoyed it, even though it was quite sad and not one I would usually choose to read.
I particularly liked the Author’s Note and the photos that are included at the back of the novel.
I was very late in having the book delivered, living the other side of australia literally, and only received last week. It is a book that I am reading through very slowly as it is written somuch about what happened in the past for this family, but I know it did happen, not quite the same , for lots of families, and therefore it is good to be brought to our notice again, even though the wars mentioned are past… It involves the past life of one family, that is indirectly involved with a later family of their own, through the aunt Hannah, and literally it is very modern, as how many of us are into the geneology of our families, and the backgrounds that we want to know so much about..I know I am., and find that research brings back up so much… I would recommend this book, but suggest you make a little time each day to read some of it, and then absorb, and go to the next few chapters… I shall keep handy and in another month or so read it again…… thank you for the privelege of being able to read it… it is very enlightening about the past for one or more families.
The German Girl was a great book. It is based on a true story. I found it very difficult to start and read a few pages and put it down. I was having trouble following the thread. Then I suddenly became immersed in Hanna’s story and could not put it down.
Hanna’ is a young Jewish girl in a wealthy family, she has no idea of what is happening or why people are calling her dirty. Her father was an esteemed professor and her mother a wealthy socialite. Now they are the undesirables. The story is beautifully written. I knew a lot about this period of history. But I did not know the story of the ship.SS St Louis. They sailed from Germany to Havanna en route to USA. However the political situation changes and they are not welcome anywhere. Hanna is one of the fortunate few to disembark.. She spends the rest of her life there.
At the same time there is the 2014 story of Ana in New York, who is related to Hanna. Their meeting and discoveries deepen the story. The story of Hanna’s lost love is heart wrenching.
There are similarities between Hanna and Anna’s mothers, which add more depth to the story. There are also very real links to the current world view of anti refugees. Why has not the world learned from history?
This is a book well worth reading. It is very emotional, poignant, informative and interesting.
Thankyou for the chance to read The German Girl
I found this book to hard get into a good read rhythm as it jumped back and forth in dates quite often it was like i was reading two books at once but bout half way through it all seem to fit together. And turn into a very moving book and the way Armando Lucas Correa descibe what happened back in the 1930 -1940 was fantastic. It was like you were there experiencing it for youself.
I feel id like to know more about a couple of other characters in the book that were important to the storyline but i must remember it wasnt their story. I just felt a little incomplete.
Overall a very good read and would highly recommend it to someone who is into historical fiction.
Simon and Schuster you have done it again! Every time I pick up a book published by you it guarantees never to fail me.
Although I had to read a few chapters to start really getting into this book, it was so worth persisting, Armando was a very in depth and clever writer, captivating me into the world of Hannah, Leo and Anna and all other people around them. I felt like I was right there beside them feeling their pain, heartache and all the others senses around them.
This book was worth getting into reading as what went on back then, made me feel the loneliness, detachment, loss and hope which is a talented way of writing on Armando`s behalf.
I would love this book to be made into a mini-series, how good would that be!?
This book really takes you back into history and there is so much we can all learn and how nowadays we can be so grateful our lives are not as bad as back then.
My partners nanna is German and made me realise how bad it must have been for her as I know she went through hard times through the war and this was so relatable to that. Events like these must really change a person.
I absolutely love pictures in a book as it brings reality and depth to any book.
How interesting this story was and I would recommend this book as it is very moving and not one to be forgotten.
Thankyou B & L for choosing me to read and review.
Thank you for the chance to review The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa.
It starts in Berlin in 1939 through the eyes of a jewish girl twelve year old Hannah. It is an insight how the Jews were treated at the time. I found it a bit frustrating that the story changes between the 1940’s and mid 2010.
Hannah and her mother Alma are going on a ship called the St. Louis to Cuba and then America. A great time was had on the ship by Alma with dinners and balls. Hannah also has a friend Leo from Berlin with her, they are having fun but then the Cuban government is now not allowing them visas.
The story is also set in New York, 2014. Anna Rosen receives a package from her Great Aunt Hannah which contains photographs. Anna is seeking answers about her fathers side of the family. Anna travels to Havana with her Mum to learn about the father she never knew.
I did enjoy the book although I didn’t really get into it until the second chapter. The author has included notes and photographs also.
A highly moving and sensitive story about Hannah and her Jewish family. Her life about war torn Germany and what they need to do to obtain safe passage to Cuba. One on the passenger ship they find their purchased visas are not valid but they find a way! Cuba is where they will live.
Enter Anna and her mother, years later, who live in New York. Anna receives a letter from her Great aunt in Cuba. Anna’s family history leads her and her mother to Cuba where she meets Hannah. Here she learns about her father who died prior to her birth.
The books moves from Hannah to Anna with each chapter. A little confusing at first but a few chapters in and the characters come to life as being related.
A sensitive story, well written with history being captured.
A lovely read, albeit sad at times.
Thankyou for the opportunity to read and review.
Wow, talk about a heart wrenching read! This is the most involved in a historical fiction novel I have ever been. The first sentence gripped me and I found myself clenched throughout the entire read. The most moving factor for me was the complete list at the end of the book that stated the names of all the passengers on board the St. Louis. I found myself choking back tears while reading the horrible history described in the author’s note; reflection on such torture seemed not important enough an action to take, yet it’s all we can do. I’m hoping books such as this one can help us remember the injustices done in our world history as to not repeat them again. Highly recommended to fans of WWII historical fiction;.