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A review by louiza_read2live
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
4.0
Based on testimonies and facts from the Nuremberg Trials and the true stories of three women that their lives were intertwined by the horror of WWII, Lilac Girls is a historical novel worth reading.
From 1939 - 1959 we follow the lives of these women and the lives of the people closest to them as they navigate through the years of Hitler's
invasion and the years that followed after WWII-- Caroline, a woman in the French consulate in New York and Kasia, a Polish teenager living in Poland with her loving family before their lives are about to change forever-- and Herta Oberheuser, one of the Nazi doctors directly involved in war crimes.
Be prepared to cry and be furious but to also experience the beauty of hope after horrific trauma. Possibly the most powerful lesson that we can get from this novel is that the process of healing is arduous but when healing finally comes, it resembles the beauty of blossomed lilacs-- In the words of Caroline, "a lilac only blossoms after a harsh winter" (Pg. 440).
Your soul will weep for the human suffering, but it will weep even more for the incomprehensible fact that this suffering was not caused by a natural, inevitable disaster, but by the egregious acts of fellow humans. (And sadly, people still today continue to inflict unimaginable suffering to others). Over and over I kept thinking, "how could they do this!? How?" not because I don't know what was done, but because no matter how many times I hear it and read it, I feel as if I'm hearing it first time-- I just can't comprehend the level of cruelty, the level of inhumanity, the level of which a human soul can be dead to sensitivity and human feelings, and the absence of conscience.
You will experience the evil of humanity while in its midst, you will also find the highest acts of altruism and human goodness.
The book was mostly well written, but I felt that the Caroline chapters, especially the first ones, were slow and somewhat wearisome and prosaic. Also, despite all her good works and intentions, I didn't find Caroline to be a very likable person until much later in the book.
However, other than that, the book was great and I also learned several specific historical facts that I only knew vaguely before. After this, I'm now ready to start reading The Nuremberg Trials, a non-fiction book I have on my bookshelves waiting to be read for too long.
PS. The author's note at the end of the novel has valuable information. I would urge the readers of this novel to not skip reading it.
Update: Since then, I have read The Nuremberg Trials by Ann Tusa and John Tusa. An excellent non-fiction book about the creation of the International Court and the trial of the Nazis War Criminals after their defeat in WWII. Compelling and riveting will make one cringe at times at the unfathomable depth of darkness a human soul can carry and the obvious mental instability and sickness of the minds and unrepentant hearts of those who committed inconceivably egregious acts against humanity. At times, I wasn't even sure if I should be feeling pity (not in the meaning of sympathy, I need a better English word) for the depth of evil and willful ignorance that had absorbed their hearts and minds or to continue to be disgusted by it.
This is not an easy or quick read and at times the information was overwhelming and hard for me to keep track of all the names, titles, and cases. Notwithstanding the reading difficulty, it is a gripping book of indispensable value.
From 1939 - 1959 we follow the lives of these women and the lives of the people closest to them as they navigate through the years of Hitler's
invasion and the years that followed after WWII-- Caroline, a woman in the French consulate in New York and Kasia, a Polish teenager living in Poland with her loving family before their lives are about to change forever-- and Herta Oberheuser, one of the Nazi doctors directly involved in war crimes.
Be prepared to cry and be furious but to also experience the beauty of hope after horrific trauma. Possibly the most powerful lesson that we can get from this novel is that the process of healing is arduous but when healing finally comes, it resembles the beauty of blossomed lilacs-- In the words of Caroline, "a lilac only blossoms after a harsh winter" (Pg. 440).
Your soul will weep for the human suffering, but it will weep even more for the incomprehensible fact that this suffering was not caused by a natural, inevitable disaster, but by the egregious acts of fellow humans. (And sadly, people still today continue to inflict unimaginable suffering to others). Over and over I kept thinking, "how could they do this!? How?" not because I don't know what was done, but because no matter how many times I hear it and read it, I feel as if I'm hearing it first time-- I just can't comprehend the level of cruelty, the level of inhumanity, the level of which a human soul can be dead to sensitivity and human feelings, and the absence of conscience.
You will experience the evil of humanity while in its midst, you will also find the highest acts of altruism and human goodness.
The book was mostly well written, but I felt that the Caroline chapters, especially the first ones, were slow and somewhat wearisome and prosaic. Also, despite all her good works and intentions, I didn't find Caroline to be a very likable person until much later in the book.
However, other than that, the book was great and I also learned several specific historical facts that I only knew vaguely before. After this, I'm now ready to start reading The Nuremberg Trials, a non-fiction book I have on my bookshelves waiting to be read for too long.
PS. The author's note at the end of the novel has valuable information. I would urge the readers of this novel to not skip reading it.
Update: Since then, I have read The Nuremberg Trials by Ann Tusa and John Tusa. An excellent non-fiction book about the creation of the International Court and the trial of the Nazis War Criminals after their defeat in WWII. Compelling and riveting will make one cringe at times at the unfathomable depth of darkness a human soul can carry and the obvious mental instability and sickness of the minds and unrepentant hearts of those who committed inconceivably egregious acts against humanity. At times, I wasn't even sure if I should be feeling pity (not in the meaning of sympathy, I need a better English word) for the depth of evil and willful ignorance that had absorbed their hearts and minds or to continue to be disgusted by it.
This is not an easy or quick read and at times the information was overwhelming and hard for me to keep track of all the names, titles, and cases. Notwithstanding the reading difficulty, it is a gripping book of indispensable value.