A young girl flees Nazi-occupied Germany with her family and best friend, only to discover that the overseas refuge they had been promised is an illusion in this “powerful and affecting” (Kirkus Reviews) debut novel, perfect for fans of The Nightingale, All the Light We Cannot See, and Schindler’s List. Before everything changed, young Hannah Rosenthal lived a charmed life. But now, in 1939, the … lived a charmed life. But now, in 1939, the streets of Berlin are draped with red, white, and black flags; her family’s fine possessions are hauled away; and they are no longer welcome in the places that once felt like home. Hannah and her best friend, Leo Martin, make a pact: whatever the future has in store for them, they’ll meet it together.
Hope appears in the form of the S.S. St. Louis, a transatlantic liner offering Jews safe passage out of Germany. After a frantic search to obtain visas, the Rosenthals and the Martins depart on the luxurious ship bound for Havana. Life on board the St. Louis is like a surreal holiday for the refugees, with masquerade balls, exquisite meals, and polite, respectful service. But soon ominous rumors from Cuba undermine the passengers’ fragile sense of safety. From one day to the next, impossible choices are offered, unthinkable sacrifices are made, and the ship that once was their salvation seems likely to become their doom.
Seven decades later in New York City, on her twelfth birthday, Anna Rosen receives a strange package from an unknown relative in Cuba, her great-aunt Hannah. Its contents will inspire Anna and her mother to travel to Havana to learn the truth about their family’s mysterious and tragic past, a quest that will help Anna understand her place and her purpose in the world.
The German Girl sweeps from Berlin at the brink of the Second World War to Cuba on the cusp of revolution, to New York in the wake of September 11, before reaching its deeply moving conclusion in the tumult of present-day Havana. Based on a true story, this masterful novel gives voice to the joys and sorrows of generations of exiles, forever seeking a place called home.more
I devoured The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa via audiobook. I found myself extending my morning walks just so I could listen to a few more chapters. Inspired by the real events of the transatlantic ocean liner The St. Louis this novel gives us yet another important perspective of World War II. I found the settings immersive and was easily transported from New York, to Berlin, to the ocean liner, and finally to Cuba. There is a great deal of important historical account found within the intricately woven story of The German Girl yet the story read like a great historical fiction novel I didn’t want to put down.
This book is based on a true event in history that is not know. A ship that carried “undesirables” from German to Cuba. Overall the story was interesting but I never really cared about the characters and it was a very depressing book.
Let me start off by saying that I didn’t know anything about this book. I wanted to know very little about this book. And let me tell you I am so glad that I finally read this book. Hannah story is sad and beautiful and I say beautiful by how she dealt with the things. I have read many stories that were about WW2 and yes all of them are sad but I had no idea about this part of history. How families tried to leave the war and go to Cuba or to America. On the St. Louis they a;; boarded up. To later find out that only certain about people went into Cuba. And the rest were sent back to Germany and to go to Auschwitz to die. I highly recommend this book. I will be reading anything from this author. I want to go on saying that I will remember these characters and the story behind this book and its part of history. Again I highly recommend this book.
Based on real events surrounding the persecution of Jews pre-WWII, this book tells the story of a German Jewish girl who experienced these terrible events.
I was impressed with the recounting of the ship Saint Louis, which carried Germans to Cuba before the war started. Families used all of their remaining savings to buy passage on this ship and entrance into Cuba, which had agreed to accept them. Nearly 1,000 people were on board in this book (and during the actual event) with only less than 40 allowed to embark. The rest of the passengers had to return to Germany and to the dangers of war and religious persecution.
This book mentions another group of people who were at the same time persecuted for their religious beliefs, Jehovah’s Witnesses. One of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mr. Albert, went to the death camp Auschwitz along with Max Rosenthal, the protagonist Hannah’s father. Members of this organization were identified in the camps by purple triangles sewn onto their prison garb. Albert gave his purple triangle to Max because he did not have anyone else to give it to, and it ended up in the Rosenthal/Rosen family artifacts. The fictional Albert and his family were all Jehovah’s Witnesses and would have all been sent to concentration camps. Two other of the book’s characters, Esperanza and Rafael, close friends of the Rosen family in Cuba, were also Jehovah’s Witnesses. A very interesting tidbit about this religious group is they were the only ones who could have avoided the horrible wartime persecution by denouncing their faith. A few did but the vast majority did not, choosing instead to be tortured or even killed rather than turn their backs on their beliefs.
This debut novel treats people’s beliefs and ethnicities with great dignity and honestly relates the trials people faced during the second world war. A second novel, “The Daughter’s Tale,” deals with this same subject matter in an altogether delightful manner. I highly recommend this book.
A family’s sad fate over three generations is shaped when the Nazis persecute the Jewish people in Berlin before WWII. Through young Hannah’s eyes, we see the “ogres” take away the Rosenthal family’s affluent existence, forcing them to seek a new life outside of Germany. Family history unfolds when in Hannah’s waning years in Cuba she contacts her grand-niece in New York City, and the story toggles back and forth between Hannah’s past and the present. The prose has a pleasing rhythm with minimal sentimentality, which heightens dramatic tension as the walls cave in on the Rosenthal family. Hannah and her parents flee Germany for Cuba, and ultimately America, on ocean liner St. Louis. Mr. Lucas-Correa shines light on a historical political travesty that results in human tragedy when Cuba, America and Canada all refused to let the St. Louis dock and passengers disembark, apparently to appease the Nazis in the months before WWII began. The refusals effectively gave a death sentence to seventy percent of the St. Louis’s passengers. Hannah and her mother are 2 of 28 passengers (out of 937) who are allowed to disembark in Cuba, but their hopes for true liberation prove quixotic. Perhaps at core, the story explores the nature of hope, both in the sense of giving it up and clinging to it, and the reality that meaning for one’s life can come in unexpected ways.
Was this review helpful? I am an avid world war based fiction reader and author. You can read more of my takes at https://brodiecurtis.com/curtis-takes/.
Not for the faint of heart, but absolutely for those who wish to understand history and how atrocities happen (sometimes twice in one person’s lifetime) or just read a good book. The story follows a fictional Jewish family trying to leave Germany prior to World War II and the modern day niece of the protagonist (both are adolescent girls). This book also teaches readers about the tragedy of the real-life St. Louis, the Cuba-bound ship holding Jewish refugees that was refused by multiple countries before being forced to return to Europe. It’s not entirely dark, though, which I expected from the first two chapters. I actually put it down for a while because of them! I’d advise any readers to persist, though, because this is a story about humanity and love. Some passages veer on the melodramatic and some portions seem a bit too quick as they cover a wider range of time, but it was a wonderful book and a wonderful read, and maybe an important one, too.
This novel gives love an entirely new perspective and definition. Worth the read.
i didn’t finish this book. too confusing. Hannah one chapter Anna the next etc.
I was totally captivated by the characters and their stories, loved this book.
This was a good read but not outstanding. I would recommend it to a friend but not as an “omg you have to read this.”
It was an interesting read about an aspect of WWII not as well known about how difficult it was to flee from Germany with changing passport regulations and countries rejecting their immigration. The sacrifices made were unfathomable. The plight of those persecuted breaks my heart.
A heart-wrenching story with dual narratives that spans the years of 1939 to 2014. Hannah’s narrative begins in Germany as her family – one of many Jewish families seeking sanctuary from persecution – sets sail the St. Louis for Cuba. Only a handful of passengers are granted entry, while other countries refused entry of the remaining refugees. Decades later, after losing her father, Anna and her mother receive a set of photos from the now elderly Hannah. Their stories eventually converge as the telling of Hannah’s fateful voyage unfolds. While the historical aspects of this novel were interesting, the storyline could have really shrined with a little more punch.
This book is worth reading. I could not put it down. A real tear jerker .
I really enjoyed this book. Characters were believable and I cared about them.
A great read! A look at the impact of WWII on the people of Great Britain, the prejudice against anything German, and the human capacity to look beyond the hardships and do what is right.
Read very slowly.
I enjoy reading about WW II, and his book was based on a factual story I was not familiar with. It was very interesting, but also very sad.
Horrible I wish I could give it no stars!
Basically very little. Would NOT recommend it
The story is based on a period that I like to read about. The heroine rises above the very difficult circumstances of her life and lives life well.