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
Historical fiction. This is a horrible true story written so that normal people can actually read about it. I guess we need to know what people are capable of doing under extreme circumstances both good and bad. It is a story I will remember and be thinking about for quite a while.
Was nice twist of mixing 2 time time periods.
I had not heard of Canada and other countries turning Jews away during WWII. Eye opening. A good read and a lesson to learn about helping others.
I enjoy books about this time period and this one covers one family from 1938 – 2014.
The story of a Jewish family escaping from Nazi Germany on the St. Louis, a ship that had difficulty finding a home for its passengers. It can be a difficult read, but it’s important to know what happened in the past so we don’t let it happen again. This is historical fiction and beautifully written.
Book about a German girl during the Holocaust…true events. Historical…we need to be reminded of this horrible event when occurred 70 yrs ago.
This was a novel which portrayed a very realistic view of what happened in WW2.
I am fascinated by the Nazis. How they came into power, how regular people ended up turning in their neighbors, how brainwashed and ugly people became. I’m so lucky not to have lived through that, but I can’t learn enough about the horrible lives people lived, without food, afraid to go outside or answer a pounding door. The Nazis ruined their own country before they ruined so many others and I still don’t get why.
This book does not illuminate the real-life ill fated voyage of the St. Louis – a luxury liner that Jewish people paid their last marks for to get out of Germany, after it was really too late – only to find it a terrible trick played on them.
The story is not a real life account, but rather a fictional take of one family that was able to get on this ship. I found too childish in its telling, but it is being told by a twelve year old girl.
If you’re looking to learn the truth about this voyage, this is not the book for you. It’s fast paced, and confusing. Anna, Hannah, who is whom – huh? I didn’t find the story particularly well done. Three stars, I’m afraid.