Look for Pam Jenoff’s new novel, The Woman with the Blue Star, an unforgettable story of courage and friendship during wartime.A New York Times bestseller!“Readers who enjoyed Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale and Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants will embrace this novel. “ —Library Journal“Secrets, lies, treachery, and passion…. I read this novel in a headlong rush.” —Christina Baker Kline, #1 New … Journal
“Secrets, lies, treachery, and passion…. I read this novel in a headlong rush.” —Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train
A powerful novel of friendship set in a traveling circus during World War II, The Orphan’s Tale introduces two extraordinary women and their harrowing stories of sacrifice and survival.
Sixteen-year-old Noa has been cast out in disgrace after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier and being forced to give up her baby. She lives above a small rail station, which she cleans in order to earn her keep… When Noa discovers a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, she is reminded of the child that was taken from her. And in a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night.
Noa finds refuge with a German circus, but she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. But as the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another—or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything.
Don’t Miss Pam Jenoff’s new novel, The Woman with the Blue Star, a riveting tale of unfathomable sacrifice and unlikely friendship during World War II.
Read these other sweeping epics from New York Times bestselling author Pam Jenoff.
The Lost Girls of Paris
The Ambassador’s Daughter
The Diplomat’s Wife
The Kommandant’s Girl
The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach
The Winter Guest
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What an incredible story couched in the unexpected setting of WWII in Europe and a family circus. It is a story filled with expected tragedy related to WWII, but it is also filled with beautiful stories of love and heroic characters with iron wills. At the end of the book I felt more human, with a tightness in my chest and a lump in my throat.
Amazing story that all should read and learn.
ENJOYED THIS BOOK AND THE BRAVE PEOPE.
Informative book about circus folks in WWII
This was an engaging story but I had trouble at first connecting story to title. Using circus as setting for a WWll story was interesting twist. At times it was confusing going back and forth between characters and learning their history. I love that I did not totally figure out ending. Loved that author drew from so many different sources to bring this story together.
I always enjoy learning new things and this book was no exception. The devastation of WW2 was everywhere. The characters were so real you felt as if you were part of the story.
This is one of those rare books that stays with you long after the last page is turned. I highly recommend this book!
Holds its own in the canon of holocaust literature.
It shows current readers a part of our history many people do not know about.
Historically relevant. Flawed characters are believable.
makes you thankful for your own life!
Another insight to a haunting reality people had to endure during the Nazi regime.
Scary what the characters went through. I’m sure it represents how things went at the time. So sad.
Good story with an interesting perspective of the history of WWII. Very well researched.
Great story. Characters that I cared about. Great discussion when my book club read it. I highly recommend it .
This author grabs your attention and takes you along for the adventure. The backdrop of the circus adds the mystery and action.
The book starts with a 90-year-old woman visiting an exhibit at a museum. The exhibit transports her back to 1944, Europe, in the midst of war.
When Noa’s parents found out about her pregnancy she was shipped off to a girls’ home until the child was born. Then the child was taken from her and she was kicked out of the school and left on her own – with nothing. She finds a job at the train station. But one day she makes a decision that will totally change her life.
Astrid is a Jewess whose German officer husband has been ordered to divorce his wife. She must go, but where. She does not know where her family is. She has no papers.
Both Noa and Astrid find sanctuary in a traveling circus. Astrid, who was from a circus family, is a professional aerialist. It falls on her to train Noa to be in the aerialist performance with her.
Pam Jenoff explains in an author’s note at the end of the book that she became fascinated with the stories of traveling circuses during that time. And it was not unusual for a circus to hide Jews among them.
I normally love Pam Jenoff’s books but this one just did not grab me. It isn’t a bad book. In fact, it is very well written. Her descriptions of circus life was wonderful. But I could not connect with the characters. It was only in the last 100 pages that I really felt strong emotions regarding Astrid’s situation. There were some characters in the circus that could have presented some additional layers to the story. Peter, Astrid’s lover. Herr Neuhoff, the owner of the circus, the man who risked his life hiding Jews. Luc, the mayor’s son, yearning to be a painter. I think there could have been so much more emotion to the story if these characters were more than just devices to move the “Noa and Astrid show” along.
The book is worth reading due to its historical significance. There are lots of Holocaust books out now but this is the only one I have heard of that centers around a circus. The last few chapters finally tugged on my emotions. But I was left feeling somewhat empty as it should have kicked me in the gut and twisted my heart. It isn’t one of her best but still worth reading.
This was a fascinating story of a circus, a group of people in Germany that I didn’t know much about.
Kind of a Let Down, only because I love the Idea and it falls a little flat. I expect so much from Pam Jenoff because I loved “The Kommandants Girl”. Don’t get me wrong, the book is well written and there are some really good things about it. I just felt that the characters fell flat
What a brilliantly written book! Very imaginative characters and events. Sheds light on the circus in Europe during WWll. Hauntingly sad. Definitely recommend