“He had no way to tell her he had given her life: no right to tell her to abandon hope.” A fictional story of every man and woman interred in Nazi death camps throughout the Second World War, this novel is based on real events. Part One – In the Shadow of the WolfIn a death camp in 1940’s Poland, a young doctor and one of his nurses struggle to save lives and relieve the suffering of hundreds of … of hundreds of women. As their relationship blossoms, amid the death and deprivation, they join the camp resistance and, despite the danger of betrayal, he steals damning evidence of war-crimes. Afraid of repercussions, and for the sake of his post-war family, he hides the evidence but hard truths and terrible choices haunt him, as does an unkept promise to his lost love.
Part Two – Though the Heavens should Fall
In present-day England, his granddaughter seeks to answer the questions posed by her grandfather’s enigmatic carving. Her own relationship in tatters, she meets a modern historian who, intrigued by the carving, agrees to help her discover its purpose. As her grandfather’s past seeps into the present, she betrays the man she loves and is forced to confront her own guilt in order to be able to forgive the unforgivable and keep her grandfather’s promise.
Excerpt:
“A young woman bent to retrieve her possessions. An SS officer strode past. ‘Leave. Luggage afterwards.’
She stood wide-eyed like a startled deer, one arm cradling a baby. Beside her an elderly woman clutched a battered suitcase. The girl’s eyes darted from soldier to painted signboard and back. ‘What are we doing here, grandmother? Why have they brought us here?’
The wind teased at her cheerful red shawl, revealing and lifting long black hair. She straightened and attempted a smile. ‘It’ll be all right, Grandmother. God has protected us on our journey.’
Voices rasped, whips cracked, dogs barked… An SS officer pushed towards a woman of about fifty. ‘How old?’ She didn’t respond so the officer shouted.
He edged closer. As a doctor he held a privileged postion, but he’d also discovered he had a gift for languages. He translated the German to stilted Hungarian, adding quietly. ‘Say you’re under forty-five. Say you are well. Stand here with the younger women.’ He moved from woman to woman, intercepting those he could.‘Say you are well. Say your daughter is sixteen. Say you can work or have a skill. Say you aren’t pregnant.’
Miriam’s eyes glistened. ‘May He rescue us from every foe.’ She touched her grandmother’s cheek, a gentle lingering movement, and placed a tender kiss on her baby’s forehead. She moved to stand where he pointed.
Miriam’s eyes met his. He had no way to tell her had given her life: no right to tell her to abandon hope. ‘Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.’ ”
Words readers have used to describe this story – ‘astonishing – compelling – relentlessly engaging – important – complex and brilliant.’ Readers’ feedback, via reviews, is hugely appreciated.
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More than a mystery, more than a romance, and certainly more than a historical. Touching the Wire takes us through a granddaughter’s curiosity about the secret behind her grandfather’s artefacts and keepsakes. The truth takes us back in time in flashbacks to Walt’s period in Auschwitz during WW2 – but he wasn’t a prisoner, he was a doctor who assisted in horrifying experiments. But there was more to him than sheer cruelty, he also saved people wherever he could, not least the Jewish Nurse he loved. We see in vivid strokes how people do what they need to do to survive, and the legacy of trauma that leaves behind. A very compelling and emotional read, with dramatic and harrowing scenes which grip the reader and stay with you afterwards.
A poignant and well-crafted emotional thriller – well-deserved five stars …
There are many adjectives I could use in my review of this book: powerful, moving, emotional, heart-breaking, and heart-warming in places to name but a few. It would be easy to say this book is about the holocaust, but in truth that aspect of the book is more of a vehicle and backdrop to the real story – of courage, the struggle to survive against impossible odds, and later in the story, a search for the truth and long buried secrets of the past. The strength and emotion of the writing gives the book a ‘true story’ feel to it, like you’re a witness to a heart rending tragedy unfolding before you and yet behind the fiction there exists the uncomfortable knowledge that such tragedies were all too real at the time. This work of historical fiction is both a thriller and a detective story, as well as one of impossible and enduring love and sacrifice. Imagine yourself as someone whose profession and calling is to do what they can to save people’s lives and alleviate their suffering, having to witness and be a party to unimaginable cruelty and sadism, to live amongst it every day knowing the slightest overt criticism or resistance to it could mean your instant death; in short, a concentration camp doctor is emotionally torn apart by the horror of his surrounding and work. He does what he can to minimise his patients’ suffering, often having to commit the most appalling acts for a greater good. And then he falls in love with just such a patient. Having to see her suffering makes his position even more intolerable and at the same time, urgent. He promises that the true horror of the concentration camps will one day be known, and from that promise a generations spanning story of cleverly crafted detective work, family secrets, and the horrors of the past emerge.
There are some obvious comparisons with Thomas Keneally’s Schindler’s Ark here, i.e. someone working with and for the Nazi regime, doing what he can at great personal risk to help those suffering at its hands but who isn’t without his own flaws and guilt, having at times to make impossible choices that will determine who lives and who dies. The stark imagery and cold reality, and indeed brutality at times, emphasise the horror of the period and place in which much of the story takes. The author doesn’t try to sensationalise or exaggerate the descriptive elements relating to the concentration camp and the atrocities being committed on a daily basis but simply recounts them as essential elements to the story without venturng into melodrama. The sheer scale of suffering and the numbers involved can often be hard to take in or comprehend, much like the astronomical numbers and distances when considering time and space, but the personal tragedy and individual stories of the characters here does more to bring home the appalling truth of those times than many a factual account ever could.
The blend of German mythology and analogy interwoven into the narrative and those parts of the story told in flashback give the story an added dimention that works well, perfectly in sync with the younger characters and their part in the overall story. I would say also this last element, while not exactly traditional fairy tale stuff itself, does provide the reader a respite from the harrowing reality of past events, and time to pause and consider what they’re reading. The scene transistions betweeen the past and present are skilfully handled and the subtle and occasional use of German dialogue adds to the authenticity of the writing, but without confusing non-German speaking readers given the obvious meaning and context when it is used.
Although a work of fiction this is a well-researched and vivid account of an horrific and shameful period of what many would still consider to be relatively recent or modern history. This isn’t a book that can be read lightly or as pure entertainment despite the intriguing and expertly crafted storyline. I must admit the historical elements, the mythology, and the central character’s past had more impact for me than the present day aspects of the book, but every element of this story was superbly told and related well to all the others. I could easily visualise this book as a major film on a par with the likes of Schindler’s List…
A loving grandfather that is not what he seems. A horrible secret that he almost takes to his grave. The granddaughter that reveals the secret and finds it in her heart to love him in spite of it.
I loved the characters! I highly recommend this wonderful yet tragic, at times novel.
This historical fiction will rip your insides out as a doctor in a concentration camp attempts to save the women. He has to play two sides against the other. He falls in love with one of the women and she with him—but in the concentration camps all has to be hidden including two boys who were twins. What is done to them ultimately is enough to give you nightmares. All of this could have happened–I have known survivors and their children. Their stories of what went on would make you shiver and weep.
This novel goes on to tell of the life of the doctor after the war. He is living with his family who have no idea what he has done or seen. His grand daughters ultimately find him in a nursing home and the truth comes out–could you forgive him? Can they?
Touching the Wire has been one of the most touching stories dealing with WWII that I’ve read to date. I thought at first it was going to be set in the time period of the war, but you see the war only as flashbacks. The heartbreaking effects of the war linger on for Walt. It is never far from his mind. So many events trigger his memories. The author does a superb job of transitioning from present to past, and it’s easy to relate how those events have caused him pain throughout his life. Little by little you discover what he’s been hiding for so many years.
It’s a book about forgiveness. It’s easy to condemn the atrocities of people, but how many of us would have behaved differently given the same circumstances. Not everyone can be brave and strong, especially when it comes to protecting those we love. I hope it will touch your heart and soul as much as it did mine.