Book 25/30.
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This was okay for a debut, but in the hands of a more experienced author it would’ve, could’ve, should’ve been sooo much better.
Lilac Girls is based on the real-life story of a New York socialite, Caroline Ferriday, who championed a group of concentration camp survivors known as the Rabbits, who were imprisoned at Ravensbrück which was Hitler’s concentration camp exclusively for women.
As per the synopsis, Caroline is a former Broadway actress and liaison to the French consulate whose life is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939 and then sets its sights on France. An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, sinks deeper into her role as a courier for the underground resistance movement. In Germany, Herta Oberheuser, a young doctor, answers an ad for a government medical position, only to find herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power. The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück. Their stories cross continents, as Caroline and Kasia strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.
Parts one and two of this book are set just before, during and after WWII with part three being set 10 years after the last chapter in part two. Caroline and Herta, together with their parents, were real people, as were all the Ravensbrück staff mentioned in the book.
This all sounds verrrryyy interesting, and I had high expectations for this book, but sadly it did not live up to its potential. Caroline, Kasia and Herta are all narrators of the story and while I enjoyed Kasia’s and Herta’s chapters well enough, anytime the POV went back to Caroline I groaned sooo hard because, for the most part, I found her chapters so damn dull. The storyline was also thin for the most part and more details would have served the story better. This was especially noticeable in part one where entire weeks and months would pass by in a matter of sentences/paragraphs, leaving me feeling somewhat lost. There was also a lack of tension which is quite baffling for a story with such an emotional subject, and this ties back to my sentiment that a more experienced author would have delivered a much better book. For example, Kasia only delivered only two packages for the underground before she was caught but according to the book’s synopsis, she “sinks deeper into her role as a courier for the underground resistance movement.” Exaggeration much 🙄 Herta’s transition from caring medical professional to unfeeling Nazi tool was also not given the level of detail it deserved.
The characterisation, more so of the supporting cast, could have been richer as all the characters felt flat, some more than others. Caroline was a true hero with a fascinating life, a former debutante and Broadway actress who galvanized a jaded postwar America and dedicated her life to helping women others forgot. Strongly influenced by her staunchly abolitionist Woolsey ancestors, she also helped bring the first black bank to Harlem. But that richness of character did not translate in the book until part three, and by then it was too little too late. Her chapters focused too much on her socialite life, and then there was her romantic interest that had nothing to do with, and no effect on, the story.
Lilac Girls was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Historical Fiction and Best Debut Goodreads Author in 2016. In both cases it was the runner-up and I honestly and truly cannot relate as this was a disappointing read and were it not for the fact that I learnt something new i.e. the Rabbits and Ravensbrück, I definitely maybe would have rated this 1 star.
View all my reviews
** A guide to ratings **
1 star – did not like it
2 stars – it was okay
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing
Lwile the Leo 