Lilac Girls: A Novel (Woolsey-Ferriday)

Even though I own a lot of books that I still haven't read, I'm always on the lookout for new novels that suit my main reading interests of historical fiction and contemporary romance. I came upon this book based on some of my recent purchases and was immediately drawn to it because I have read a number of novels that take place during WWII, most recently The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I originally hesitated in purchasing this book because it is a bit more expensive than books I usually buy but in the end, my interest and intrigue in it won and I found myself immersed in this incredible debut novel.Lilac Girls switches narration among three women whose different views do an outstanding job of shaping the story. It starts with Caroline Ferriday, a wealthy New York woman who volunteers for the French Consulate in the late 1930s, right before the start of WWII. Caroline and her mother love to help people and send boxes of necessities over to the children in France. While Caroline's story mainly takes place in New York during the war, she becomes very instrumental towards the end of the story. Kasia Kuzmerick is a young Polish girl who is taken prisoner for being part of the Polish underground and sent to Ravensbruck, a women's concentration camp in Germany. The last woman who narrates this novel is Herta Oberheuser, a young German doctor who is eager to get a decent job that will help pay for her family's life. The choices she makes end up changing the course of her life forever.I am simply amazed that this novel is Martha Hall Kelly's first novel because it is written so well, nicely researched, and the narrations by the three women really bring the story to life. Given the subject and time during which Lilac Girls takes place, a lot of the details and situations can be difficult to read but the author writes this novel in such a way that makes it easier to absorb. I love the fact that she gives her narrators, particularly Caroline and Kasia, a bit of humor and sarcasm when appropriate because it makes them seem more real. While this novel certainly isn't funny, I feel those character traits help give those narrators more of a personality that get them through some of the darkest times. I found Kasia's story to be most significant but Caroline's and Herta's stories are also extremely important because together, they shape Lilac Girls into a truly unforgettable read.Lilac Girls is an amazing novel and I am so happy I took the chance on it because I enjoyed every minute I spent with this book. Because of the subject matter, it isn't a light-hearted read but Martha Hall Kelly's writing style makes this book flow so well and I found myself looking up some of the persons in the novel. A number of the people in this book were real and this book is very well-researched and well-written. Many of the chapters end with a bit of a cliffhanger which definitely kept me wanting to read more. If you enjoy reading historical fiction novels that take place during WWII, I recommend reading Lilac Girls because it is very hard to put down and the changing back and forth between the three women narrators helps paint a picture of WWII from around the world and how they all impact each others' lives.

This read was for a book club discussion and I found it to be a compelling read. The story follows three strong intelligent females from different backgrounds through the events of World War II.Catherine, a New York socialite, who has dedicated her life to service and charity, supported by her mother but not always by her peers or so-called friends who have more frivolous pursuits in mind. Kassia, a Polish teenager who has a crush on her best friend, and aspires to be a part of the underground resistance but is quickly caught and ends up in a most horrifying concentration camp. Herta, a German girl who has a medical degree, but as a woman will never be treated as a doctor or equal by her colleagues, but still buys into the Nazi propaganda and uses it to justify her actions.This was definitely not a light read and clearly the author did her homework. There are tons of great reviews for this book and I do not regret reading it. However, I did have some issues with it and I’d like to address those. These issues should not really keep a reader from reading the book. They were just personal observances. Due to unforeseen circumstances in my personal life, I read this book in one day starting at 7 AM and finishing at 11:30 PM. As such, I found the book a longer read than it needed to be. There were several spots that could have been edited out and the story would have been just as complete and compelling. A good editor needed to scrap some things, for example, what was the point of Kassia coming upon Nadia at the concentration camp? Maybe there was a subtle point but it could have been left out. More is not better.Unlike some others, I quite enjoyed the relationship/friendship between Catherine and Paul until the point she started ignoring his letters. Then she ignored more of his letters, then she ignored even more of his letters but he kept writing. This started to get a little tedious and at this point I felt like she was acting a little childish and a little too much like the romance novel heroines that I eschew, which compels me at this point to say that for the most part, the heroines in this novel are all very strong females with a lot to admire, something that is sadly lacking in a lot of the books that I read.Herta, what can I say about this character, who is actually based on a real person as well (Catherine was also a real person). My problem with the portrayal of Herta in the book is that I felt like it was misleading. I went into this book without any forewarning of the fact that two of these women were real people in history and the third was based on an amalgamation of certain women as well. Based on the first three chapters, each told from the point of view of one of these three women, I thought I was going to be reading the rest of the story in the same manner, told from three different perspectives that probably would join or merge at some point. I was wrong.I felt quite a kinship with Herta in the beginning, with her struggles in her family and her struggles to be taken seriously as a woman in her career, and I even overlooked her “drinking the Nazi kool-aid”, so to speak, since I definitely understand being influenced/fed extreme ideas at such a young age. That kind of hatred is taught or learned but some of us grow to be adults and realize that it’s not the only way and vastly change our opinions as we actually experience more of the world around us. I kept waiting for Herta to understand until suddenly I didn’t.There was suddenly a big gap in the narrative and the chapters no longer switched back and forth between the three women. There would be two chapters for Kassia and two chapters for Catherine, back and forth but nothing for Herta. At first, I was relieved to realize that the author was not going to force Herta’s point of view on me any longer, but as I started getting closer to the end of the story, I started to feel like that was a cop out. If the author was going to commit to telling Herta’s point of view, that this story was supposed to be from the point of view of three different women, then she should have continued in that vein even if it was off-putting. I felt like I missed a huge part of the story and a huge part of what motivated one of the main characters.In the end, I felt like I was sold on a book from three points of view but I only received two.Note for triggers: While I do not remember any foul language in this book, I would note a trigger for rape. There is a dubious consent scene earlier in the book as well as an incestuous rape scene. Since this is a book about a female in a terror of a concentration camp in WWII, I think it could go without saying that there is quite a bit of violence, death, gore and other atrocities mentioned but I will say it. They are not gratuitous scenes for the sake of themselves, only presented in a manner to make the reader understand the level of terror this situation instilled, and in my opinion, necessary to the telling of the story.