Dragonfly

 Dragonfly by Leila Meacham 576 pages

Fiction writing 101: The author needs to know her/his character(s) like the back of her/his hand in order to know which details to leave in and which to leave in. Most of the time, readers never know the character(s) that in depth. But author Leila Macham put everything in this book. Often, putting in everything doesn’t work, but here it does. This is the first of hers (this is her eighth novel) that I have read, and I wonder if all her work is this detailed. Guess I’ll have to do a little research.

In 1942 America, five twenty-somethings receive a letter from the Office of Strategic Services [OSS] (forerunner to today’s CIA) asking them if they are willing to fight for their country. Note: This is not a draft notice.  They come from different parts of the country and have different careers. Yet, all are willing, especially after Pearl Harbor, to do their part.

The three men and two women have been carefully selected and report to “the man in brown.” Once they accept, they are given an OSS code name and a working name. Their operation is assigned the code name “Dragonfly.” Then they are dropped in Occupied Paris and embedded among high-ranking Nazis. Thank heavens Meacham provide a Cast of Characters before the story even begins, otherwise I would have been lost.

They communicate via a mural that one of the women paints on a blank convent wall, with permission of course, and a secret drop box located nearby.

The novel is broken into four parts: “The Recruits,” where readers get a lot of background information on the intrepid spies. Then Part Two is “The Missions,” where readers learn the groups’ objective. Next is “The Game” (1942-1944), the young spies at work. To me this section is the best as it had most tension because more was at stake. The last is “Home” (June 1944 – September 1962). Readers are brought full circle with the recruits and learn the end of their stories.

All-in-all, this was a good book. Not great, but good. I found it interesting enough to keep reading, but I took me a good three weeks to finish it. Highly unusual for me. And that is why Dragonfly receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

And In the Vienna Woods

And In the Vienna Woods Trees Remain by Elisabeth Asbrink   464 pages

As y’all know, I don’t read nonfiction that much. I do, but it has to really caprture my attention.  And this one, by author of the internationally bestselling “1947” did. 

It’s the story of Otto Ullman, a thirteen-year-old Jewish boy who is sent form Austria to Sweden at the eruption of World War II. Alone. His story is fascinating. One of the things that enticed me was the back blurb mention that Otto becomes BFFs with Ingvar Kamprad, who grows up to become the founder of IKEA.

I believe that this is an important book for scholars of the period and those seeking this type of knowledge. There is lots of information on Sweden’s, Austria’s, and even Switzerland’s positions during the War. However, it is too much information for nonscholars like me. I was ready to abandon the book by page 75, but instead I just read the parts about Otto and how he esacaped the Nazis and his life in Sweden. He was part of Kindertransport-like event to save the children of Austria.

I was disappointed that Ingvar Kamprad didn’t show up until near the end. And in my opinion, I didn’t much see the relationship. I did learn how the name IKEA came about: he added his initials to the village’s name. Ingvar Kamprad Elmtardy Agunnaryd (IKEA).

“And in the Vienna Woods Trees Remain” seems to be thoroughly researched, and as I wrote earlier, I believe it is an important book for those studying this perios. Therefore,  “And in the Vienna Woods Trees Remain” receives  2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Whispers of War

The Whispers of War by Julia Kelly   336 pages

I read Julia Kelly’s first novel, “Light Over London” and enjoyed it enough to make me want her read the author’s sophomore effort. 

As the cover suggests, this is a story of women’s friendships. Marie, Hazel and Nora have been friends since they were twelve years old and were roommates at boarding school. Although I don’t recalling Kelly specifying their ages, they seem of be in their early- to mid-twenties.

The time frame is August 1939 to June of 1940, with a bit of now thrown, and is set in England. The story opens with Samantha, Marie’s granddaughter, going to England to visit Nora after Marie has died, wanting to know more about her grandmother. That felt rather contrived and didn’t need to be there. The book would have worked well, if not better, had it been deleted.

Then the novel is divided into three parts, each focusing on one of the friends.  Marie has lots to worry about. She was born in Germany but England has been home since she was twelve. Her German accent is still pronounced and gives her heritage away the moment she opens her mouth. Nora comes from a wealthy family. She defied her mother by marrying for love and not a better social status.  Hazel, also married, is a matchmaker. She is the more gregarious of the trio.

As the whispers of war blow across the waters from Germany, Marie is the most worried about what could become of her, especially since her family still resides there. Nora goes to work for The Home Office. I never truly understood what she did, but it didn’t interfere with the story. Hazel tries to balance work and home.

This is a novel of women who would sacrifice everything for each other. Their bond is unbreakable, although it gets a little frayed at times. 

 “The Whispers of War” receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Cilka's Journey

Cilka’s Journey  by Heather Morris   352 pages

Cecelia “Cilka” Klein in only sixteen years old when she is is sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp for being of Czech Jewish origin.  Celia is a real person and mentioned several times in author Morris’s previous nivel, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.”

At Auschwitz, Cilka did what she had to do in Auschwitz to stay alive. It was more survival instinct than having someone to live for, as all her family had been murdered by the Nazis. She had been chosen by two SS officers for sex. She endured the repeated rapes, yet was able to use her position to get extra food to her her fellow inmates.

As this story opens, it is late January 1945. The Allies have arrived, freeing all the captives, but not Cilka. No one believed that she did not collaborate willingly with the Germans. She was tried and sentenced to fifteen years on a Russian gulag in Siberia.

The winters are unbearable, the brief summers equally horrendous. She lives in a dorm filled with other women who are there for one reason.  For the officers’ sexual pleasures. Cilka uses her survival skills to help her fellow inmates, earning more and more trust among the guards.

Cilka gets to know some of the women in the “Canada” dorm, the area where jewels and money are gathered from the incoming inmates. She learns how to steal gems and money. She uses them to buy bits of food from two independent contractors.

Cilka’s nursing skills soon have her working in the hospital as a nurse-in-training.  She doesn’t care what she has to do; she’s indoors and not trying to empty the coal buckets brought up from deep beneath the snow-covered earth wil frozen fingers.

The protagonist of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” Lale Sokolov, called Cilka the bravest person he had ever met. And after reading  “Cilka’s Journey,” I agree. Therefore, “Cilka’s Journey”

receives  6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Cilka’s Journey  by Heather Morris   352 pages

Cecelia “Cilka” Klein in only sixteen years old when she is is sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp for being of Czech Jewish origin.  Celia is a real person and mentioned several times in author Morris’s previous nivel, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.”

At Auschwitz, Cilka did what she had to do in Auschwitz to stay alive. It was more survival instinct than having someone to live for, as all her family had been murdered by the Nazis. She had been chosen by two SS officers for sex. She endured the repeated rapes, yet was able to use her position to get extra food to her her fellow inmates.

As this story opens, it is late January 1945. The Allies have arrived, freeing all the captives, but not Cilka. No one believed that she did not collaborate willingly with the Germans. She was tried and sentenced to fifteen years on a Russian gulag in Siberia.

The winters are unbearable, the brief summers equally horrendous. She lives in a dorm filled with other women who are there for one reason.  For the officers’ sexual pleasures. Cilka uses her survival skills to help her fellow inmates, earning more and more trust among the guards.

Cilka gets to know some of the women in the “Canada” dorm, the area where jewels and money are gathered from the incoming inmates. She learns how to steal gems and money. She uses them to buy bits of food from two independent contractors.

Cilka’s nursing skills soon have her working in the hospital as a nurse-in-training.  She doesn’t care what she has to do; she’s indoors and not trying to empty the coal buckets brought up from deep beneath the snow-covered earth wil frozen fingers.

The protagonist of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” Lale Sokolov, called Cilka the bravest person he had ever met. And after reading  “Cilka’s Journey,” I agree. Therefore, “Cilka’s Journey”

receives  6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Cilka’s Journey  by Heather Morris   352 pages

Cecelia “Cilka” Klein in only sixteen years old when she is is sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp for being of Czech Jewish origin.  Celia is a real person and mentioned several times in author Morris’s previous nivel, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.”

At Auschwitz, Cilka did what she had to do in Auschwitz to stay alive. It was more survival instinct than having someone to live for, as all her family had been murdered by the Nazis. She had been chosen by two SS officers for sex. She endured the repeated rapes, yet was able to use her position to get extra food to her her fellow inmates.

As this story opens, it is late January 1945. The Allies have arrived, freeing all the captives, but not Cilka. No one believed that she did not collaborate willingly with the Germans. She was tried and sentenced to fifteen years on a Russian gulag in Siberia.

The winters are unbearable, the brief summers equally horrendous. She lives in a dorm filled with other women who are there for one reason.  For the officers’ sexual pleasures. Cilka uses her survival skills to help her fellow inmates, earning more and more trust among the guards.

Cilka gets to know some of the women in the “Canada” dorm, the area where jewels and money are gathered from the incoming inmates. She learns how to steal gems and money. She uses them to buy bits of food from two independent contractors.

Cilka’s nursing skills soon have her working in the hospital as a nurse-in-training.  She doesn’t care what she has to do; she’s indoors and not trying to empty the coal buckets brought up from deep beneath the snow-covered earth wil frozen fingers.

The protagonist of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” Lale Sokolov, called Cilka the bravest person he had ever met. And after reading  “Cilka’s Journey,” I agree. Therefore, “Cilka’s Journey”

receives  6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Cilka’s Journey  by Heather Morris   352 pages

Cecelia “Cilka” Klein in only sixteen years old when she is is sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp for being of Czech Jewish origin.  Celia is a real person and mentioned several times in author Morris’s previous nivel, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.”

At Auschwitz, Cilka did what she had to do in Auschwitz to stay alive. It was more survival instinct than having someone to live for, as all her family had been murdered by the Nazis. She had been chosen by two SS officers for sex. She endured the repeated rapes, yet was able to use her position to get extra food to her her fellow inmates.

As this story opens, it is late January 1945. The Allies have arrived, freeing all the captives, but not Cilka. No one believed that she did not collaborate willingly with the Germans. She was tried and sentenced to fifteen years on a Russian gulag in Siberia.

The winters are unbearable, the brief summers equally horrendous. She lives in a dorm filled with other women who are there for one reason.  For the officers’ sexual pleasures. Cilka uses her survival skills to help her fellow inmates, earning more and more trust among the guards.

Cilka gets to know some of the women in the “Canada” dorm, the area where jewels and money are gathered from the incoming inmates. She learns how to steal gems and money. She uses them to buy bits of food from two independent contractors.

Cilka’s nursing skills soon have her working in the hospital as a nurse-in-training.  She doesn’t care what she has to do; she’s indoors and not trying to empty the coal buckets brought up from deep beneath the snow-covered earth wil frozen fingers.

The protagonist of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” Lale Sokolov, called Cilka the bravest person he had ever met. And after reading  “Cilka’s Journey,” I agree. Therefore, “Cilka’s Journey”

receives  6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Lost Girls of Paris

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff   384 pages

From the author of “The Orphan Train” and several other novels come another story set in the World War II era, Pam Jenoff.  She takes another small, forgotten true story from the war and creates a real-page turner that often left me breathless.

The story opens in 1946, Manhattan. Cutting through Grand Central Station on morning, Grace Healey stumbles upon an abandoned suitcase, battered and worn.  No one seems to be around to claim it. Grace takes it upon herself to open it, looking for some sort of identification. There is a word, Trigg, scrawled on the side. In addition to the normal items that would be contained in a suitcase, Grace finds the photographs of twelve young women who appear to be in their very late teens or early twenties. The only identifying marks on the photos are first names, which Grace assumes are the women’s names.

Then the story jumps back to London, 1943. Eleanor is heading up a division of Special Operations Executive (SOE), a British operations organization designed to conduct espionage, sabotage and aid the local resistance movements in occupied Europe.

Eleanor’s job is to recruit and train young women to go undercover in France to transmit radio correspondence between London and France, particularly in the outskirts of Paris. Eleanor has selected twelve young women for the job.

The story weaves back and forth between Grace, determined to learn who the women are and what happened to them, and Eleanor has the group’s leader, and one of the girls, Marie.

I was disappointed that readers only get to know Marie intimately and another operative, Josie, superficially. Some of the other girls’ names were mentioned, but not all. I understand that it would have been too confusing, and too lengthy, to try to write about all twelve. Still, it was a wonderful read, compelling, and each story reached toward its climax, I found myself gasping at twists I didn’t expect. I want to give  “The Lost Girls of Paris” 5 out of 5 stars, but the lack of information about the other ten girls forces me to give this novel 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Annelies

Anneliesby David R. Gillham     416 pages

In David R. Gillham’s new novel, after “City of Women,” he asks the question: What if Anne Frank had survived the Holocaust?

A single answer would not be possible, since had this been true, there are a million possibilities. Every time I think about that question, my mind hums with scenarios.

In this work, Gillham spends a little over the first half of the book reimagining the Frank’s family life in Amsterdam. He gives us a fictional account of the family’s interaction and takes a long look at their life they had while they were in hiding in secret rooms of her father’s business. The fear they felt was palpable. When the family is betrayed, my heart broke again for those who endured the Nazi brutality. Readers get to tag along as the family of four, and their friends, endure the cattle cars that took them to their living hells.

The second third of the story takes place after Anne is reunited with her father, Otto (the only true survivor of the atrocities). Anne is seventeen and very angry. This section of the book takes place mostly in 1946 as Anne, Otto, Otto’s new bride, and the friends who hid them try to adjust to life after the war.

Anne is very sensitive to and conscious of the number tattooed on her forearm. She covers it with powder and long sleeves. It’s hard to watch Anne as she feels the guilt for having survived when her mother and sister did not.

Through it all, Anne writes.  She writes before the Nazis arrest and deport her family to the concentration camps. She writes when she returns to the liberated Amsterdam. The betrayal that she feels when she learns that the thin sheets of paper she had been writing before the arrest and been found and saved by one of those who tried to protect her family.

Then the story jumps to 1961. Readers get a small glimpse into her life, but mostly that section is Anne answering fan letters from young girls.

I was extremely disappointed in this novel. I expected Gillham to imagine the adult Anne and what she may have done with her life. Instead, most readers’ basic knowledge of Anne’s history is rehashed. The writing and plot are well done, but since Gillham didn’t deliver on his promise, “Annelies” receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

Josephine Baker's Last Dance

Josephine Baker's Last Dance by Sherry Jones

I was attracted to this biographical novel simply for its subject: Josephine Baker. I knew a little about her. An African-America woman, she left the Jim Crow-era America and was singing and dancing in Paris’s nightclubs by the time she was sixteen. That’s about it. Readers get an insightful and well-researched novel about Baker---singer, dancer, movie star, French Resistance member during World War II and Civil Rights activist---that is at times slow, at times despairing yet a fascinating story of a groundbreaking woman, well before her time.

The story starts off in Paris, in April 1975. Josephine doesn’t know if, but readers get a glimpse of her final performance. Then the story skips ahead to her childhood in St. Louis. She is considered an ugly child. Her mother, a bitter woman, forces her to work for the neighbors by the time she is seven years old, making only a pittance, none of which Josephine ever sees. Life was so incredibly difficult that Josephine tries to blot it from her mind and tells anyone who might ask that she is from New Orleans. It’s heartbreaking to read about the line of abusive people in her life, from both her parents to every man she seems to meet.

By 1915, young Josephine has a new employer, one that treats her like a person, not an animal. But her security doesn’t last long. By 1919, she has spent two years singing, dancing, playing instruments with the Jones Family Band. 
The story continues to recount her time in Paris. Sometimes it drags a bit as the tediousness of her life in the theater evolves. The World War II breaks out, and Josephine wants to do her part.  She joins the French Resistance. I didn’t feel this section was deep enough, but maybe there isn’t enough documentation or evidence out there to make it more compelling.

It doesn’t matter though, I enjoyed this book thoroughly, couldn’t put it down. That’s why  “Josephine Baker’s Last Dance” receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Wartime Sisters

The Wartime Sisters by Lynda Cohen Loigman  304 pages

A friend passed her Advanced Reader’s Copy to me, saying that she thought it would be something I would like….and she was right.  I loved the cover, and the blurb at the top of the back cover cemented that I wanted to read this: “In the vein of “The Nightingale” and “The Lilac Girls”….I was hooked.

Ruth and Millie are sisters, three years apart. As they developed, it became increasingly evident that they could not be more different than if they didn’t share both parents. Ruth was the plain, introverted one; Millie was a beauty from her first breath, a risk-taker. Longing for an affectionate bond between them, they had nothing in common. Ruth marries a safe, gentle man…a scientist. Millie falls for a bad boy, gets pregnant, and that’s the good part of her life. Even after their parents are killed in a car accident, the two sisters cannot seem to develop an affection for each other.

As America enters World War II, Ruth’s husband joins the Army, but instead of being sent to fight, her scientific knowledge gets him transferred to the Springfield (Massachusetts, I had to presume) Armory. Millie stays behind in Brooklyn, where the girls were raised.

Ruth’s life on the base is bucolic and well-order; Millie’s husband becomes increasingly violent. It doesn’t upset her when Lenny joins the Army, but soon she is a widow with a small child. When the two sisters finally reunite, Millie and her son come to live with Ruth and her family. While Ruth plays Officer’s Wife, Millie gets a job in one of the Armory’s factories. Then a truth from the past begins to haunt the sisters, forcing them to lean on each other.

This story has the dueling timelines that I like, but they seem off.  Here’s one of many examples: The narrative speaks of Ruth’s twin daughters, but readers aren’t even aware that Ruth has married.  In the next chapter, the reader gets the backstory. The past and present don’t seem to line up as they should. That’s the reason, “The Wartime Sisters” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Courtney's War

Courtney’s War by Wilbur Smith with David Churchill   464 pages

I was attracted to this novel on the cover. I “think” it’s a Packard emblazoned with Nazi swastikas. I was even more excited when I won a copy from Bookishfirst.com. What the blub on Bookish didn’t mention was that this is the 17^th in the Courtney Family series. I blame myself; I should have done more research before I entered the contest. Live and learn.

The story begins in 1939 with Saffron Courtney meeting with her love, Luftwaffe air ace Gerhard von Meerbach, in Paris in the spring.  The know war is coming, yet cling to each other  as they would a life preserver if they were afloat in the ocean.

Smith bridges the gap between readers meeting the couple with this little paragraph: “In less than five months, in the early hours of Friday, September 1, 1939, Hitler unleashed the forces of Nazi Germany against Poland. Two days later, Great Britain declared was on Germany. And slaughter, suffering and horror exploded across the world.”

Smith then jumps to 1942. Saffron is trying to identify the agent who betrayed the British Special Operations spy network to the Nazis. Meanwhile, Gerhard is watching the beginning of the Final Solution as it is tested for high ranking Nazi officials. The images Smith evokes kept me awake for several nights.

Gerhard manages to survive the Battle of Stalingrad, but his anti-Nazi sentiments lead him to be thrown into Dachau. Will he survive the Hitler’s Final Solution?

The book is well-written; 130 million copies of his novels sold worldwide prove that he is a good writer. However, this isn’t a standalone novel. A lot of the time I felt lost when Smith delved into the characters’ backstories. I could not care about the characters at all.

Another thing that bothered me was that in the About the Author section, there is no mention of Smith’s co-author, David Churchill.  Is he related to Winston? Readers want to know things like this. Due to these reasons, “Courtney’s War” receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Kennedy Debutante

The Kennedy Debutante by Kerri Maher   384 pages

I have to admit that I don’t have much general knowledge about one of JFK’s sisters, Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy. Maybe because she was only twenty-eight years old when she died in 1948.  Maher’s debut novel tackles the elusive subject of the Joseph and Rose Kennedy’s nine children (John was second in line).

When her father was serving as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Kick made many friends in London and was the "debutante of 1938,” which is probably how Maher decided to title her story. There isn’t a lot about her early years in America in this novel, and that’s okay. It was fun dropping in on the eighteen year old as she is presented to the King and Queen of England.

Broken into three parts, from Spring 1938 through Winter 1944, readers are treated to watching Kick grown into a strong female. She wasn’t as confident as her two older brothers, but she did her best, especially when she went up against her formidable father and her rather harsh mother.

Readers get to watch Kick fall in love with England, even with war rising on the horizon. And readers get to watch as Kick falls in love with Billy Harrington, the future Duke of Devonshire.

Her family and Billy’s family frowns on their relationship. Kick is almost staunchly Catholic has her devoted mother, while Billy’s family is equally dedicated to their Protestant faith. If the young couple is allowed to marry, Kick must agree to raise any future children as Protestant, even if she herself did not convert.

I felt this novel was rather light-hearted and didn’t seem to have the depth that was needed to make Kick jump off the page. Maybe it’s not fair, but I read Michelle Gable’s “The Summer I Met Jack,” has a much deeper sense of actually knowing all the Kennedy’s personalities. For those reasons, “The Kennedy Debutante” receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Orchestra of Exiles: The Story of Bronislaw Huberman. The Israel Philharmonic, and the One Thousand Jews He Saved from Nazi Horrors

Orchestra of Exiles: The Story of Bronislaw Huberman. The Israel Philharmonic, and the One Thousand Jews He Saved from Nazi Horrors by Josh Aronson & Denise George  384 pages

I love the cover of this book---very dramatic with its string of barbed wire and Bronislaw Huberman playing his violin. I probably would have picked it up even if one of its authors, Josh Aronson, hadn’t had a book signing at the St. Louis Public Library. His presentation was wonderful.

I had never heard of Huberman until that night in January 2017. Aronson’s description of the great violinist birth reverberated in my soul. It seems that the elder Mr. Huberman had always dreamed of being a violinist. When his dream was thwarted, he decided that one of his sons would play. Immediately after Bronislaw’s death, his father looked at his hands and declared him a violinist.

Beginning when the lad was five or six years old, his childhood ended. His father demanded that he practice four to five hours a day. Luckily from him, Bronislaw was a prodigy. Be the time he was 14, he was playing concert stages around the world to great applause. He was making the money that his father demanded.

Bronislaw was a quirky, sickly little dude, but that didn’t stop his father from pushing him, and pushing him, and pushing him. Abuse takes many forms, and Bronislaw endured the verbal attacks of his father. But this is more than just a tale of child. It’s the story of how being that driven created its own dreams.

I think Bronislaw was a tad psychic. He felt that the Great War would happen and was sure that another one would occur. As he watched Adolph Hitler ascend in Germany, he keenly felt the upcoming horrors Hitler would impose on the Jews. Interestingly, Bronislaw considered himself first a violinists, second a Pole, and third a Jew.

As he watched Hitler deconstruct Germany’s culture. He vowed to create an orchestra in Palestine, a place where Jews were fleeing to at such an alarming rate that the world should have noticed that something evil was occurring in Germany.

Bronislaw worked tirelessly to get money, certificates, a rehearsal hall, and the musicians Hitler had fired get out of Germany. He pushed himself on world tours, speeches; he would do whatever it took to get someone to listen. He pushed himself to the brink of a breakdown several times before December 26, 1936, when the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra played its first concert in Tel Aviv, conducted by Maestro Arturo Toscanini.

One thing I didn't understand was how the number 1,000 wsa chosen. On opening night of the IPO, there were 71 musicians who had abandoned Nazi Germany. Not sure how the authors arrived at that figure, but Orchestra of Exiles: The Story of Bronislaw Huberman. The Israel Philharmonic, and the One Thousand Jews He Saved from Nazi Horrors is fascinating look at a story that had been largely forgotten, but shouldn’t be. This work receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The War That Saved My Life

The War That Saved My Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, 316 pages

Ada is a young girl living with her mother and little brother in a one room apartment in London, and it's only months before England enters WWII.  The plan is to send many of the children of London away to the countryside, with the expectation that the city will be bombed by Germany.  But for Ada, this means that her brother will be sent away- not her.  Why?  Because she has never been allowed outside the apartment due to having a clubfoot that her mother says made her unlovable and evil and she would only disgust anyone who met her.

Record scratch.

Yikes- reading children's books with prominent child abuse, both mental and physical, is not something I enjoy doing.  But I will say this- the abuse is never, ever treated as a convenient plot point, or something that some fresh air in the country fixes; it's treated like the wound that it is- one that will never go away, but with the right kind of love, can become a scar one day.

I found myself raging alongside Ada at her mother, society and the world, but also frustrated with her for continuing to love her mother, and then frustrated at myself for victim-shaming a make-believe character.  It's a children's book, and one that I really feel could enter the canon of classics, but I did not find it easy to read. And I think I mean that in a really good way.

China Dolls

China Dolls by Lisa See  400 pages

 The story’s locale is 1938 San Francisco. Three young Chinese-American (or American-Chinese as I prefer since they were born in the USA) young women meet when they try out as dancers (or ponies) for the opening of the city’s glitzy new nightclub, Forbidden City.

Grace Lee is 17 years old. She arrive is the Bay Area with a few precious dollars, a whole lot of talent and a pair of dancing shoes She still bears the bruises from the savage beating her father gave her. She rather starve to death in an unknown town rather than go back home.

Helen Fong lives in Chinatown in her family’s compound. Her entire family, a traditional Chinese family, lives there. She works in her father’s laundry and any money she gets is given to her father for her brother’s education. Her traditional parents

Ruby Tom is a defiant young woman, ready to take on the world, with a secret she isn’t willing to share.

The girls become fast friends. They have two things in common: they want to break the stereotypical roles that their faces force then into and they want to be stars.  This is their story; the story of hard work, discrimination, love, and betrayal over the years of 1938 to 1948. They work the nightclub circuit, fall in love, and learn more about themselves, and the country they call home, than they ever dreamed possible.

The novel is broken into three section based on a quote from Buddha: the sun, the moon, and the truth.  Inside each section, Grace, Helen, and Ruby take turns telling their story. The problem was sometimes, most of the time the voices were indistinguishable. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great read, but since each girl’s story is told in first person, I had to keep looking back to remind myself who was talking. The best part of the novel was the backstory surrounding the nightclub-life.

I give China Dolls four out of five stars.