Rufi Thorpe has managed to merge two different points of view to tell Margo’s story. Thorpe makes the changes organic from the beginning by showing the reason why Margo, a budding writer, tells her story this way. The transitions back and forth from limited third-person to first-person are seamless and create a relatable main character who reveals her life with humor and self-deprecation as she grows from an unsure teen into a caring and competent adult. Complex characters enliven the novel, especially Margo's father, a retired professional wrestler in a precarious state of drug recovery who is also supportive, a great cook, a fantastic babysitter, and a neat-freak. . . now that's complex! An excellent and thoughtful book about contemporary issues, told by a virtuoso writer.
'Enormously entertaining and lovable' Nick Hornby, New York Times
'Nonjudgmental, original and very funny; the book is warm and generous too. I loved it' India Knight, Sunday Times STYLE
** Big Little Lies creator David E. Kelley is to adapt for A24 - a TV show starring Nicole Kidman and Elle & Dakota Fanning **
Margo Millet's got money troubles. As the child of a Hooter's waitress and an ex-Pro-Wrestler, she's always known she'd have to make it on her own. When she finds herself pregnant by her college professor - who is very keen not to be involved -…
I have a special interest in the human, everyday experiences of Jews during WWII and Jennifer Coburn's work satisfies that itch. She writes historical fiction about the Holocaust that brings to light little-known aspects of the Nazi years. The story is told from the perspectives of girlhood best friends who have, as a result of Nazi dogma, gone in opposite directions. Recently widowed Hilda, one of the unforgettable characters from the author’s earlier novel, Cradle’s of the Reich, becomes part of the team filming a propaganda film at Theresienstadt where her former friend is a prisoner. Thanks to Coburn's great writing and intense research, Hilde is a complex character who the reader loves to hate, but also can’t help feeling sorry for.
From the author of Cradles of the Reich comes a poignant and inspiring tale of resistance, friendship, and the dangers of propaganda, based on the real story of Theresienstadt, for fans of The Forest of Vanishing Stars and The German Wife.
Hannah longs for the days when she used to be free, but now, she is a Jewish prisoner at Theresienstadt, a model ghetto where the Nazis plan to make a propaganda film to convince the world that the Jewish people are living well in the camps. But Hannah will do anything to show the world the truth. Along with…
Wilkerson’s excellent writing kept me reading for the entire 400+ pages. Almost a collection of essays, each chapter tackles an aspect of the function, history, perpetuation, cost to society, etc. of cast. Wilkerson targets the color/race based cast system in the US, the religion based cast system in India, and the 12 years in Nazi Germany when the government established and enforced it’s own caste system. Much of what she reveals in her examples and facts about cast in the US are gut wrenching and eye-opening. Particularly eye-opening is the author's comparison of U.S. monuments to the Confederacy to the many monuments to the Jews and lack of monuments to the Nazis in present day Germany. Though a bit more difficult to get through than her previous book, The Warmth of Other Suns, which I also liked, I found this book and the author's conclusions about the cast system to be point on.
THE TIME NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR | #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"Powerful and timely ... I cannot recommend it strongly enough" - Barack Obama
From one of America's most celebrated and insightful writers, the moving, eye-opening bestseller about what lies hidden under the surface of ordinary lives
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human…
On a cold November morning in 1938, Herman watches in horror as his cousin is arrested. As a Jew, he realizes it is past time to flee Germany, a decision that catapults him from one adventure to another, his life changed forever by the gathering storm of world events. Part coming-of-age historical fiction, part immigrant tale, part historical Jewish fiction, this Ritchie Boys book succeeds among WW2 historical fiction books because it reveals the contribution of Jewish soldiers to the Allied cause. Immigrant Soldier follows the true story of a German Jew drafted into the US Army and sent to Europe to serve at the headquarters of the legendary General George S. Patton. Of the many fiction Holocaust books, this one tells a little-known story, packed with true-to-life historical details that entertain and educate.
