Atria Books, October 18, 2016.
Five Stars
In 1939, 12-year-old Hannah Rosenthal and her parents
are attempting to flee Nazi-occupied Germany in any way possible. As part of a
privileged, upper-class Jewish family, young Hannah is shocked by the sudden
change of political climate in Hamburg, although her Aryan appearance gives her
some protection. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed Hannah is safe to wander the city,
but her father has lost his job and her mother shuts herself away in their
glamorous apartment, afraid to go outside.
The Rosenthals’ chance for escape eventually comes in
the form of an ocean liner travelling to Havana, Cuba – the S.S. St Louis
offers Jewish Germans safe passage in exchange for an exorbitant fee. Fortunately,
the Rosenthals are able to pay, and they bring along a family friend and his
son, Leo. Hannah and Leo already have a strong friendship, and they make a pact
to always be together. Their time on the ship is a magical interlude of
masquerade balls and gourmet meals – but it all comes to a sudden end when the
Jewish passengers are denied entry at the port of Havana.
The salvation of the St. Louis becomes a death trap
as the passengers are forced to return to Europe. Only a few wealthy people are
permitted to disembark, including Hannah and her mother – but their companions,
including Leo, are left behind. The fates of the remaining passengers of the
St. Louis are tragic and each deserve to have their story told – however, in
this novel, we follow the lives of Hannah and her mother as they attempt to
immigrate to isolationist America, and eventually settle into life in Cuba.
The novel picks up again in present day New York,
when 11-year-old Anna Rosen receives a letter from her great-aunt Hannah in
Cuba. Hannah raised Anna’s father, who was later killed in the 9/11 terrorist
attacks. Their shared history brings them together, as well as the parallels of
their historical circumstances – the U.S. isolationism after 9/11 mirrors their
rejection of Jewish refugees at the start of WWII. It also bears a disturbing resemblance
to today’s political circumstances, and the fear of Syrian refugees.
When Anna and her mother travel to Havana to visit
Hannah, we learn how the Rosenthals survived after their journey on the St.
Louis. The novel carries them through Cuban history, including Hannah’s younger
brother’s participation in Castro’s revolution. It shows the movement of
history, and how none of these events happened in a static situation – every choice
made in the past is continually and perpetually affecting future generations.
Even though The
German Girl focuses on a weighty, heartbreaking period of our recent
history, it is easy to forget that this is historical fiction. Every scene is
described in a vivid and heartbreaking way, with no dry recitation of facts.
The story of the over 900 passengers on the St. Louis who drifted from country
to country during WWII, searching for a safe harbor, is haunting and
meticulously researched, and yet it is written with ease and grace. This is a
beautiful novel with a powerful message that is incredibly applicable to world
events today.
I received this book from Atria Books and NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
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