14 November 2023

A Fairly Good Read

The Violin Makers Daughter by Sharon Mass

When the Nazis march onto the cobbled streets of Colmar on November 1st 1940, Josef, a Jewish violin maker, gathers his wife and daughters closely to him and tells them everything will be alright. His plan is to evade attention by keeping their heads down and saying little. But during such terrible times it was impossible to keep a secret. One year later two German soldiers arrive at his shop and inform him that he needs to provide documents to prove his family is of Aryan ancestry or they will be deported. His seventeen year old daughter Sarah’s world is about to be turned upside down.
Joseph knows that escape is the only option for him and his family to survive. The plan is for Sarah to leave first and once they have new papers her two teenage sisters will follow two weeks later and then her parents and the youngest sister will join them later.
Sarah bids farewell to her beloved family and begins the perilous journey across France via Paris to Poitiers. Travelling through the mountains she finds herself in terrible danger and meets Ralf, a German deserter, who risks his own life to save her.

Sarah was only 17 and had lived a sheltered life, but at times I wanted to shake her, she was very childish and put herself and others in danger, people had to grow up quickly in those dreadful times. The historical background was well-researched but I found the plot not particularly believable and wasn't very engaged with it.

∼ Happy Reading∼ 
Polly x

6 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. No they don't Debra, it's a treat to get absorbed in one.

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  2. Hmmm. Sounds like it might be one to miss.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, deifinitely Jeanie, there are so many good books out there, this isn't one of them!

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  3. There are so many books dealing with WW II, many good, but apparently some not so much. Thanks for the heads up on this read, Polly.

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    Replies
    1. That's very true Beatrice. I have read quite a few, most of them have been good, but I don't want to read another anymore!

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