Reading Lilac Girls Book
Lilac Girls
What They Said About This Lilac Girls Book (Reviews):
Angela M
Writes about Download Lilac Girls PDFNo matter how many books I read about the atrocities of the holocaust, the death camps , the concentration camps, I always feel that each of the stories must be told so it is not forgotten and no matter how difficult these stories are to read , we have to read them. In this novel the story of what happened at Ravensbruck, the concentration camp , infamous for the horrific medical experimentation on young Polish women is told from the perspectives of three women. It spans two decades from 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland through 1959. I have not read a lot about the aftermath of the war and what might have happened to survivors of the camps, and I found the coverage of that aspect here in the third part of the novel , to be a gripping depiction of strength and resilience of some of the survivors but also one of courage, and goodness and strength on the part of people who helped them. Caroline Ferriday, a former actress , from a wealthy and generous family , volunteers at the French consulate in NYC is one of the narrators . Even though she works hard to provide care packages to French orphans and later is involved in more classified work , her part of the story at first seemed remote and separate from what was happening at Ravensbruck. But that was only at first. I had no idea until I read the author's note that Caroline Ferriday was a real person who not only worked tirelessly to help orphans in France during the war but continued to give of herself to help survivors of Ravensbruck in the years after the war. It is after the war that her story converges with the other narrators.They are Kasia , an eighteen year old girl in Lublin , Poland who gets involved in the Resistance and is arrested with her sister and her mother and Dr. Herta Oberhauser from Düsseldorf , newly graduated surgeon, who applies for a job and goes to Ravensbruck, thrilled that she will finally practice in a world dominated by male Doctors. That is where Kasia Kuzmerick, her mother and her sister meet Herta - in this horrible place . It's difficult to read about - powerful and painful - just so disturbing to see what these sick minded Nazis do to these women . Yet amidst the horrible things things that Kasia and her sister and other women endure , there are moments of tenderness and care , reflections on mothers and daughters, friendships, love. It was not easy to see things through Herta's eyes , loyal to the Nazi cause and feeling that the experiments are justified. It is Kasia's story that took my heart and is the center of this story. It was a camp for women only, called a "reeducation" camp but in reality , we know it was a place where women were subjected not only to the harsh conditions with little food , the imminent susceptibility of disease daily and both emotional and physical abuse but also to the atrocities of the barbaric medical experimentation . It was more than gruesome to read about . Yet we have to read it . While this is a fictional telling, it is based on the real Caroline Ferriday and the real Herta Oberheuser. Kasia and her sister are loosely based on two real sisters who survived Ravensbruck . Martha Hall Kelly has done extensive research in preparation for writing this and I highly recommend it . What an effort for a debut ! It has to be read. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley.
Elyse
Writes about Download Lilac Girls PDFRavensbruck was Hitler's only major concentration camp exclusively for women. The story is centered around three women....each from 3 different countries: Poland, Germany, and, America. ---( before- during - and after World War II) ---all based on the lives of real women in history. There are actually several plots ... not sure any of them are minor. The storytelling is disturbing, gripping and written veraciously.Caroline Ferriday's was a wealthy American woman who made it her life's work to help the female prisoners. She was a strong quiet woman...yet we felt her suffering ..her aching love for her family -and the women she was helping. Her dedication was endless...a leader who was ruthless and unreasonable -- she stood for justice and was going to make sure the world became aware of the horrors which took place. Dr. Herta Oberheuser, from Germany, executed the most ghastly and torturous medical experimentation imaginable on these woman in the camps. Her purpose was for the women to conflict pain purposefully -- some crazy type of thinking these woman should be in agony as a type of counterbalance any distress the German soldiers endured. Kasia Kuzmerick ...a Polish political prisoner, ( is the one fictional female character). Dr Oberheuser forced her to assist and perform in the horrid medical experimentation operations. Martha Hall Kelly's story is emotional, heart wrenching, but not 'all' gloomy. What stood out for me were the relationships - the real friendships --(women bonding), that developed ...creating the possibility for an optimistic way of being.They shared experiences of unspeakable memories, and losses, too afraid to hope alone... but when they confronted their challenges together ...we see a rich portrayal of female friendship in the face of adversity. Much pain ... much hardship...much truth! The factual details of the novel are troubling - yet the storytelling ispersuasive, interesting ...and deeply moving. The research from Martha Hall Kelly, is quite impressive. The authors notes at the end add a deeper understanding from her years her personal dedication of study. By the time the reader gets to the end...we can't help but respect the integrity in which Martha Kelly devoted to the historical facts. Powerful and extremely engrossing reading. Thank You Random House, Netgalley, and Martha Hall Kelly,
Jen
Writes about Reading Lilac Girls BookNo matter how many holocaust stories I read, I still find them disturbing, shocking and heart wrenching. Surviving such a devastating experience brings with it a lifetime of horrors. For no one truly forgets and nor should we.3 women from 3 different geographies as WWII erupts - Each doing what they can towards the war effort. Caroline in NYC. Putting care packages together for orphaned children. Going one step further and helping rebuild the country. Falling in love with a foreigner who is forced to return to Nazi occupied France.Kasia in Poland. The Nazis have invaded and she has been caught working for the underground movement. She's been sent to Ravensbrück and now is infamously known as one of the 'rabbits'. Even with liberation, the polish people were forced to live under communist rule with Stalin's iron fist -from one radical leader to another never experiencing freedom. The losses suffered and the pain endured would be enough to lose hope. But hope is all they had and gave them the strength to survive. Herta in Germany. A medical doctor working at a concentration camp doing experimental surgeries on inmates. A doctor whose purpose is saving lives is practicing unethical surgeries and murder. Aka The rabbit surgeon. The nazi code so fundamentally f**ked up. The structure of the narrative told from the 3 perspectives gives a global scope. I would have preferred locking onto one character, but overall this was beautifully written and an amazing story of character, courage, redemption and resilience. 5⭐️
Stephanie
Writes about Read Online Lilac Girls Book PDFis one of my top reads ever! It is beautifully written, terribly sad, and based on real events that took place during WWII. 's story is centered around three very different women with three very different situations during WWII. The chapters alternate perspectives between these three women, which does provide the reader a respite between some of the more stunningly sad scenes.* - an 18 year girl from Lublin, Poland who has begun to be involved in Underground activities. She, along with her beloved mother, sister, and friend is "arrested" and sent to Ravensbruck for "re-education". * - a 30ish single former actress living in NY comes from a wealthy family and is quite passionately involved in charitable activities, mainly supporting French orphans. She falls in love with a married French man. * -a German woman who has just passed her medical exams and is eager to begin working as a doctor. Her sick father does not seem anti-Semitic having a Jewish doctor. However, Herta's complete buy-in to the Nazi agenda is chilling throughout the story. She takes a job as a doctor at Ravensbruck.Much of the story takes place in this women-only Concentration Camp. As with any rendition of the Holocaust, this is not an easy read. The descriptions are painful and realistic. The plight of the prisoners is unbearable and defies description. Horrifically, Herta's job includes experimentation on select prisoners (called "rabbits"). Unfortunately, Kasia is one of the "rabbits". It is unfathomable to me how any doctor could have believed more in the Nazi agenda than in the value of human life. I had never before been exposed to the story of the "rabbits". This book is based on true characters and facts. Following are some on-line sources of information that I found -- as I tried to better understand these events.Contains photographs of the "rabbits" and some additional information:More on Ravensbruck:Story from Author's site on a "rabbit" survivor (interview and pics May 2015)I was a bit curious about the title. It sounds like such a sunny one -- for a book that had such a realistic portrayal of life (and death) at Ravensbruck -- evil personified. Based on the contents of the book, this is how I would explain it -- Caroline Ferriday had a beautiful garden, resplendent with lilacs that her father had loved. In talking about how she misses him she stated, I strongly encourage every reader with any interest in: General Fiction, Historical Fiction, WWII, or in better understanding humanity to read . I think that this one will stay with me forever. It was beautifully written and heartbreaking. The only way that this story could have been improved would be by changing history itself.
Lori
Writes about Read Online Lilac Girls Book PDFAfter all the books I've read about the horrors surronding WWII it still amazes me how awful humans can be to each other. Lilac Girls is one of those novels that brings to light a little known atrocity... the experimentation on women in Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. The writing is so raw that at times I wasn't sure I'd be able to get through it. It saddens me so much to think that any of the victims of these atrocities would carry guilt feeling any it was their fault. I appreciate the dedication and research Kelly did in order to bring these women's story to us. It is important that stories like these continue to be written so that the victims of these atrocities are never forgotten. 4.5 stars.*Spoiler? My one criticism might be a spoiler so at this point you might want to stop reading... The only part of this story I didn't really feel connected with was the relationship between Caroline and Paul. Something about it just felt off. To my surprise, I discovered in the Authors Note that this was the only totally fictious relationship in the book. I don't think this relationship was needed and it would've earned a 5 star rating from me if it had been omitted. Still a brillant story.
Misfit
Writes about Download Lilac Girls PDFThis story is about three different women, two of whom were real-life characters according to the author's notes, the third (a prisoner at the all female prison camp Ravensbrück). Caroline Ferriday is the first narrator, Kasia (a young Polish girl) and finally the notorious Herta Oberheuser (don't read up on her experiments at meal time). The setting is mainly during the years of WWII, but the later third or so take place some years afterward.Typically such a subject matter would have me gripped to the book and bawling my eyes out at the gross inhumanity of the experiments the women at the camp were forced to endure, but this just didn't grab me. I can't understand why a fascinating, albeit graphic, bit of history can be put into a novel that in the end became increasingly tedious. I don't know if it was the alternating third person narratives (admittedly not a method I'm terribly fond of), or just flat characters/characterization, but I just didn't care about any of them, not even Kasia and her fellow prisoners. Caroline's narrative went on and on about her pretty dresses, charities parties and all that name dropping, and then there's the romantic element with no chemistry. In the end, I just didn't care and began to skim, and it went on too long for before tying things up and moving on.Sorry, but apparently I am in the minority and see this getting a lot of favorable reviews, but due to the slowness of the story reaching it's resolution, unlikeable characters (and really, Herta should have been a lot more unlikeable), and one too many social party and pretty dress for Caroline, I just can't rate this higher. YMMV.
Jonetta
Writes about Download Lilac Girls PDFThis is a fictional story of the real-life women who were subjected to medical experiments at Hitler's Ravensbrüch concentration camp, the only one exclusively for women. The story is told from three narratives: Caroline Ferriday, a New York debutant and socialite who worked tirelessly on behalf of French orphans before and at the war's outbreak; Kasia Kuzmerick, a young Polish woman who was subjected to these experiments at Ravensbrüch; and Herta Oberheuser, one of the camp doctors (the only female one) conducting the experiments. I thought I was familiar with most of the atrocities of the Holocaust but the plight of these women, referred to as the Ravensbrüch Rabbits because of the abnormalities of their gaits resulting from the tests, was a new account for me. Using the voices of a victim, perpetrator and savior helped to vividly portray the complete perspective. As distasteful and dispassionate as I found Herta's point of view, it was essential to the story and made a big difference. One of the reasons I enjoy historical fiction is the opportunity to learn something about a period of time that I didn't know previously. So much of this story was enlightening and I especially liked learning about Caroline Ferriday who is not a fictional character and lived a life of charity and substance. It's a haunting, difficult story but I'm glad I read this book, one of unlikely heroes and incredible sisterhood.
Dorie
Writes about Read Online Lilac Girls Book PDFI received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.This was a difficult book to read and review. At one point early on in this novel I almost put it aside. The atrocities that it outlines in great, graphic detail, were almost too much for me. Then, curious about the author, I went on her website where she describes how she came to write this novel. It was here that I discovered that the main characters in the book are based on the lives of real people. Reading about all of the author’s research on Ms. Ferriday and her travels to Ravensbruck made me want to read this book. The story is told from three different points of view.Caroline Ferriday, was a New York socialite working with the French Consulate in New York at the beginning of the story. She works to put together boxes with clothing and personal items to be sent to the French children who were orphaned during the war. Because she was well known among the wealthy society women of New York she is able to raise much needed funds to continue her work for the orphans. She holds numerous balls and other functions in order to raise awareness as well as money.Herta Oberheuser, is a young German doctor, the only female doctor at Ravensbruck. She believes and totally agrees with Hitler’s plans for the country. She is part of the group of doctors that performed horrific experiments on healthy Polish women. Their legs were often operated on, introducing objects as well as bacteria into them with the supposed goal of learning how to best heal the German soldiers at the front. The women suffered terribly with no access to pain medication. These women were often called “rabbits” because after the surgeries they often hopped about on one healthy leg and also because they were the Nazi’s experimental “rabbits”.Kasia is a young Polish woman working with the underground resistance in Poland who was captured, along with her mother and sister, and imprisoned at Ravensbruck and she was one of almost 50 women who were operated on. The characters were very real to me. I sat reading about Herta and wondering how anyone could be so cruel, so heartless, so completely blinded by ambition and Hitler’s world, to perform those horrific operations on other women.Caroline Ferriday contributed so much to the rehabilitation of the formerly imprisoned Polish women. After the war when it becomes known what really happened at Ravensbruck, Caroline sought out the women who were the “rabbits”. She again rallied the wealthy people that she knew and was able to bring a number of the women to the United States where they were operated upon, this time with some wonderful success in restoring function to the parts of their body that had been maimed. The strength and resolve of these women is amazing. Not only did they survive their horrors but also managed to get the word out to the free world about what was happening. Later they helped bring justice to the world by pointing out and speaking against the doctors at Ravensbruck when they were charged with crimes against humanity. In re-reading my review I realized that I make the book sound very dry, it isn't at all. There is much emotion here and relationships between prisoners, Ms. Ferriday's friends, etc. I have just pointed out the bones of the book and how I felt about it. It is a book that you will get caught up in because the characters are real and their friendships and loved ones are what kept most all of them going to pursue their goal. Survival was the goal of the prisoners and for Ms. Ferriday and her friends the goal was to lend help to orphans and women prisoners and to ensure that those responsible will be held to account for their actions. At the end of the book there is a very comprehensive author’s note which states many of the things which I found on Ms. Kelly’s website. I would still encourage you to visit the site as there are photos and more information about her research and Ravensbruck.
Phrynne
Writes about Reading Lilac Girls BookThis was a fascinating read, not quite perfect,so four rather than five stars, but still a book I would recommend everyone to read.I found out so much more than I already knew about World War 11, particularly as to what happened in Poland during and after the war. I also found it necessary after reading the book to research a bit more in order to fully understand it all.My only reservation was that I never really felt attached to any of the characters. I was duly shocked by all they had to endure but I never really felt a part of it myself which was a shame. Nevertheless it was a great story, well told and very emotive. Proof too that not all war heroes are men by a long shot!
Jennifer
Writes about Download Lilac Girls PDFWhen done well, historical fiction novels can deeply connect readers to our shared human history and "teach" even better than many non-fiction texts. is simultaneously heart breaking and heart warming, depressing and uplifting, as it weaves the story of women from Poland, the U.S. and Germany during WWII.Much has been been written about the book's plot, which I will not re-hash in detail here. The book's primary focus is on the group of Polish women sent to the Ravensbruk concentration camp who were subjected to inhumane medical experimentation, and the American philanthropist who worked tirelessly for their recovery after the war. The book includes an excellent author's note which should not be skipped. While listening to this book I did ponder why there are so many books about WWII. I think one important reason why authors continue to write (and readers continue to read) about this era is that we still haven't learned all the lessons from that time in history. The big questions -- How could these leaders come to power? How could we do this to other human beings? Why did good people just go along with these terrible orders? -- still vex us. 4.5 stars rounded up. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Although I had a galley, I listened to the audio version of the book. The audio was merely "okay", so my recommendation would be to go for the text.
Marilyn C.
Writes about Reading Lilac Girls BookDo not let the idyllic cover of this book fool you; three girls, arm in arm, having a leisurely stroll together. This book is about Ravensbruck, a women's concentration camp located in northern Germany, during World War II. Over 130,000 women went through this camp with the majority never leaving: dying from disease, starvation or execution. These women were also subjected to grotesque experiments that would leave them disfigured, sterilized or dead. They would become known as the Ravensbruck rabbits. Martha Hall Kelly's debut novel is eye opening and disturbing to read at times. The book alternates between three stories, Caroline Ferriday, Herta Oberheuser, and Kasia Kuzmerick. Two of those stories, Caroline's and Herta's, are based on real people. I found the beginning of the book with the alternating stories to be distracting and a little confusing at times. There is a wonderful thread of sisterhood and friendship in this story. With everything and everyone that was taken from them, all these women had were each other.Although, it is difficult to read about the atrocities that happened during the Holocaust, this book is a must read for everyone. 4.5 Stars rounded up to 5 Stars
Suzanne Leopold
Writes about Download Lilac Girls PDFThis book, based upon a true story, is about three women during World War 2.Caroline Ferriday is a single New York socialite who does volunteer work for the French Consulate aiding orphans. Compassionate about her work, twenty-something Caroline wants to do something meaningful with her life. We follow her life through WW2 and how her she ultimately ends up helping raise money to rehabilitate women whose lives were severely impacted at Ravensbruck . Kasia Kuzmerick is a 17 year old, living in Poland who joins the resistance when her country is invaded by the Nazis. She is from a tight- knit family consisting of a sister, Zuzanna, a medical student, and her parents. Herta Oberheuser is a German doctor who takes a medical position in Ravensbruck, a forced labor camp for women under the Nazi regime. Herta is the villain of the story.The lives of these women intertwine in a sad yet powerful story. Until I read this book, I was unaware of the horrors that took place at Ravensbruck. The book can be intense at times but is very well written. I appreciated that the book did not end at the liberation of the camp. The stories continue, and we are able to gain insight into some of struggles and issues faced by families after the war. This is an excellent historical fiction novel. The author provides a nice follow up at the end discussing how her writing of this novel started. This is a debut novel by the author. I look forward to her next book that I hear is in the works! I am giving away a signed copy on my blog until 10/11
☮Karen
Writes about Read Online Lilac Girls Book PDFA moving, emotional WWII novel that was simply a pleasure to read because of the expert writing and handling of some difficult storylines. Coincidentally, while reading this, I was listening to , a nonfiction account of French women deported to Auschwitz and then Ravensbrück, with many similar accounts of the depravity and horror taking place at these camps, during the same time periods. The books complement each other, but I have to say the fictionalized Lilac Girls was my preference over the two as it put me more deeply into the characters' heads and personal experiences.Here we have three main characters:Caroline Ferriday, based on a real person, she is a New York socialite in love with a married man who is a French actor gone home to his war torn country, and to his estranged wife. Caroline had a real backbone and savvy survival instincts (and not just that she sold her mother's silverware whenever some extra cash was needed). Kasia is a headstrong Polish teen who was sent to Ravensbrück after failing at her first job helping the Polish underground. At the concentration camp, she and her sister Zuzanna were two of the 74 Rabbits, girls whose legs were experimented on by surgeons; ie. with the removal of bones and muscle tissue and the insertion of all sorts of bacteria and foreign matter. This is something I had heard very little about before, and was captivated by the shocking revelations.Third is another real person, Dr. Herte Oberheuser, a medical doctor at Ravensbrück, not a character we get to know as well as the others and not at all likeable, of course, seeing as how she becomes involved in the surgeries. She goes from an aspiring young doctor to a willing participant in the Nazi nastiness with apparent ease. When the stories finally converge, I was brought to tears many times. It took me longer than usual to read Lilac Girls as I chose to savor just 2-3 chapters in a sitting, plus the book is a long one. This is definitely one of the best WWII books I have read, and my shelves are full of them as it's my favorite time period. I see a promising future for this book and this author.An ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.
Britany
Writes about Read Online Lilac Girls Book PDFHolocaust historical fiction is my kryptonite and up the ante by base it on true characters... SOLD!Three women tell us their stories weaving chapter by chapter until they all connect. Caroline Ferriday is a NYC socialite working for the French Embassy, helping French orphans by sending packages. She falls in love with an unavailable French actor right before the war really starts raging. Kasia is a teenage Polish girl helping with the underground network, when she is captured, arrested, and sent to Ravensbruck with her mom and sweet sister, Zusanna. Lastly, Herta Oberheuser is a surgical student looking to become a huge success in Germany. She quickly becomes part of Hitler Youth and applies for a position with the reeducation of Ladies at Furstenberg Lake aka RAVENSBRUCK. I've read my fair share of Holocaust material to know how horrifyingly tragic is it. I had the hardest time with Herta's section from the beginning. I've never read a point of view that illustrated the idea of becoming a female doctor amidst WWII in Germany. As first, I felt sorry for Herta and the decisions she was forced into doing, but quickly found myself despising her for her lack of spine, and the fact that she just bent over and let the horrors wash over her. As I read, I became disgusted and learned a whole new side of this horror show. The Polish side. The Rabbits and the experiments that were performed on these people. People who had no control and no idea what was happening to them. People, that eventually became collateral damage to the Nazi's if they were discovered. The other piece to this novel that separated it for me was the end. The hope and the aftermath. No other narrative speaks to the aftermath- the political oppression, the Russian overture, the lack of resources. There were parts where I wanted so much more but for a debut novel- this was an impressive story to write. I anxiously will await more from Martha Hall Kelly. Bravo!
TL
Writes about Download Lilac Girls PDFI received this via Goodreads FirstReads in exchange for an honest review.----I'm at a loss for words somewhat but I will do my best...This was a powerful and gorgeous but sometimes difficult one to read... I had to put it aside a couple of times. Not because I wasn't enjoying it but because it was hard to read what the women went through and seeing what went on through the eyes of one of the doctors as well.Caroline Ferriday was/is an amazing woman... fighting tirelessly for what she believed in. Words can't describe how much I admire her and what she accomplished. I wish we had known about her in our history classes at school. Visiting Caroline's house is definitely going on my bucket list.The story is told from three points of view: Kasia, Herta, and Caroline and each is powerful and moving for different reasons. This had me raging, cheering (one part especially I was so proud of Kasia), horrified at different turns.. these people get under your skin and you want to help them, and in the cases of some... shake them.I loved reading the author's note at the end, seeing how she came to write this story and a few details of Caroline's life afterwards.What can I say about this? Well done Miss Kelly, my hat off to you... a brilliant, brilliant book (and her first as well!) *big hugs for you* Definitely looking forward to what she comes up with next.
DeB MaRtEnS
Writes about Read Online Lilac Girls Book PDF5✩!! Caroline Ferriday is an unsung heroine, whose time to be properly though posthumously recognized has come through this remarkably documented piece of historical fiction, The Lilac Girls. The author Martha Hall Kelly found parts of the true story incidentally in a magazine article years ago. After visiting Caroline's New England lilac-surrounded heritage family home much later, Martha felt compelled to write about the New York actress and debutante who became an activist on behalf of women operated on and used as laboratory specimens - The Rabbits- by the Nazis at Ravensbrük. Fiction featuring World War I and II seems to have become more generally popularized in North America recently than I can ever recall it being. The Brits have always kept true and fictionalized narratives alive as part of their literary offerings. Today, it is the reckoning with the actions that countries took or didn't which are inviting introspection, especially for North America. Our internment camps... Our duplicity with landed immigrants' property... Our treatment of different nationalities... Anti-Semitism preventing immigration during WWII. As a result, the historical fiction we read now gives us a broader and truer picture of those times, and a greater appreciation for those who tried to help as well as the not so well known casualties of war from those times. Following the lives of three women and those who intersect with them from 1939 until 1959, the reader is taken from the French Consulate with Caroline Ferriday in New York where its terrified countrymen look for visas for relatives, to the invasion of Poland where thousands of men are forcibly moved to become Nazi slave labour and where the German SS trap Kasia Kuzmerick, her sister and mother and capriciously send them to the women-only concentration camp, Ravensbrük. There, they are meant to be starved to death if healthy, put to death if not and treated barbarically. They also meet the only female doctor, Herta Oberheuser, a staunchly loyal follower of Hitler who respects the Third Reich's hierarchy obsessively and who is involved with the terrible experimental surgeries. The Lilac Girls is compelling, compulsively readable, deeply disturbing at times and dark with resignation. It is also a story of people who helped, survived and told their story - very well, with Martha Hall Kelly giving it a relatable voice. The atrocities of the past are those which we can examine with the distance of time; they are also a nagging reminder that we must help, and never ignore, our fellow humans in peril.
Julie
Writes about Read Online Lilac Girls Book PDFThey were known as 'The Rabbits', those seventy-four young Polish women and girls held as political prisoners at Ravensbrück concentration camp. The Rabbits of Ravensbrück were chosen for the particular torture of medical experimentation. Their leg bones were smashed or fractured, the muscles cut open and glass, wood and dirt were inserted into their wounds. Some of the wounds were left untreated and others were treated with different types of drugs. Several of these women died as a result of the horrors exacted on their bodies. The rest were damaged for life. Ravensbrück was the largest Nazi concentration camp for women. But history has been reluctant to give up its stories. Because the prisoners were women? Because they were social misfits: Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, central Europeans lost behind the Iron Curtain in the years immediately following the end of the war? Because it is too hard for us to imagine women exacting the most brutal forms of inhumanity on other women? Although a man was always appointed head of the camp and there were a few other men on senior staff, the guards were women. And they were cruel, as cruel as any man. The principal doctor who experimented on the Rabbits, as well as exterminating hundreds of prisoners, was a woman: Herta Oberheuser, later convicted of war crimes, but set free after serving only a few years. She returned to practicing medicine until she was recognized by a Rabbit in 1958. Herta Oberhauser is a principal character in Martha Hall Kelly's extraordinary debut, . But it is the fictional Kasia, a Polish prisoner held at Ravensbrück with her sister and mother, whose story becomes the head and heart of this devastating, and ultimately redemptive, novel. A third interwoven storyline belongs to another real-life character: Caroline Ferriday, the American socialite who worked to aid French orphans and refugees and was largely responsible for bringing the story of the Rabbits to light. Spanning twenty years and two continents, merits special attention in the canon of World War II fiction. It offers a uniquely feminine perspective of both captor and captive, weaving historical figures and painstaking research with glorious storytelling. proves yet again that fiction is our way into understanding the worst, and the best, of what humanity can be and ensures that our most painful and most important stories are never forgotten. An extraordinary debut told with confidence and tenderness. Highly recommended.
Jessica
Writes about Reading Lilac Girls BookI'm so very clearly in the minority here, and I don't really feel like drawing the ire of the thousands of people who seem to have enjoyed this book so just let me say that the story was fine but I thought the writing was weak. The characters weren't developed and Kelly's use of the three-intertwined-narratives technique (Side note: I am sick to death of that technique) struck me as clumsy and ineffective.
Emmy L.
Writes about Reading Lilac Girls BookI cannot believe this is Martha Hall Kelly's first novel- it is such a fantastic, satisfying read. I received an Advanced Reader Edition and honestly cannot put it down. Kelly's range and depth of research is amazing- she is in one chapter able to transport us to the desolation and despair of WWII Europe, while capturing the opulent world of 1940's New York high society in the next. I have found Lilac Girls to be an incredibly compelling, emotional and fascinating debut novel thus far and would heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to take a thrilling, personal and poignant first-person ride through history.
Jen
Writes about Download Lilac Girls PDFThis is a beautiful, unsettling and exquisitely written book. Lovingly researched and inspired by the true story of the Ravensbrück “lapins” (Rabbits) and their “godmother”, Caroline Ferriday.Ravensbrück was a women-only concentration camp run by the Nazis during World War II. Having just finished , I have a grotesque knowledge of the innumerable cruelties inflicted by women upon other women during the war, and had planned to learn more about Ravensbrück by reading the highly lauded (still do). But I got my first taste of what life was like inside the camp from Lilac Girls, and oh, I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.I’d never heard of Caroline until reading , but raced to find out more information about her once I realized that she did live, and that she did do such wonderful things for the survivors of Ravensbrück. These were women who were forced to undergo medical experiments while imprisoned at the camp. Ravaged, infected with bacteria, sterilized and tortured, these women – those who were not murdered by the Nazis – ended up being known as the Rabbits, and were brought to the United States for treatment by Ferriday in the 1950s.In , Martha Hall Kelly tells not only Caroline’s story, but also that of (I believe, fictional) Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager working for the Resistance who ends up in the death camp, and German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, who accepts a position at Ravensbrück in order to further her medical career, which has been stymied by Hitler’s position on women in male-dominated environments.Initially, Caroline’s tale did not thrill me, nor did Herta’s. I felt anxious to get back to Kasia, anxious to learn what happened to her, to her mother and sister, to her friends and her love. I felt repelled by having to be inside Herta’s brain, watching with dawning horror as she lost what shred of humanity she had left, becoming riddled with rot. And yet, soon, I was drawn into each of the stories with equal fervor.I wanted to about Caroline’s work, about her quiet, steadfast love for Paul, about Kasia’s suffering and unwavering aching love for her family, about Herta’s (vile) thoughts and actions, watching her justify and excuse herself, even as she attempted to hide. The banality of evil. Doing her duty. Just doing her duty. It became so real to me through , how these people became what they did, how they had the soul excised from their bodies like a troublesome splinter. How the survivors rose, like flames, to return to their old lives… but how could they? How could they ever truly forget? The blackness remains in their bellies, like a tumour. I remember reading a quote once from a Holocaust survivor, who said they felt they had died in Auschwitz, but no one knew it. They had come back, but never truly come back. It’s beyond heartrending. It’s unfathomable, that much pain, like a tsunami, destroying cities and hearts and bodies.Martha Hall Kelly has captured that pain, that sisterhood in suffering, that thread of love that no one – not even the Nazis – could break, the help that people gave, the millions of dead disappeared gone, the reunions and the reunions that never were and never could be. The true essence of what it means to lose everything, and then try to claw your way back.There are certain books about the Holocaust that haunt me ceaselessly (The devastating by Caroline Moorehead being the most relentless), and I know that will be one of them. An absolute triumph.
RoseMary Achey
Writes about Reading Lilac Girls BookWorld War II provides writers with an endless supply of settings and possible plot directions. Martha Hall Kelly’s new book presents a fictional account of the only female doctor performing medical experimentation on women in the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. Dr. Herta Oberheuser performed some of the most gruesome and painful medical experiments during World War II, focused on deliberately inflicting wounds on the subjects. In order to simulate the combat wounds of German soldiers fighting in the war, Herta Oberheuser rubbed foreign objects, such as wood, rusty nails, slivers of glass, dirt or sawdust into the wounds.Herta OberheuserIn addition to Oberheuser’s story presents two other very strong primary characters. Caroline Ferriday was a wealthy American who makes it her life’s work to help the women prisoners Oberheuser used in her medical experimentation. Caroline FerridayWhile Oberheuser and Ferriday are , the third character is purely fictional. Kasia Kuzmerick is a Polish political prisoner and one of the 74 residents of Ravensbrück Concentration Camp that Dr. Oberheuser forced into her medical experimentation operations. The camp inmates used the name Lapins (rabbits) to describe the women being used for these lab experiments. The young women were subjected to up to six operations each, including having the bones and muscles in their legs broken, cut out, or otherwise damaged. Their wounds were then deliberately infected with bacteria. A total of 74 Lapins were subjected to these horrific experiments; 63 survived the war, largely due to the help of other inmates.In 1958, 13 years after the end of World War II, Ferriday was among the first to awaken the American public to the horrors of Ravensbrück. Because Poland was behind the Iron Curtain, the camp was liberated by the Russian Army, not the American. In addition, because Ravensbrück was a camp for women and not specifically devoted to the extermination of the Jews, the history of this camp was slow to emerge.While the medical experimentation scenes are difficult to read, they are based on historical records. Kelly has performed meticulous research and brought to life a story of WWII that will be new to many readers. The characters are extremely compelling and engaging. will be published on April 5, 2016…so don’t wait, preorder NOW for this powerful new novel.
Laura
Writes about Reading Lilac Girls BookSomewhat different subject matter exposed in this WWII novel. Takes some time to establish plot and characters, but continues to get better and better the further you get into the book. If you like WWII fiction this one is not bad. I would not classify as WWII chicklit, if there is such a thing. seemed to have much less depth than this novel. But did not move me as much as .
Kristie
Writes about Download Lilac Girls PDFTo start with, I would like to state that the cover of this book is not of the three narrators. You can figure out who the three are by the end of the story, but they are certainly not the three main characters. I inform you of this because I expected one of the narrators to be different based upon the cover, but the story is more realistic than that. It is not all pleasant with 3 different women working together during World War II. The three main characters in this book are all very different from each other and come from different backgrounds. They are Caroline Ferriday, Kasia Kuzmeric, and Dr. Herta Oberhauser.Caroline Ferriday is a former actress and volunteer at the French consulate in NYC. She is based on a real person. In this book, she has a love interest which was completely made up by the author. The love interest plays a large part in the book, however her volunteer work also plays a large role and was important in both the book and real life. Kasia Kuzmerick is an eighteen year old girl from Lublin, Poland. She gets involved in the resistance and is arrested due to her activities. Her mother, sister, and friends get arrested along with her simply due to proximity. The females are all sent to Ravensbruck, known as a "reeducation" camp. Kasia and her sister’s characters are based on real life sisters that were imprisoned in Ravensbruck, however they are made up characters. Dr. Herta Oberhauser is from Düsseldorf and is an ambitious doctor who wants to do surgery in a male-dominated field where she has been allowed to become a dermatologist. She is also based on a real person. Three different perspectives are completely separate stories to begin with. It takes a while for the stories to intersect, but they are all interesting on their own. This story is set from 1939-1959, which was interesting because it continued after the war ended, which is where most stories end. It showed how after the war ended Poland was occupied by Russia, a communist regime, and still wasn’t free. It also showed how people fared post-war, which is left out of most stories. This story presented the story of the “Rabbits of Ravensbruck.” These were women being held at Ravensbrook that were experimented upon. They were called rabbits because the hopped around the camp and were used similarly to lab animals for experiments. It was interesting to me to see how the other prisoners came together to protect the Rabbits and it was just as interesting to see what happened to them after the war ended. It took a little while for me to get invested in this book, but once I did I found each of the storylines interesting for their different perspectives and enjoyed the book as a whole. I loved the themes of love among friends and family, which which I found important to the story. I think this was an amazing book for a debut. The story was well-researched and presented. As a matter of fact, I didn’t realize this was a debut until I looked it up after reading the book. I look forward to seeing what else Martha Hall Kelly does in the future. I would like to note that I also purchased an audio copy of the book. The audio was narrated by Cassandra Campbell, Kathleen Gati, and Kathrin Kana. The author’s note was read by Martha Hall Kelly. The narration for this book was excellent and I would recommend this format to anyone that enjoys audio.
Judi/Judith Riddle
Writes about Download Lilac Girls PDFI was astounded at this exquisitely written debut novel. Of all the of WWII novels I’ve read I put this one is at the top. I rarely use the overused word amazing but there is no other word I can think of to describe this magnificent historical fiction based on several real people who end up at Ravensbruck, the only all female concentration camp in Hitler’s regime. The main characters are Caroline, a New York socialite who, prior to the war, reaches out to provide clothing and food to the French orphans. Kasia is a Polish girl who along with her mother and sister Zuzana are taken to Ravensbruck as political prisoners. Herta, a young female German doctor who is hired by the male doctors at Ravensbruck. She is so excited about going to a place where she can use her skills that she turns a blind eye to the horror of what is really happening there. There has not been much written about the surgical experiments that were performed on the prisoner’s legs but there were a few documents left that that describe how the Nazis labeled them the Rabbit Girls because the surgeries caused them to hop on one leg. These appalling secrets were hidden for many years. It took Martha Hall Kelly 10 years of research putting together remaining parts of missing files and information on the Rabbit Girls to bring this story to life. As it is a shocking and grim a story it is fascinating that the camps got away with these brutal experiments and left very little information behind. The story opens with Caroline, who initially doesn't evoke as much interest to the story as the other girls, however, she is the thread that holds the many parts of the novel together. A very small part of the novel deals with Caroline’s on and off again romance with a charming but married French man. Kasia is the main character who is resilient, bold and strong and she carries, along with her sister Zuzanna, the heart of the tragic story. The extraordinary narratives of Caroline, Kasia and Herta seamlessly carry the story along. After the war in peacetime there was no peace for the Rabbit Girls who were lacking in medical treatment when Poland became part of the Soviet Union. Kasia carries with her the anger of the German experiments and the loss of her mother and friends. Caroline helps the sisters along with 33 other young women get the medical procedures in the United States which are needed to improve their lives. During this time Caroline, Kasia and Zuzanna create a bond that is everlasting. What a wonderful novel that is based on real people and real situations! I can’t praise this novel enough for reminding us that we must not forget what many went through before and after the repercussions of WWII. I highly recommend this novel!
Myrna
Writes about Download Lilac Girls PDFis an emotional story. It is based on true historical events spanning from 1939-1959. The factual parts of the book were compelling. I'm glad this author told a part of history most of us don't know about.
Jean Coldwell
Writes about Download Lilac Girls PDFLilacs. Delicate lavender-colored flowers with a heavenly scent. Yet, the horrors experienced by the women of the Nazi camp Ravensbruck can only be described as hell on earth. is a debut historical fiction novel by Martha Hall Kelly that spans two decades beginning in 1939 as Hitler begins his march into Poland and Eastern Europe. The story focuses on the lives of three women: American actress/philanthropist Caroline Ferriday, German physician Herta Oberheuser, and the fictional Polish teenager Kasia Kuzmerick.The chapters alternate in first person narrative that takes the reader inside three different worlds. Caroline’s world is the French Consulate in New York, where she assists French citizens and later war orphans and survivors of the prison camps. She volunteers endless hours organizing galas and other fundraisers. She even sells the family’s silver to provide care packages to needy children abroad. Kasia’s easy-going life as a teen is soon turned upside down when she is caught running an errand for the underground resistance. She, her sisters, and her mother are all sent to the German women-only labor camp in Furstenburg, Germany. Kasia, a strong-willed girl who finds it difficult to forgive, is haunted for years afterward. Finally, there is Herta Oberheuser. When we first meet her, she has just finished medical school with a sub-specialty in dermatology. Her desire is to be a surgeon. She is the only female doctor at the camp, and she gets her chance to practice her surgical techniques on the condemned women who come to be known as “Rabbits.”“Never forget.” That has been one of the lessons of the Holocaust. But like many Americans, I had not realized the extent of the cancer the Nazis spread beyond anti-Semitism. Ms. Kelly highlights the struggles of the Polish people, women in particular, and chooses a historical female villain in Oberheuser and a female heroine in Ferriday to balance the saga. Oberheuser – I will not honor her by calling her “Doctor,” for she is unworthy of that name. She was the only female physician tried at the Nuremburg trials. Even before she goes to the camp, we see her distain for Jews, and despite her original hesitance upon arriving at Ravensbruck, she soon becomes hardened to her job. Caroline Ferriday, on the other hand, works tirelessly along with her mother to do whatever she can to help first the French, and later the Polish “Rabbits.” Kelly gives her a fictional French beau to add a little sparkle to her life.Kasia shows us what a hardship life in the camp is like. Life in Poland under the Communists is not easy either. A victim of Oberheuser’s experimental surgeries, Kasia suffers intense physical pain for years. The emotional pain, which she attempts to quash, endures and seeps out sideways.Some readers may want to shy away from because of its content. Have we had too many World War II books? Too many Holocaust books? Early in the book, Herta has a disagreement with her father about Hitler. On page 45 she says, “Hitler’s our hope.” Her father’s opinion? “He’s killing Germany to feed his own vanity.” I look at my country today, and at our world. “Never forget.”I do have a couple criticisms. One is that some of the German phrases used in the camp were not explained. I found myself pausing to go to the Internet to look up words, so an explanation here and there would have been helpful. Secondly, I did not really feel an emotional connection to Caroline or to Kasia. At times, I felt that the women did not have a unique voice that set them apart from one another. I wanted to feel their personalities more deeply than I did. There are so many positives to take away from . Like the lilac bush that still blooms after a harsh winter, the human spirit is able to heal, rebound, and find love, even after the cruelest situations imaginable. Ms. Kelly portrays a network of benefactors, steadfastly led by Caroline Ferriday, that helps so many start their lives anew. Kelly also details a sisterhood – prisoners related by blood and by fate – who suffer side by side. Some walk the “Beauty Road” to the shooting wall. Other survive. All must be remembered.4 stars
Elizabeth
Writes about Reading Lilac Girls BookFirst, a huge thank you to NetGalley and Random House - Ballentine for providing this amazing book for me to read and review. Can you tell that I loved it?"Lilac Girls" impressed me in a way that not too many books do. I love historical fiction and will read almost anything about WWII. However, this book drew me in from the first page and did not let me go until well after I'd finished it.I loved the intertwining stories of Caroline, Herta and Kasia. I wasn't sure how they would blend, but the author accomplished that seamlessly. The characters were spot on and, at least, partially based on real people. The storyline was developed logically and was brutally (occasionally) honest about what happened in the concentration camp. This is a book all women (and men) should read. It does not glorify the War, but is truthful and helps us to remember what happened 70+ years ago. I highly recommend this book.
Jamise
Writes about Read Online Lilac Girls Book PDFThis is why I love historical fiction! From New York to Paris, Germany and Poland, Kelly gives the reader a outstanding evenly paced story inspired by actual WWII events & real people. A riveting, powerful yet harrowing story of 3 women (Caroline, a New York socialite, Kaisa, a polish teenager sent to Ravensbrück & Herta a German doctor) whose path's cross as a result of the atrocities during Hitler's invasion. It was hard to digest the deplorable and inhumane treatment at Ravensbrück, a women's concentration camp. As I read the story I constantly grappled with how human beings can treat another human in this manner. The resilience and strength of these women was remarkable. Kelly's writing is soothing. During the most difficult moments of the story, she leaves the reader feeling that the human spirit can prevail in the most horrific situations.
Brad Simpkins
Writes about Read Online Lilac Girls Book PDFMartha Hall Kelly has immediately stepped right to the forefront of historical fiction authors with her novel, Lilac Girls. With impeccable research, Martha is able to transform us to a time in history when humanity itself was put on the spot. But it is not the rehashing of events that teach us history. It is the stories of those who have lived it that touch our hearts and leave an enduring impression. Through the compelling characters in Lilac Girls, Martha tells us of such a tale that needs to be remembered. Laughter and tears, love and hatred, shock and simple pleasure all come full circle in this must read novel. Well done Martha.
Fictionophile
Writes about Reading Lilac Girls Book“Lilac Girls” is a story of the mind numbing horrors of war. Horrors so gruesome that they are unimaginable unless you’ve experienced them first hand. The author has written about them in such a way that you as a reader almost feel that you have… The novel is based on the lives of real people and takes place between 1939 and the late 1950s.Not for the faint of heart, the story is often grueling. Mercifully, the author alternates chapters from the intense, distressing, and onerous scenes from Ravensbrück to the life of Caroline in New York. Also, the alternating viewpoints serve to show the stark contrast between the inhumane and desperate living conditions of the prisoners with the privileged and indulgent lifestyle of New York’s elite.Three women:Caroline Ferriday 37 – former Broadway actress and unmarried socialite from Connecticut who works as a volunteer at the French Consulate, Rockefeller Center, New York. She works tirelessly to provide care packages to send to France to aid their ever-growing numbers of orphaned children.The novel details her great love for married French actor Paul Rodierre who was sent to Natzweiler during the war.After the war philanthropist Caroline went on to work with women who had endured wartime atrocities. She was awarded both the Cross of Liberation and the French Legion of Honor for her work. In 1958 she brought thirty-five Polish women, former ‘Rabbits’ to New York for medical and dental attention. “Lilac Girls” was inspired by her story.Kasia Kuzmerick, 16 – lives with her family in Lublin, Poland. She works with the resistance and considers herself to be an enemy of the Nazis. A former girl guide, she and her family are patriots during the time of the German occupation. They are told that Poland no longer exists as a country. Polish will no longer be spoken. Schools will close. Curfews will be enforced. All foodstuffs will be confiscated and rationing will begin. Eventually, Kasia and her sister and mother are arrested and sent to Ravensbrück where she would stay until the camp was liberated by the Swedish Red Cross in April 1945. At which time Kasia was only twenty-two years old.Of the 130,000 women sent to Ravensbrück, only 40,000 survived.The novel describes the many atrocities perpetrated at Ravensbrück and details the inhumanity and cruelty of the guard Dorothea Binz. One wonders how people such as Binz could sleep at night. Had they no conscience at all…? She had her Alsatian dog attack prisoners at her command.Herta Oberheuser, 25 – a newly trained physician, lives in Düsseldorf and is of pure German blood. She is a leader in the Bund Deutscher Mädel, abbreviated BDM) which was the girls’ wing of the Nazi Party. She goes to work at Ravensbrück, a re-education camp for women. She has always wanted to perform surgery, something which female doctors are seldom allowed or encouraged to do. At Ravensbrück, she gets her opportunity and performs surgical ‘experiments‘ on the inmates – one of which is Kasia…I found it difficult to get my head around the fact that Herta studied hard to heal others, could love practicing medicine, yet at Ravensbrück do the very opposite by her inhumane surgeries on healthy girls and women thereby forgetting her Hippocratic oath to ‘do no harm’.I have read many books on the atrocities perpetrated against the Jewish in World War II. This novel opened my eyes to the fact that it wasn’t just the Jews who were persecuted. Catholics and others who did not have ‘pure’ German blood were also persecuted. Eugenics under the dictatorship of Hitler…The second and third parts of the novel go on to describe post-war conditions in the United States, France, and communist Poland. Kasia’s life in Poland under the NKVD, Stalin’s enforcement agency, was one of continued deprivation and lack of freedom.Kasia Kuzmerick and her sister Zuzanna are loosely based on the real life Nina Iwanska and her physician sister Krystyna.An eye-opening, disturbing, and well researched historical novel which re-examines history and the part that the ‘Rabbits’ of Ravensbrück played in WWII. “Lilac Girls” educates and entertains – just what historical fiction is meant to do. A powerful debut!
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