*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.
Title: The War Orphan
Author: Anna Stuart
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: ★★★★★
1945, Auschwitz: I stumble out of the gates, tightly
grasping the hands of two smaller children. Hunger swirls in my stomach and the
barren landscape swims before my eyes. I can barely believe it. We’re free. We
survived. But what happens now…
Sixteen-year-old Tasha Ancel turns to take one last look at the imposing place
that stole her freedom and her childhood. She has no idea how she continued to
live when so many others did not. For the first time in months, her heart beats
with hope for her future and that of the smaller children who cling to her now.
Tasha was torn from her mother’s arms by an SS guard days
before the gates of Auschwitz opened. Now she only has a lock of her mother’s
fiery hair. Desperate to be reunited, Tasha asks everyone she meets if they’ve
seen a woman with flame-red hair. But with so many people trying to locate
their loved ones in the chaotic aftermath of war finding her feels like an
impossible task.
Officially an orphan, Tasha is given the chance to start
a new life in the Lake District in England. She knows her mother would want her
to take the opportunity but she can’t bear the thought of leaving Poland
without her.
Tasha must make a heartbreaking decision: will she stay
in war-ravaged Europe and cling on to the hope that the person she loves most
in the world is alive, or take a long journey across the sea towards an
uncertain future?
The War Orphan is
another powerful and heart-wrenching Second World War novel from historical
fiction author Anna Stuart and the third instalment of her ‘Women of War’
series. This is a really powerful story of survival, found family and hope,
based on the true stories of the Windermere children.
After reading and absolutely
adoring the last book in the series The Midwife Of Berlin last year
(click here to read my review), I was highly anticipating the release of The War Orphan
and it only exceeded my high expectations. This is part of the Women of
War series but it works brilliantly as a standalone story too (although the entire
series is a must-read for fans of the genre).
The story is told
through a third-person dual-POV narrative, sharing the stories of both Tasha
and Alice, one of the adults running the programme in Windermere. With the
narrative primarily taking place after the end of the war, the exploration of the
trauma and grief experienced by Holocaust survivors is really hard hitting but
incredibly powerful. It was also really interesting, yet completely heartbreaking,
from a children’s psychology perspective to see the portrayal of the impact it
had on the children who were too young remember life outside of the
concentration camps. We follow the group of children from the liberation of Auschwitz
to being flown over to the UK and settling in Windermere, gradually starting
the difficult journey of beginning to recover from the trauma from the horrors
they had been exposed to in the concentration camps. It was a difficult read to
see the lasting impact it had on the children, with them suffering from traumatic
flashbacks and even imitating the horrific behaviours they’d seen through their
imaginative play and art because they don’t know anything else anymore.
As we’ve come to
expect from Anna Stuart, the history was clearly meticulously researched. I
found the historical notes section at the end of the book to be really
fascinating as it went through the history behind the book, including the stories
of all of the real individuals the characters had been based on.
Alice was a fantastic
strong female protagonist who was compassionate, completely selfless and based
on an incredible real woman. I loved the relationship she built with Tasha
throughout the course of the story. Tasha was a feisty, strong-willed and stubborn
character whose blossoming relationship with Georg was a beautiful read. We
also get to meet a fantastic ensemble of children who come to Windermere with
Tasha and Georg, all with their own stories.
Overall, The War Orphan
is a really powerful and compelling story which is as equally heartwarming as
it is heartbreaking at times. It is a must-read for historical fiction readers
or anyone who wants to know more about the Windermere programme. I am highly anticipating
the release of the fourth book of Anna Stuart’s ‘Women of War’ series ‘The
Resistance Sisters’ which is due to be released on 19th
August 2024.
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