Book: The Girl Who Survived
Author: Ellie Midwood
Pub Day: Sept 7th 2021
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
About the Book:
Germany, 1941: “We live together, or we die together.” A novel that will stay with you forever, The Girl Who Survived tells the inspiring true story of Ilse Stein, a German Jew who was imprisoned in a ghetto––and who fell in love with the man she was supposed to loathe.
For eighteen-year-old Ilse life is unrecognizable. A year ago, she wasn’t forced to wear a star on her clothes. A year ago, her parents were alive, not yet killed by their own countrymen. A year ago, she had her freedom.
Now, at the break of dawn, she steps off the cattle train into a Minsk ghetto. This is Ilse’s new home: trapped by barbed wire, surrounded by SS guards she is forbidden to look in the eye, with no choice but to trade the last of her belongings for scraps of food. Sentenced for the crime of simply existing, she doesn’t expect to live past the summer.
Yet the prisoners in the ghetto refuse to give up––the underground resistance is plotting their escape. Ilse’s first act of defiance is smuggling from the munitions factory, slipping bullets into the lining of her pockets.
But this is just the beginning… When Ilse meets Wilhem, a local SS administrative officer, she never dreams that her greatest rebellion will be falling for him. Wilhem promises that she will survive, even if the cost is his life. But in a world of such danger, daring to love is the most dangerous risk of all…
Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Choice, and Orphan Train will be completely gripped by this heartbreaking tale. Based on a true story, this powerful novel shows that love is stronger than terror, and that when life takes everything from you, death is not to be feared…
This book was previously published as No Woman’s Land.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'The Girl Who Survived' by Ellie Midwood.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Ellie Midwood, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 7th September 2021.
This is the fourth book I have read by this author. I have previously read 'The Girl Who Escaped Auschwitz', 'The Girl In The Striped Dress' and 'The Violinist Of Aushcwitz' which I also recommend. This book was previously published as 'No Woman's Land'.
I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover, its intriguing synopsis and title and its extremely talented author. The synopsis stated that 'Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Choice, and The Orphan Train will be utterly gripped by this unputdownable page-turner.' I am a huge fan of 'The Tattooist Of Aushcwitz' so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a huge fan of Ellie and if this is half as good as' The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz', 'the Girl In The Striped Dress' and 'The Violinist Of Aushcwitz ' it is sure to be a page turning read. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a prologue, 34 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is set in Minsk, Belarus 🇧🇾.
This book is written in first person perspective and the main protagonist is Ilse Stein. The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. If there are several protagonists you also get to see more of what is going on.
'The Girl Who Survived' discusses some topics that may trigger some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Ellie discusses/includes the Holocaust.
It is set over multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture.
Well, what can I say but wow!!! This story is definitely not going to leave my head anytime soon. Firstly I must congratulate Ellie Midwood for yet another extraordinary novel that seriously needs to be made into a movie which I assure would be best selling!!!
This book is very powerful and extremely well written. It is devastatingly heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. The storyline of this book is based on a true story which is another thing that drew me to read it. It is absolutely rammed with emotions that will make you smile, cry and laugh on the roller-coaster ride to hell that is the Holocaust and the Minsk ghetto. Nothing is left out and the author has done an immense amount of research and brings Ilsa and Willy's story to life. Ilsa and even Willy in his own right are such powerful, strong and kind hearted heroes and I am looking forward to reading more about them. I had never heard of either before reading this but have read 'The Violinist Of Aushcwitz', 'Celia' s Journey', 'The tattooist of Aushcwitz', 'The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz' and 'The librarian of Aushcwitz', all of which I enjoyed so when I seen this I was intrigued to discover the ongoing of the holocaust through another person's eyes. I have now also added many books to my wish list thanks to Ellie, her own and ones that she recommends at the end of this story. This story is particularly unique as it is not one I have ever come across before when a Nazi working in Minsk and a victim of the holocaust fall in love, it is absolutely intriguing.
This book did not disappoint. Some people believe that these stories should not be written but I am a strong believer that these victims earned the right for their stories to be told and to not be forgotten and this book does just that. I loved discovering not just Ilsa and Willy's stories but those who surrounded them also. This amazing group of people who supported and lifted each other up during these dark times and helping them see the light are absolutely... Words can't really describe but I will go with angelic. This book was very hard to read as a whole but there were certain parts that will stay with me for a very long time and that we're soul destroying. What the Nazi's did to these innocent people makes me absolutely sick to my soul. The poor children and parents watching each other suffering especially. I am ashamed to say that before I read this book I had never heard of the Minsk ghetto so one of the things I especially love about Ellie and her work is that she is a voice for those who are unknown and of places unknown to people such as myself. Ellie had taught me about Minsk and I will definitely be looking into it more and I'm sure I won't be the only reader to do so, so thank you and well done Ellie for bringing these people and places alive for people to learn about, remember and never forget the cruelty and needless deaths that happened.
Again congratulations Ellie Midwood on all your research and for writing this amazing story of both Ilsa and Willy and the victims of the Minsk ghetto who deserved to have their stories told in a way that did them justice and you have done that. I would say this book is on par with the likes of 'The' diary of Anne Frank' which left me with the same feelings your novel has of not even more emotional.
Overall a heart wrenching, absolutely beautifully devastating story of lesser known heroes of the holocaust.
Genres covered in this novel include War Story, Romance Novel and Jewish History amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Ellie Midwood, The Tattooist of Aushcwitz, The Librarian of Aushcwitz, 'Celia's Journey', 'The Diary of Anne Frank' and anyone interested in the holocaust and its history.
316 pages.
This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon or free on kindle unlimited which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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Author Bio
Ellie Midwood is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning historical fiction author. She owes her interest in the history of the Second World War to her grandfather, Junior Sergeant in the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the First Belorussian Front, who began telling her about his experiences on the frontline when she was a young girl. Growing up, her interest in history only deepened and transformed from reading about the war to writing about it. After obtaining her BA in Linguistics, Ellie decided to make writing her full-time career and began working on her first full-length historical novel, "The Girl from Berlin." Ellie is continuously enriching her library with new research material and feeds her passion for WWII and Holocaust history by collecting rare memorabilia and documents. In her free time, Ellie is a health-obsessed yoga enthusiast, neat freak, adventurer, Nazi Germany history expert, polyglot, philosopher, a proud Jew, and a doggie mama. Ellie lives in New York with her fiancé and their Chihuahua named Shark Bait.
Social Media
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/EllieMidwood/
Website: http://elliemidwood.com/
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Buy Links:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B09C2JK2ZXcover Audible: UK: zpr.io/ADYV7DsEKusZ US: zpr.io/YN8EV3vk8BH4 https://soundcloud.com/bookouture/the-girl-who-survived-by-ellie-midwood-narrated-by-alison-campbell
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