Book review: Patience pays off in “Lilac Girls” by Martha Hall Kelly

Published 1:30 am Friday, November 18, 2016

By Linda, Everett Public Library staff

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

I really liked this story! Set during WWII, this book presents the experiences of three very different women in separate locations but told simultaneously.

First we have Caroline Ferriday in New York working with the French Consulate trying to help the displaced children and families there. Next is Polish teenager Kasia Kuzmerick working as a courier for the underground resistance. And lastly there is German Doctor Herta Oberheuser.

Kasia and her sister Zuzanna end up getting arrested and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp for women, which is where Herta ends up working. While the separate characters’ paths finally do cross, it is much later in the tale that we get the full impact of the interactions between them.

I kept waiting for the three stories to tie together. They all seemed so separate from one another at first. My patience paid off, and there was a wonderful denouement in the end! It was truly a wonderful story of courage and hardships.

Be sure to visit A Reading Life for more reviews and news of all things happening at the Everett Public Library.