By Marianne Kaurin
To be honest, this is not my favorite book. It is fairly difficult to read, it totally left me underwhelmed. The book is supposed to be about a love story in Norway leading up to the German occupation. This book is difficult to follow simply because each chapter is from a new perspective. I am not new to this idea and generally enjoy the creativity of this technique, but this did not add to the character or give anybody a depth of understanding, it seemed very one dimensional. What could have been an incredibly interesting story ended up flat.
This book is told from several different view points. The main character, Ilse, is a vapid, self involved young women who defies her parents in order to further her relationship with Hermann Rod. She does not like the restrictions that have been placed on her for her own safety and is constantly thwarting her parents good intentions. Hermann Rod, Ilse's love interest, is not Jewish, but is harboring secrets, he claims to want to be an artist, but Ilse has never heard of this desire. We discover that he is helping a resistance to the German occupation. His connections give him some trouble and saves many lives, possibly Ilse's. Isaak is Ilse's father, he knows that he has lost business and they are quickly running out of money. He wants things to be different and has the foresight to remove all of the money from the bank for safe keeping. Isaak is taken away one night with no warning, this leaves his dependents at a loss. The shop has been closed, and they do not know where he has been taken. Ilse's sister Sonja, is very beautiful, a wonderful seamstress and a pleasure to have around the house, meaning she helps out with cooking a cleaning. She is very frustrated with Ilse who does nothing to help out. Of course, after Isaak has been taken, things fall apart, they are living in tenuous times, the Germans come and take the entire family with the help of Ole, their neighbor. Ole drives a taxi and is sickened by the duty of taking many Jew's, some of them his friends, to the wharf for deportation. Ole feels that he has no choice but to follow his directions, he fears for his life and his family. What happens to everyone in this one town in Norway, only finishing the book will tell you. Does everyone survive the holocaust? Do they survive incarceration? Will Ilse be reunited with her family? Hermann?
I do appreciate the content of this story, I just wish it would have dealt with more realistic content and focused on fewer viewpoints. I am giving this book a 2.5 out of 5 and feel that it is appropriate for anybody in fifth thru eighth grade. It was interesting but I just wish it hadn't glossed over so many details, it left too much up to interpretation.
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