Friday 5 February 2010

Review and Giveaway: Auf Wiebersehen by Christa Holder Ockler

Review copy: Stray Dog Media
Published by Plain View Press, $14.95

From Amazon: . . . dramatic, tender, funny, frightening, earthy, quirky, wise and heart-warming. The tale of young Christa and her family as they leave a comfortable home to become penniless immigrants in their quest to survive the collapse of the Third Reich and flee the horrors that it has unleashed, opens up to universal themes of suffering, loss, love and hope. MICHAEL JOSEPH, Rutgers University Rare Book Librarian, Instructer of Childeren's Literature

This is one of those occasions when I am really pleased I was offered the book for review. Being a US publication I doubt it's a book I would have come across by myself and am really glad I got the chance to read it.

Christa Holder Ockler is a great writer and really brings the past to life. I really loved the way she incorporated German into the dialogue - it really added to the atmosphere. I could really sense the time period and the horrors they witnessed, and I never doubted that I was seeing this through the eyes of a child. Christa came across as very lovable and sweet, and you could really feel her sadness every time she had to say goodbye. Her journey with her family is an interesting one - I loved hearing about all the history and how it affected them.

One minor quibble is that it is a very quick read for a memoir spanning quite a few years - I would have liked it to be longer - it felt a bit choppy in places - but this is mainly because I enjoyed it so much. I also was left wanting to know more. What happened to them all after the final page?

Overall this is a really interesting insight into what it must of been like to be a child during the war. If you can get yourself a copy I would recommend you giving it a try. Due to a couple of scenes of a sexual nature I would be slightly uncomfortable recommending this to younger readers, otherwise I think fans of Anne Frank's Diary would love it.



GIVEAWAY: I thought I'd offer my (carefully read) copy up for grabs. If you think you'd fancy reading this please leave your name and email in the form below and I'll pick a name at random. Unfortunately, I'm feeling a bit poor so I'll need to make this one UK entrants only - sorry!

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

4 comments:

prophecygirl said...

This one sounds really good, I'll definitely read it one day. Just a shame it wasn't longer!

Sarah said...

Sounds like a great book, I'll have to check this one out :o)

Carrie at In the Hammock Blog said...

Great review!! I'm glad you were able to get this one for review!

Unknown said...

It certainly sounds interesting. Memoirs aren't usually my kind of thing but historical ones I'm open to reading.

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