The English German Girl by Jake Wallis Simons
| The English German Girl by Jake Wallis Simons | |
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| Category: General Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: Meticulously researched, beautifully written, atmospheric and lots of tension. You need more? Buy it! | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 368 | Date: April 2011 |
| Publisher: Polygon | |
| ISBN: 978-1846971761 | |
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When it began it wasn't pleasant, but there was hope that it would get better. Rosa's father, Otto was a doctor and she lived with him, her mother, Inga, elder brother Heinrich and younger sister Hedi in a pleasant flat in Berlin. The turn of opinion against Jews was slow – an anti-Jewish pin handed to Rosa as she went shopping, friends who felt that they couldn't remain such obvious friends – certainly for the time being – and a change of employment for Otto. It was better for the patients if they didn't have contact with him, even if he was a good doctor.
Then it became much worse with the forced move to another flat. Otto had to become a teacher rather than a doctor. Attacks on Jews were not just tolerated, they were actively encouraged and eventually Otto and Inga took the decision to send Rosa on the children's train to England. It was risky but if she got through she might be able to get visas for her family to join her. And so Rosa became the English German girl of the title.
I wrote that last paragraph with some reluctance as I'm normally loathe to give away much, if anything, of the plot beyond the first few pages, but this is very much a book of two halves. I was absolutely mesmerised by the first half of the book as life for the Jews in Berlin steadily deteriorated. The writing is measured, almost unemotional, and all the more chilling for that. The level of detail is stunning but it's demonstrated rather than delivered as exposition. I've read quite a bit about the nineteen-thirties in Berlin – but this was the first time that I really felt as though I was there. It's not the major events which tell so much but the smaller points, like Jews not being allowed to ride bicycles, the ever present fear of 'relocation' or not knowing who could be trusted.
It's in the second half of the book that Rosa arrives in England and I thought that life would then become relatively easy for her, but it wasn't to be. There are different influences at work: the more traditional approach to the Jewish religion of the relatives with whom she lived, the difficulties of knowing relatively little of the English language and the pain of separation from her family. There's a big story here too with twists which I really wasn't expecting.
The characters stay with you long after you've finished the book. Their circumstances haunt your mind. It's a book to buy and to savour and definitely one which you'll return to in the future.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
If this book appeals then you'll probably enjoy The Foreign Correspondent by Alan Furst.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The English German Girl by Jake Wallis Simons at Amazon.com.
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