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The Orphan's Tale

3/21/2017

2 Comments

 
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​About The Orphan’s Tale
Paperback: 368 pages

Publisher: MIRA (February 21, 2017)

A powerful novel of friendship set in a traveling circus during World War II, The Orphan’s Tale introduces two extraordinary women and their harrowing stories of sacrifice and survival 

Sixteen-year-old Noa has been cast out in disgrace after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier and being forced to give up her baby. She lives above a small rail station, which she cleans in order to earn her keep… When Noa discovers a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, she is reminded of the child that was taken from her. And in a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night.
Noa finds refuge with a German circus, but she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. But as the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another—or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything.

“I read this novel in a headlong rush, transported by the relationship between two vastly different women during World War II: a Jewish circus aerialist and a teenage runaway with a baby. Deftly juggling secrets, lies, treachery, and passion, Pam Jenoff vividly brings to life the agonizing choices and life-or-death consequences for a hardy band of travelers under Nazi occupation.”—Christina Baker Kline, New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train

“Readers who enjoyed Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale and Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants will embrace this novel.”--Library Journal

“In prose that is beautiful, ethereal, and poignant, The Orphan’s Tale is a novel you won’t be able to put down.”--Bustle
“A gripping story about the power of friendship to save and redeem even in the darkest of circumstances, The Orphan’s Tale sheds light on one of the most colorful and inspiring stories of heroism in Nazi Germany. This is a book not to be missed.”--Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue and The Aviator’s Wife
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“Jenoff expertly performs a pirouetting tale worthy of a standing ovation. A circus of hidden Jews, a powerful friendship, The Orphan’s Tale proves that the human spirit defies hate, fear, and gravity with a triumphant ta-da!”--Sarah McCoy, New York Times bestselling author of The Mapmaker’s Children

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Purchase Links
Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Review: 
Noa has been cast out of her parents house at sixteen after becoming pregnant with a Nazi soldier's baby.  After the baby is born with a darker complexion than her perfect Aryan features, the baby is taken from her.  Noa finds work at a train station where she must watch people come through on their way to concentration camps.  One winter's day, a boxcar full of babies comes into the station.  Most of them are already gone-except one.  Noa risks everything in taking a baby that looks so much like the one taken from her.  She escapes into the woods where she is found and taken in by a German circus.  Herr Neuhoff's circus is struggling during the war, but still performing.  He has already taken in Ingrid-now Astrid- a Jewish circus performer who had been cast out by her Nazi husband.  Astrid is a trapeze artist and Herr Neuhoff thinks Noa could learn to perform with her so their act can continue.  Astrid and Noa have a rocky start, but Noa has found a safe place for herself and the baby, so she is determined to make things work.



I was immediately drawn in by the idea of the circus during World War II.  It seems so contradictory, however, was probably a bright spot for many people during this time.  Noa and Astrid are both amazing characters that are bases are real stories from the time.  Their stories elicited compassion, friendship, joy, and heartbreak as the two women find their places.  As Astrid and Noa grow closer, they find more in their similarities than differences and create their own family.  Another part of the book that I enjoyed as much as learning about another facet of World War II was the circus lifestyle. I loved learning about the trapeze and Noa's strength made me want to try it out myself.  Also, Peter the clown seeming amazing and I wish that I could see his act today.  I do wish that the story would have extended more into baby Theo's life, however the epilogue helps the with that.  Overall, an engaging, memorable and heartbreaking story about a different aspect of life during World War II. 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

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About Pam Jenoff

Pam Jenoff is the author of several novels, including the international bestseller The Kommandant’s Girl, which also earned her a Quill Award nomination. Pam lives with her husband and three children near Philadelphia where, in addition to writing, she teaches law school.

Connect with Pam
Website | Facebook | Twitter

2 Comments
Heather J @ TLC Book Tours link
3/24/2017 05:00:23 pm

I'm glad to see how much you enjoyed this one! Thanks for being a part of the tour.

Reply
John Matthews
9/19/2019 07:33:23 pm

Dear Stephanie,

I noticed your review for The Orphan's Tale online, so felt you might like my most recent novel, The Writer -- if indeed you thought you might be able to help by adding your review weight to it.

This is a somewhat different review request to the normal, in that we're very close to a publishing deal - my agent in the USA, Mel Berger of WME, has two US editors and one UK editor very keen, but they need to convince the rest of their team internally.

A few more positive book-blog and reading-group reviews could achieve that. I've pasted below the main blurb and soundbite reviews so far received (combination of bloggers and reading groups). If this was something you thought you'd like to read, I'd love to get a copy to you.

Kind Regards,
John.

J.C. Maetis.

The Writer

The Writer by J.C. Maetis - Schindler's List meets The Tattooist of Auschwitz - a gripping tale of love, survival and redemption against the backdrop of one of the darkest periods in recent history.

Two Writers. One lives to write. The other writes to live…

1938, Vienna. With Hitler’s takeover of Austria, Anschluss, friends and fellow-writers Mathias Kraemer and Johannes Namal fear they won’t be allowed to write anymore. They turn for advice and help to their literary agent, Julian Reisner, and a local police contact, Inspector Josef Weber.

Julian Reisner is in fact the main lynchpin between them, having introduced Mathias and Johannes to each other, as well as to Josef Weber for research for their crime novels. Reisner has a wealth of contacts in Vienna, and hopes that the case examples of other notable Austrian writers such as Stefan Zweig and Sigmund Freud will provide solutions for Mathias and Johannes.

Though as Nazi edicts become day by day more threatening, the options for Mathias and Johannes to save themselves and their families become increasingly limited. Reisner’s only ace-card is a network he’s used to shield the identities of some dissident ghost-writers he’s represented. But it’s a high-risk strategy, and if uncovered would mean almost certain execution or consignment to death-camps for Mathias and Johannes and their families.

There’s also only so much that Inspector Joseph Weber can do to help. Trapped between trying to continue his duties as a policeman and serving the new Reich, whose ethos goes against all his moral principles, he’s walking a dangerous tightrope. Even moreso because of his relationship with a beautiful and alluring Romani-gypsy girl, Deya Reynes. Deya has in fact buried her own background as Spanish through her cousin who heads up this same burgeoning identity-change network used by Julian Reisner for his dissident authors, and might now also provide the solution for Mathias and Johannes.

But with the relentless pursuit and focus on their group by an SS Officer, Heinrich Schnabel, consignment to a death camp appears inescapable. Josef also fears that in the process Deya’s own gypsy background will be uncovered, and having delayed fully declaring his love for her, now he might be too late.

Survival outside of the camps appears equally as tough. Though while ‘writing’ might be what has initially condemned Mathias and Johannes, could it also be their salvation? Pitted against the ruthless Schnabel and a brutal death-camp Sergeant, Helmut Vogt, the odds are against them.


Maetis is the original Jewish family name of British thriller writer John Matthews, with 1.6 million books sold in 14 languages, with one book, Past Imperfect, included in a top-ten all-time best legal-thrillers list in The Times. In his own words: 'I thought it more fitting that I should revert to my father's original name for this particular book. My father's family left Lithuania for London in 1919 in the wake of Jewish pogroms there, but many of his extended family perished in the holocaust when Hitler invaded Lithuania in 1941. This is therefore a book very close to my heart.'


Advance Reviews (Book bloggers and Reading Groups):

One of the most exciting holocaust thrillers I've ever read - but then I'm hard pushed to recall an actual thriller on the subject. Most forerunners have been personal tales or historical accounts. However, the subject matter is not dealt with lightly here, it's detailed and empathetic, but still a dramatic pace is maintained.
Jacinda Watson - Books, etc
A compelling story, once started I could not stop reading till done. I had a vivid picture of the characters and it is screenplay material. I see a movie in its future.
Ron Levin - Anglos in Israel Reading Group
My heart went out to these characters... under the constant threat of losing loved ones, or stepping out of line and being sent to a death camp. Can true love survive the horrors of war? Each chapter had an enticing ending that made me want to read just that little bit further each time. With vivid descriptions of the characters' harrowing

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    Hi there! I'm Stephanie and I obviously love reading.  As, the title suggests, I read at least one hundred pages a day.  I enjoy most book genres; however, my favorites are historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, thriller, horror and YA.  I also read a lot of non-fiction science and gardening books for my occupation.  I enjoy reviewing books and as always, any book that I receive for free is read in return for my honest review.  

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