Literary Letters- The German Girl
The German Girl is about Hannah in the early 1900s and Anna in the early 2010s. It's apparent pretty immediately that the two are connected by blood somehow and it's slowly revealed to the reader about halfway through the book- I'll leave that detail out of this as it's pretty exciting to experience first hand. I love how the author uses tiny details from each of the girl's stories to sort of piece together the puzzle of the story as a whole, it's very clever. I won't give anything away by saying Hannah and her friends and family are struggling due to the Nazi takeover in Berlin. The story is a brand new and fresh perspective on that dreadful situation and I'd say that's what makes this book unique from the many other stories of those affected during that time (all very important stories in their own right). As you may have guessed, Hannah's story gets almost impossible to read at a point. A young girl in her pre-teens faced with whole hordes of people who hate her for absolutely no logical or explainable reason, calmly explaining to herself and directly to the audience how others have committed suicide to escape and how maybe she and her friend should as well. It is read so matter-of-factly that personally, it confused me. Does Hannah really understand what she's talking about? Does she realize how gut-wrenching and tragic it is for her to be so familiar with these things? But unfortunately, Hannah did understand and as hard as it is to read, it is probably the best way the author could have got the point across. To make the reader feel the actual emotions (or close to them as possible) as the people in the situation were feeling.
The story jumps back and forth between Anna and Hannah's stories. It gives a sense of nostalgia when you're in Anna's story, as if you've lived Hannah's and are remembering. It makes you truly feel the emotions of the book and not just read them. The very end of the book may be the best part, where the tribute to the real life people the book is based on is given. There are photos from the St. Louis, the boat that was taken by Hannah and her family, as well as signatures from the real life people who were aboard the boat when it sailed. Knowing this is a story based on true events from a segment in history we are still quite in the shadows about makes it so much more important to read.
Now that I'm finished with the book, I would hate for it to sit on my shelves. If you'd like this book sent to you, please message me on Instagram. I'd love to mail it to you to read next!
Thank you for reading
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