Blog Tour for The Stolen Sisters by Ann Bennett

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Stolen Sisters by Ann Bennett

‘The lorry is ready to take you to the train station,’ the soldier announced, and Marta clung to her little sister. ‘I want to stay with her,’ Marta said, voice shaking. ‘It is not possible. You belong in the Reich,’ the officer said. ‘And she does not.’

Poland, 1944 When twelve-year-old Marta and her little sister Joanna are snatched while out shopping for food and pushed into an army truck with a swastika on the door, they are heartbroken. Terrified they will never see their mother again, the little girls cling to each other as the truck full of stolen children rumbles through the countryside.

But worse is yet to come. When they arrive at their strange new home, tears streaming down their cheeks, Marta is sent into a separate room. As she is measured, her blonde hair and blue eyes exclaimed over, she doesn’t realise she has seen her sister for the last time. Later, as she sobs alone in the chilly dormitory, her only crumb of comfort is the memory of a kind German nurse who took a photo of the two sisters, and promised Marta she will do what she can to find Joanna.

Berlin, 2005 In her cosy sitting room, seventy-year-old Marta freezes. The woman on her television talking about lost children is someone she could never forget. Margarete Weiss is the nurse who took the photo of her and Joanna, the photo with the secret message on the back…

Marta has never been able to find her younger sister and has buried herself in work so as not to be haunted by the ghosts of her past. But, seeing Margarete’s blue eyes again, a shoot of hope takes root in her heart. Margarete may not have been able to prevent the sisters being separated during the war. But might she be able to help Marta find out what happened to Joanna now?

A beautiful and emotional read about finding hope in the darkest corners. Fans of The Midwife of Auschwitz, Before We Were Yours and The Orphan Train will lose themselves in this beautiful and heartbreaking book.

MY THOUGHTS

There is nothing that brings out the empathy in readers more than to have down on their luck characters involving animals or children. This one involves children and it’s heartbreaking.

The author, I love her writing style her words are so fluid, they just flow effortlessly. A book like this just gets to you, as you keep reading hoping against hope to find that silver lining amongst the sadness. There has to be hope somewhere.

Sisters in Poland ten and twelve are out minding their own business when they are kidnapped. Scared out of their wits, the older does everything she can to comfort and protect the younger, all the while having no one to reassure her. Their mother, sickly and at home has no idea what has happened to her children.

Put through unwanted medical tests they had no choice but to receive, all of the kidnapped children are Germanized if they pass the medical tests. The process involves shipping them off to different facilities, none a pleasant place to be with no security or comfort.
The Nazi’s don’t care how the children are treated or if they have enough to eat.

There is one little ray of hope in a kindly German nurse who puts her life on the line to treat the children kindly and offer comfort for the little time she is with them.

When the unthinkable happens and the children are separated will they find the will power to go on or just give up? Utterly heartbreaking and intense.

I loved the ending it was rewarding and satisfying. I really enjoy WWII historical fiction especially when it’s as realistic as this author writes it. This is an automatic buy author for me and looking forward to many more great reads.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

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THE AUTHOR

About the author

Ann Bennett is the author of several historical novels about the second world war in South East Asia, inspired by her father’s experience as a prisoner of the Japanese on the Thai-Burma railway. She has a Law degree and works full time as a lawyer, but is fascinated by India and South East Asia. Since her early twenties she has spent as much time as possible travelling in the region. She’s married with three sons and lives in Surrey.

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