Lilac Girls
Grade : C

In Lilac Girls, we are drawn into the lives of three very different women, each striving to survive the horrors of the Second World War. Based on real life heroines, this is a story with a great deal of potential, but unfortunately, I didn't connect with it in the way I hoped I would, causing me to feel a little let down after reading the final scene.

Warning: This book contains rape sequences and other violent acts.

Caroline Ferriday is a New York socialite who volunteers her time working for the French consulate. In 1939, rumors of Hitler's radical ideas and power-hungry ways are starting to drift into the United States, but Caroline doesn't initially pay them a lot of attention. However, when the German army seizes control of Poland and then sets its sights on France, threatening her budding relationship with a prominent French actor, Caroline begins to take notice. Soon, the doors of the consulate are closed, leaving the kind-hearted Caroline searching for the man she loves. Was he taken to a concentration camp, and, if so, will he ever be seen again? Using both her social and political contacts, Caroline endeavors to find Paul, but is confronted by numerous obstacles most of which have to do with the fact that she doesn't leave New York until the war finally comes to an end.

In Poland, young Kasia Kuzmerick watches in horror as the German Army sweeps into the town she loves. Soon, people she cares about begin disappearing and Kasia yearns to do something to save them. To this end, she becomes a part of the underground resistance movement, carrying coded messages to various secret locations. Unfortunately, she's not quite as stealthy as she needs to be and the Nazis are soon on her trail. It's not long before she is arrested, and, to make matters worse, her mother and older sister are taken into custody along with her. The three are sent to Ravensbruch, the notorious women's concentration camp. Once there, Kasia learns what it really means to be an enemy of the Reich.

Doctor Herta Oberheuser has grown up in Germany and, in 1939, is a medical student, nearly finished with her studies. The Nazi occupation of Poland provides an incredible opportunity for this ambitious young woman to do the kind of advanced surgical procedures women are normally forbidden to do. After a speedy completion of her coursework and a thoroughly unrewarding stint as a dermatologist, Herta answers a newspaper advertisement and finds herself working at Ravensbruch where she is made to conduct medical experiments on a group of imprisoned women known as the Ravensbruch Rabbits.

The story is told by using a different point of view in each chapter, giving the reader the chance to get to know all three women intimately. This worked well in the cases of Kasia and Caroline, but Herta always remained a mystery to me. I would have liked Ms. Kelly to show her in greater depth, making her more of a fully developed character and less of a stereotypical villain. She seemed to have no emotional responses to anything she did, making it impossible to connect with her character in any way at all. I found myself constantly questioning her motivations and reactions to things, but rarely was I granted any insights.

I also found myself questioning Caroline's connection to the other women in the novel. She was living a privileged life far from war-ravaged Europe. True, she suspected her lover had been sent to a concentration camp, but it obviously wasn't Ravensbruch which made it difficult to connect her with the other two women. In fact, I found Caroline's chapters quite jarring, as they served only to pull me out of the story. The final third of the book did connect the three women, but it was a little too late for my liking. I wish Ms. Kelly had been able to bridge the gap in the narrative a bit better. More connection between the women would have made Caroline's chapters less distracting to me.

In spite of my issues with the writing, I can't totally dismiss Lilac Girls. Ms. Kelly is to be commended for telling a very difficult story, one so many of us might be willing to shy away from. There are several extremely powerful passages that brought me to tears and others that caused me to seethe with rage. The author definitely has a gift for dealing with painful issues, but it's a gift that needs to be developed. Even so, fans of World War II-themed novels should definitely consider picking this up.

Reviewed by Shannon Dyer
Grade : C

Sensuality: N/A

Review Date : June 24, 2016

Publication Date: 04/2016

Review Tags: World War II

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Shannon Dyer

I'm Shannon from Michigan. I've been an avid reader all my life. I adore romance, psychological fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and the occasional memoir. I share my home with my life partner, two dogs, and a very feisty feline.
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