Not a Tudor book review, but an excellent historical fiction novel. My review of ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ is to follow.
Another excellent book from Heather Morris. This is a sequel to ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ but also stands apart from it. It follows the story of Cilka Klein, who was introduced in ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ but here we see what happened to her once she left the concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. It’s a haunting story, but, like Tattooist, filled with hope and love.
I think I enjoyed Tattooist ever-so-slightly more, but I can’t quite put my finger on why. Although this is based on a true story, I think the veracity of it didn’t quite ring through in the same way as Tattooist, possibly because Morris couldn’t actually interview Cilka as she did with Lale. That’s not to detract from Morris’s writing, but I just didn’t get the same sense of voice as I did with Tattooist.
Nevertheless it was really well-written, and I couldn’t put it down once I started. I listened to the audiobook while I was working, and it really made the day go by quickly. There were several sections where I had to stop working for a minute and just listen, and other sections where I had to press pause and take a moment.
It might seem strange to read something so dark, dealing with such difficult topics in a time of pandemic (writing this in the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in the UK), but it also gave hope and a light at the end of the tunnel feeling, that if Cilka could get through everything she went through, we can endure a lockdown, and cope with the uncertainty and change and come out of the other side.
I hope Morris keeps researching and writing because I would love to read more from her – she has a way of writing that brings true stories to life in a fictional guise. It is beautiful but also achingly haunting.
Also published on my sister blog bookbloggerish.wordpress.com.
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