Leaving

The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa is a fascinating and powerful contemporary and historical novel that is based on facts, surrounding the voyage of the St Louis from Hamburg to Cuba in 1939. It is a dark period of history and the story is one I did not know. It is a story that needs to be told in memory of the passengers.

The novel is set in 1939 (moving forwards) and 2014. It is about life and love and loss. It is set in Berlin, on board the St Louis, in Cuba and New York City. It is about a shared history and inheritance. We need to know our past to be able to plot our present and future.

Being Jewish in Germany in 1939 was terrible, a time of persecution, horror and terror. Death was a daily occurrence. When hope was offered it was seized. The Jewish people found few willing to help them but life and birth and death still went on.

The novel shows a love that was unbreakable. Promises made in youth would last a lifetime. I found this to be a very poignant read.

Fathers with a great love for their families made unbelievably brave choices and sacrifices.

The novel touches on 9/11. Many lives were devastated on that terrible day as loved ones simply failed to come home.

It seemed that people kept leaving. A character had to learn to adapt and be resilient as memories were revisited. Memories need to be preserved. When they were passed on the job was completed.

The German Girl was a powerful poignant read. That it was based on fact simply heightened my emotions that stirred as I read. I recommend reading it not only to broaden your education but in memory of all those six million innocents who perished in the Holocaust as the world looked on.

JULIA WILSON