I got ahead of "L" on this one. We were going to read it together, but I'm a faster reader, and therefore got to it already. And now that I've read it, I don't want to promote it with our little book club. That is to say, I pretty much detested it. The topic is historical and interesting - forgers who created fake papers to save Jews in Paris and elsewhere during WW2. It's brave, and the forgers saved lives.
Author Kristen Harmel is a YA author. She's brought out a book almost every year (every year, mind you!) for the past dozen years. As a writer myself, I don't see how this is possible, while creating something that is well-written. I cannot attest to her other books, but this one does not make the cut. Harmel peppers every single page with questions -- as in, "What if I did this? What if they think that? Where will I go? What should I do? Have a let him/her down? Can I trust him? I know him well, don't I? Is he a traitor? Did they make it across the border? What if they didn't?" ON & ON & ON (& ON).
When a writer does this, they are "telling" us what the character is thinking. There's a rule for writing, "Show, don't tell." I deplore being "told" what the character is thinking. I'd rather come to those conclusions based on what I'm "seeing" (what the author is "showing" me).
Before you think I'm too brutal with this book, hear me out. Any experienced developmental editor would have suggested that Harmel take out most of those questions. But with big publishing houses, word-count matters. Once the writer surpasses the 300-page mark, the publisher can charge more for the book. And so there's an incentive to let writers pad their work with extra words...extraneous, unnecessary, aggravating words (in this case, questions!).
And now to the types of phrases that are downright wrong. "The sun sunk." The past tense of sink is sank. And if you use "sunk" which is the past participle form, then you must use "has" or "been" (has sunk). Using the wrong verb choice just so that you rhyme is bad writing.
There are other examples when Harmel got too cutesy with her language. Most writers will unconsciously choose words that have a rhythm (consonance, assonance), however, when words are overly cutesy - in a novel - it doesn't work. When words call attention to themselves like that, it stops the reader in their tracks and they shake their head. Example: "her hair was spun in a bun." I'm sorry, but that kind of writing might work for kids books or YA, but it does NOT work for mature readers.
Now that I've ground down my ax on her writing, here's my take on the characters. They're unbelievable. The protagonist, Eva, never stands up for herself, not even 60 yrs after the war. Also, Eva's mother says things that are beyond hurtful, and to be quite frank, the mom isn't painted as a monster in any other manner, so WHY would she treat her daughter with such - anger, blame, violence thru words?? In the midst of war, a mother would try to shelter her child. If not shelter, at least not rip them a new one at EVERY turn!
One more unbelievable scene: (spoiler alert) - Eva's mother has been arrested. Eva disguises herself in at attempt to save her mother. BUT, the reason the mother was arrested is because the authorities knew she was Eva's mom. They're actively looking for Eva. So here's a woman who shows up at the jail, in disguise...and it raises no suspicion. If this "woman in disguise" (who is Eva herself) knows Eva's mother, then the jail guard would have questioned the visitor. -- As in: Why do you want to see Mrs. so&so (Eva's mother)? Do you know where we can find Eva?
On and on goes the unbelievability of this book. Flat, undeveloped, unbelievable characters and too many scenes that don't work.
If you want to know more about the forgers that helped save thousands of lives during WW2, turn to Dr. Google, not to this book.
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