The War Orphan (Women of War #3) by Anna Stuart

 

1945, Auschwitz: I stumble out of the gates, tightly grasping the hands of two smaller children. Hunger swirls in my stomach and the barren landscape swims before my eyes. I can barely believe it. We’re free. We survived. But what happens now…

Sixteen-year-old Tasha Ancel turns to take one last look at the imposing place that stole her freedom and her childhood. She has no idea how she continued to live when so many others did not. For the first time in months, her heart beats with hope for her future and that of the smaller children who cling to her now.

Tasha was torn from her mother’s arms by an SS guard days before the gates of Auschwitz opened. Now she only has a lock of her mother’s fiery hair. Desperate to be reunited, Tasha asks everyone she meets if they’ve seen a woman with flame-red hair. But with so many people trying to locate their loved ones in the chaotic aftermath of war finding her feels like an impossible task.

Officially an orphan, Tasha is given the chance to start a new life in the Lake District in England. She knows her mother would want her to take the opportunity but she can’t bear the thought of leaving Poland without her.

Tasha must make a heartbreaking decision: will she stay in war-ravaged Europe and cling on to the hope that the person she loves most in the world is alive, or take a long journey across the sea towards an uncertain future?

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About The Author 

I wanted to be an author from the moment I could pick up a pen and was writing boarding-school novels by the age of nine. I made the early mistake of thinking I ought to get a ‘proper job’ and went into Factory Planning – a career that gave me some wonderful experiences, amazing friends and even a fantastic husband, but didn’t offer much creative scope. So when I stopped to have children I took the chance to start the ‘improper job’ of writing. It's not been easy but I love it and can't see myself ever stopping.

I write WW2 fiction, focusing in on some of the lesser known nooks and crannies of this astonishing period and writing from a female perspective. The Midwife of Auschwitz has been my bestselling novel to date but I am always looks to explore emotional tales of courage, strength and overcoming terrible odds.

I also write medieval fiction as Joanna Courtney.

I'd love to hear from you via my website - @annastuartbooks.com, on twitter - @annastuartbooks,or on facebook - @annastuartauthor

 

My Review

 This is a book that gives us a look at the surviving children of the most evil that went through Europe during WWII! They experienced the unimaginable, and more, and yet, they were survivors. We travel with them after they leave the camp, and then when they are transported to England.
We are there when mistakes are made, innocent, but they bring back the terror these poor children have already experienced.
This is a story that need not be forgotten, the suffering that went on long after the war ended.
I did love that we were updated right to when life decisions were made and new life begins.
Made me think, want to go home, you really can't and then the iron curtain fell! This also shows how hard it was to find information and survivors.
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Bookouture, and was not required to give a positive review.