The Orphans of Berlin
Jina Bacarr
ISBN: 978-1804153475
November 10, 2022
Boldwood Books
Distance and independence from her overbearing mother are just what Kay Alexander needs to establish her life on her own terms, and figure out who she is and her place in the world. When her uncle Archibald offers her an unusual opportunity in Paris, she jumps at the chance. Fluent in French, a debutante, socialite, and heiress to her family’s Radwell chocolate business, Kay feels confident to take on this challenge.
How hard can it be to mingle and observe what goes on in the salons and grand hotels, and spy on some German leader named Hitler?
Under the guise of studying the French chocolate business, in order to open an American Radwell Chocolates branch in Paris, Kay finds her own troubles pale in comparison to the realities of German occupation, brutal Nazi soldiers, and horrific antisemitism.
Thrust into the precipice of a world on the verge of war, Kay determines to use her money and affluence to help as many people as she can; in particular three young Jewish sisters, desperate to escape Europe and the certain death camps that threaten to swallow them up.
The risks she takes, the friends she makes, and the daring pilot she falls in love with, will change her life forever.
As one of the characters states, “…we’re stronger in harmony.”
The Orphans of Berlin is a song of bravery, sacrifice, and freedom that sings out loud and strong.
See you next time on December 22nd!
~Veronica
This month, Jann Ryan has a fabulous interview with Jina Bacarr, the author of The Orphans of Berlin. Read it here.
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I killed one of the characters in my novel.
(It was more like two, but I have no qualms about the second one.)
I came up with a death scene I really liked and just had to use it, so someone had to “go.”
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Nineteen-year-old Helene languishes in a squalid French prison tormented by questions she cannot answer. Why was she arrested? Who could have made a wrongful accusation against her? And if so, why?
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Once in a while you come across a book, that after reading it, makes you pause and think, even marvel because you’ve encountered life from an entirely new perspective. Alison Green Myers’, debut novel, A Bird Will Soar, is such a book.
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Winter.
Lifeless, asleep, dead.
All is gone. Lost.
Until the last frost melts away. -
As the year draws to an end, preparing to close its final chapter, I think of the beach.
It might seem perfectly normal to those of you living in sunny climates, or to snow bunnies hastening away from the cold. But to those of us in areas that have already seen our first snow, it might sound strange.
Nothing Found
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Thank you, Veronica, for your lovely review of The Orphans of Berlin! You captured the spirit of my story beautifully…
My pleasure to read it. Thank you for sharing such an important and wonderful story. Makes me want to be a heroine too.