Mario Vargas Llosa: A Life of Writing
Book
Awarded the Nobel Prize in 2010 at the age of seventy-four, Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa has...
The Haunting of Henry Twist
Book
London, 1926: Henry Twist's heavily pregnant wife leaves home to meet a friend. On the way, she is...
fiction gender studies LGBTQ+ Historical Fiction
Rose Macaulay, Gender, and Modernity
Book
This book is the first collection on the British author Rose Macaulay (1881-1958). The essays...
The House of Fiction: From Pemberley to Brideshead, Great British Houses in Literature and Life
Book
Houses in literature have captured readers' imaginations for centuries, from Gothic castles to...
The Forgotten Kingdom (The Lost Queen Trilogy #2)
Book
AD 573. Imprisoned in her chamber, Languoreth awaits news in torment. Her husband and son have...
HIstorical Fiction Fiction
Against the Loveless World
Book
Nahr has been confined to the Cube: nine square metres of glossy grey cinderblock, devoid of time,...
Historical fiction Literary fiction War Palestinians Palestine
The Island of Missing Trees
Book
It is 1974 on the island of Cyprus. Two teenagers, from opposite sides of a divided land, meet at a...
Historical Fiction Magical Realism Literary Fiction Cyprus Turkey London
Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Secret Midwife in Books
Aug 6, 2023
Although a work of fiction, the author bases her characters on real people who went through the horrors of World War II some of whom miraculously survived when millions of others did not.
The Secret Midwife focuses on the stories of Emelia and Aleksy. Emelia is a midwife who risks her life supporting ALL women regardless of race or religion to give birth safely. Aleksy is a doctor who tries to save his town during occupation. Unfortunately, both were discovered and transported to the hell-hole that was Auschwitz however, they continued to try and care and help their fellow prisoners despite having no resources or equipment and the ongoing risk of immediate selection and execution.
As you can imagine, this is an emotional, harrowing and heart-breaking story but it's also one of bravery and how, despite the ongoing threats, some people did everything they could to help ease the suffering of those around them and whilst Emelia, Aleksy and some of the other characters aren't real people, they and their story will stay with me for some time.
Highly recommended to those of you who enjoy reading historical fiction; this is a must read and I have to thank Amazon Publishing UK, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of The Secret Midwife.
Friedrichstrasse 19
Book
Sometimes I get fanciful and think the buildings speak. That all their history is locked into the...
Historical fiction Literary fiction Germany Berlin
Katharine's Remarkable Road Trip
Book
In the fall of 1907, Katharine decides to drive from Newport, Rhode Island, to her home in Jackson,...
Historical Fiction Civil War Nurses Biographical Fiction Women In History