"In reading several of the reviews I’m amazed that people are so in awe of this teacher. From describing one of her students as “a husky black with a scraggly Afro �� to insinuating that people who live in poverty are bound to abuse their children. Several of her comments about situations with this child gave me the ick. I’m truly unsure why people believe this person is so amazing. I won’t be reading any more by this author."

"Let me pose a question so you'll understand my low rating: Say you were fleeing for your life, running nonstop, no food or water for days, seeing people around you drop from exhaustion, being bombed, and surrounded by blood and the stench of death. Would you then, as the first thing you do after arriving at shelter with potential food, kiss a stranger with burning desire and profess your love?

That is just one example of why this book is not my cup of tea. Everything is overly dramatic to the point of being silly, making me feel like I'm reading a soap opera instead of a serious historical novel about WWII. The main characters (the two sisters) aren't particularly likable or interesting. They come across as one-dimensional cliched versions of their personality types: one afraid of everything, the other reckless and impetuous.

Also, how can a book set in WWII about two brave female protagonists be so dull and uninteresting? Most of this book drags on and on (not helped by its long length), offering up developments tidbit by tidbit, seemingly without going anywhere. Thankfully, things do speed up to a brisk rate in the last few chapters of the book, bringing everything to a merciful conclusion.

If you're wondering whether to read this book, I would say read it if you're looking for a cheesy historical drama; otherwise, skip it... there are better WWII novels out there."

"(slightly altered in September 2024)

A brilliant, extraordinary, powerful and very thought provoking and moving novel. In cases like this were the basic plot elements are either well known or easily accessible on ŷ������ or elsewhere I see no point in explaining what the novel is about. All I want to say is that this is a novel of such exceptional power and insight that it deserves to be widely read - needless to say I only discovered it by accident - but for me it is one of the finest insights into the world of the Nazi's that I have read. It is also a pointed reminder, and maybe one that could only be made fifty years after the end of WWII, that there were victims on the German side and acknowledging the tragedy of Goebbels's children does not lessen but only increases our awareness of the monstrousness of the whole bizarre and beastly lot.

This is a wonderful book which I am happy not only to have read but to have bought, though to be honest, I couldn't have read it without buying it, but having done so it is a book I will never surrender."