Books and Jams Readalong discussion

That's it! You made it! Were your initial thoughts and expectations met? Which characters showed the most growth or change? Did you enjoy the book? What would you rate it? How does it compare to other WWII fiction you may have read? I can't wait to hear all your thoughts!

I really, really enjoyed this book! I haven't read a really good WWII historical fiction in a long time. I liked the writing, I loved the characters, I loved how it all came together at the end, just all of it. I felt like Kasia's story had a little bit of a Elie Wiesel vibe. I didn't know anything about Herta Oberhauser before reading this book, so that of course made me explore her and then other doctors in concentration camps as well. I can't get over how evil somebody could be, and how somebody could justify killing people like that...sick. The thing that I still can't get over is how an entire society could be swayed so much by ONE person. I know that there was a lot more that went into WWII than just Hitler, but for things to get so terrible in a country that their way of dealing with it is to purge society of "unpure" people in any ways possible is just creepy. And this did not happen that long ago!

Robyn wrote: "I really, really enjoyed this book! I haven't read a really good WWII historical fiction in a long time. I liked the writing, I loved the characters, I loved how it all came together at the end, ju..."

How about Herta working as a family doctor after getting out of jail, just crazy!!

I agree that this was a really good WW2 fiction novel. I liked that we followed the characters years after the end of Hitler's reign and the war. We got to see some of the ups and downs of their lives as they tried to heal from such an awful tragedy.

I think this was a great WWII fiction, and the fact that some of the characters where actually real people. It amazes me how much I learn every time I read a new WWII fiction. In school we never learned anything about the rabbits. It is so horrific the things that were done to those women.

Well, this book made me so emotional. I didn't cry, but teared up a few times, got really angry a few times, frustrated, tender, heartbroken...so many emotions!

I also didn't realize (until someone posted in this group) that this story was based on true people and events. Knowing that definitely added some weight to what I was reading. I had heard of Dr. Gebhart and his experiments, but not of Herta O. or the group of women who survived some of these experiments! I will definitely be looking up more information.

Like you, Becky, I liked that the story continued beyond the war for a few years. We were able to see the stress (PTSD probably) that was probably realistic for hundreds...thousands of people. Their experiences were so awful that it is impossible to simply move on once they were out of the camp. I thought that was so well portrayed with Kasia's story.

i also found it realistic that Caroline often stuck her foot in her mouth with good intentions, but ignorance. I ended up really respecting how she used her influence and standing in society to make such a huge difference in the lives of the Ravensbrook women.

This is a story that will probably sit with me for a while. I'm so glad that it was our May pick.

Sad news about one of the few remaining Ravensbruk ladies.
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

Oh my goodness, Krista. Thanks for sharing this article. I just wonder if I could be that strong and courageous if I was facing the horrific acts committed by the Nazis. It's unimaginable to me how this all could have happened.

I am only on Chapter 24 but it is a quick read. It is a disturbing story. The SS arrest these women and they won't ever tell them why they are taking them. That makes me so mad.

I just want to get a hold of Herta and do some of my own experimenting on her. I am sickened by her story. And she called herself a "Doctor". She was a monster. I googled her biography and found out she only served 20 years in prison for these crimes. :-(

I love Martha Hall Kelly's style of writing. The flap on the back of my dust cover says "she is writing her next book". I will be excited to see what that book will be about and for sure I want to read anything she writes in the future.

After reading Lilac Girls I will be ready to read some lighthearted books and clear my mind bit.

Debbi wrote: "I am only on Chapter 24 but it is a quick read. It is a disturbing story. The SS arrest these women and they won't ever tell them why they are taking them. That makes me so mad.

I just want to get..."

I was sickened and angry while reading this too. Just so horrifying how people treated each other. Awful and so hard to understand.

After finishing I had to read something lighthearted as well and so I just finished Wonder by RJ Palatio this week. It's a lovely middle grade filled with likable characters and a beautiful storyline...just what I needed.

Krista (or anyone else in the group), Who do you thing the three women on the cover of Lilac Girls are? Is it Kasia, Zuzanna and their mother?

I am going to borrow Wonder from my granddaughter when she and her dad finish reading it together. The next book for me is also a middle grade book called The Summer I Saved the world in 65 Days. The total opposite book from The Lilic Girls.

Not sure where everyone lives but Caroline's house is open for tours in Connecticut. See info below.

I carried this article from the May 1999 Victoria Magazine around with me for months, not knowing it would lead me to write Lilac Girls, a novel about Caroline Ferriday and how she comes to the aid of a group of Polish women who had survived Ravensbruck, Hitler’s only all-female concentration camp. I have a crazy love of all things lilac and fell hard for the story of Caroline Ferriday and her garden.
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The article said she was an incredible woman: Broadway actress, debutante, philanthropist: “When she wasn’t on stage or abroad, the debonair Shakespearean actress Miss Caroline Ferriday always headed for the Victorianized colonial home she’d inherited from her parents in 1953.” The article was in my wallet for so long it became smooth and shiny. I’d take it out and read it, hoping to take the drive, three hours north of where I lived in Fairfield, to Bethlehem, Ct. But at the time I had three young children, so it was hard to break away.

magazine


Rear view of house and garden. (Photo courtesy of Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden, Bethlehem, Connecticut, owned and operated by Connecticut Landmarks)

I finally drove up the Taconic Parkway one spring Sunday and visited the Bellamy-Ferriday House. I was the only visitor on the tour of the lovely old federal-style home that day. The guide led me room to room, telling Caroline’s story.
bellamyferridaylibrary_original
Photograph © The Antiquarian & Landmarks Society

She stopped at the crewelwork curtains Caroline’s mother Eliza had sewn (above) and told stories about the glorious garden, filled with specimen plantings the Ferridays collected from their European travels. She took me to Caroline’s bedroom, which overlooks the garden and to the adjacent landing where Caroline’s desk is just as she’d left it, with her framed photo of Charles de Gaulle and manual typewriter.
Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden, Bethlehem, Connecticut, owned and operated by Connecticut Landmarks
Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden, Bethlehem, Connecticut, owned and operated by Connecticut Landmarks

But it was the black and white photograph of a group of Polish women there on the desk that stopped me. “They are the Lapins–the rabbits,” the guide said. “Caroline took up their cause after they were experimented upon by the Nazis at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp.” At the end of the tour we went to the charming little gift shop in the old summer kitchen behind the house.
Caroline-Ferriday-b-wREV
Photo courtesy of Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden, Bethlehem, Connecticut, owned and operated by Connecticut Landmarks

I looked for a book about Caroline, but there wasn’t one. I pulled out of the gravel driveway, a lilac plant in my trunk, barely more than a stick, purchased from the small group of plants at the house, (a tradition Eliza Ferriday started, of offering cuttings of the estate’s plants to anyone who wanted to propagate their plants.) Somehow bewitched by the house and Caroline’s story, I thought of nothing else on the ride home. Once I planted the lilac stick in my own garden I set out to learn everything I could about Caroline Ferriday and the story of how she rallied America around The Rabbits. How she dedicated her life to making sure these women were not forgotten. That lilac is a full grown shrub now–it took that long to write the story. And I’m glad I did, on a mission to tell the story of Caroline and the Rabbits, eventually called Lilac Girls. (Finished product, below.)

Thank-you, Wendy. Now I know where the picture on the front of the cover came from. Some of this was in the author's notes at the back of the book. I sure wish I could go to Caroline's home and bring back a lilac stick for my garden.

I'm going to have to look up where that is exactly. I live in Massachusetts. It might be a doable trip for me!!!

Anyone else nearby??

Krista, I hope you get to go the Bellamy-Ferriday House. I sure wish I could go with you. I find Caroline's true life story very interesting. In my eyes she was a real hero. I plan to read more about her when I get done with the book.

Krista wrote: "I'm going to have to look up where that is exactly. I live in Massachusetts. It might be a doable trip for me!!!

Anyone else nearby??"

I am in upstate NY so doable for me also. I so want to go.

Wendy wrote: I am in upstate NY so doable for me also. I ..."

Let's do it! It's about 2 and 1/2 hours away from me. I could do a day trip some Friday or Saturday maybe. What do you think?

I really hope you can do it!

I really enjoyed this book. I will admit, the first half of the book, I thought the characters were under-developed, but as I continued I really did connect with them. I think one of my favorite aspects of this particular WWII book was that the story continued "after" the war. Not many books that I have read on this topic do that; so that stood out in a positive way for me. Great story. I LOVE learning new things in books. I was unaware of "the rabbits" until reading this book.

Mamey wrote: "I really enjoyed this book. I will admit, the first half of the book, I thought the characters were under-developed, but as I continued I really did connect with them. I think one of my favorite as..."

I agree that it was really interesting to read about post-war events and the aftermath in regards to these 3 woman in particular. I don't see that very often either. I also wasn't aware of the "rabbits". I knew of the experiments, but had never read much about the people who were involved.

I'm glad that the book got better for you than it was at the beginning.

Krista wrote: "Wendy wrote: I am in upstate NY so doable for me also. I ..."

Let's do it! It's about 2 and 1/2 hours away from me. I could do a day trip some Friday or Saturday maybe. What do you think?"

I would definitely be up for it. Can we plan for a weekend day in July or August sometime. Just started new job and my son is graduating high school so June and beginning of July are crazy.

Finished! I loved it. Beautiful and redemptive. So, so glad I read this book. I have very little to add more than what other people have said....it was astounding partly because it was based on true people and events!