The Orphan's Tale

Goodreads Description

Sixteen-year-old Noa has been cast out in disgrace after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier and being forced to give up her baby. She lives above a small rail station, which she cleans in order to earn her keep… When Noa discovers a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, she is reminded of the child that was taken from her. And in a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night.

Noa finds refuge with a German circus, but she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. But as the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another—or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything.

My Review

I decided to read this book after hearing numerous great things about it. It's not a book that falls into one of my favourite genres and so I was taking a bit of a chance with this one.

This is a story set in and around Nazi Germany during the war. I generally don't like war stories, and I say generally because I absolutely adored The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, but I decided to try this one because it seemed that the story wasn't primarily about war. And this held true. This is the story about two woman battling their own demons during the war. They both find refuge in a travelling circus, but in return they need to earn their keep by working as trapeze artists, all the while avoiding the Nazi soldiers, for their own specific reasons.

Initially I was quite taken with the story. But as the story progressed I found that I was interested in the story without being totally engrossed or invested. I found some of the scenes and events a little unlikely, for example Noa's whirlwind romance with Luc. It just happened so quickly and seemed to lack substance. Also, at times I found that I was missing the mystery and suspense of my favourite genres and I found the story a little slow. This is probably attributable to the fact that I really was out of my comfort zone here, reading a book that I wouldn't normally read. I thus don't think this was the fault of the book itself, but rather my unrealistic expectations that all books should grip one by the throat and not let go. Probably not true of historical fiction novels which tend to be character driven stories.

The good news is that I found the ending to be fabulous. Suddenly the tempo picked up, there was action, death, aerial stunts, bombs, fire, you name it. It was also filled with emotion and I did find myself feeling a bit sad. I think the ending really did earn the half star that I refer to below. Without the strong ending, this would have remained a solid 3 star read.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Readers who have a specific interest in WW2 history, or who love historical fiction novels, will love this one. I'm not in the habit of awarding half stars, but if I was, this one would definitely get 3.5 stars.

My Rating: * * *

Publication Date: 23 February 2017

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Paperback

Source: My own purchased copy.