The Orphan's Tale

Wow! Great Book!

This is a book I would read again and again. Historical fiction that completely fascinated me. What a beautifully woven tale- but I could gush for pages. I remember when I was a kid and we learned about the Holocaust. I remember as a kid actually wondering if someone might have escaped Germany – as a Nazi – and moved to Thailand – because I met people who may have fit the description, as I was living in Thailand. I had learned enough in school and read enough on my own, even as an elementary-aged child, to have these thoughts. Yes, my imagination was always wild. The horseback riding instructors at the popular camp for young pre-teens in Thailand probably weren’t escaped Nazis. Even though they used to scrape our uneaten, chewed up bits of fried eggs off of our plates and eat them each morning. And shout in seemingly angry German (is there any other way?) at us as we tried to maneuver riding a horse. In the end, I was too sensitive for horseback riding camp. But, then as a high school graduate – yes, still a kid technically, at 17 years old – I made the trip to visit a concentration camp-turned-memorial in Austria. What a trip that was. To see the buildings, preserved as they were, kept intact to TEACH people what happened. Gas chambers, dissection tables, even blood stains still on the floor. Even at that age, as naive as I was on many levels, I knew the importance and that this must never happen again. And that I would fight injustice for the rest of my life. Bravo to Ms. Jenoff. Thank you for your writing. I cannot wait to read more of your work. Read more