It's just a quick historical romance read - if that's not what you're looking for, don't read it. It's nothing special, but it's not bad for the type of book it is. Spoilers below, by the way.Unlike some other reviewers, I didn't think the dialogue was too modern. People tend to think that old folks talked much more formally than we do, but besides obviously dated slang (like groovy or tight or words like that), people spoke pretty similar to how we do now. The word okay, or instance, has been used since the mid-1800s. I've got a book of compiled American war letters (called War Letters by Andrew Carroll, and it is awesome), and plenty of the WWII letters use the word okay (or OK). Now, the story is set in Poland, so obviously none of them would actually be saying "okay" at all because it's not Polish. But this book is written in American English, and for mid-twentieth century American colloquial English, okay is an appropriate word to use. I did, however, raise an eyebrow at some of the coincidences that popped up in the end of the book. She suddenly decides to try to say goodbye to her father in the ghetto in the middle of the night and just by chance he's out walking by the very crack in the wall she happens to find? Um-hum. Or like when she reaches into her pocket to pull out a tissue and her marriage certificate comes flying out? I don't know about you, but if I was standing in front of a Nazi with my Jewish marriage certificate in my pocket, I'd be a little more careful about pulling anything out of that pocket. And the ending was overdramatic and overly coincidental - both the Kommandant's weird mental breakdown and Marta's random appearance seemed....unlikely. Emma/Anna is a little obnoxious as well. And the women in this book were way too romantic given their situations. Like, they're in the middle of a war and active in a resistance movement, but their biggest concern is whether other girls are spending time with their husbands? Uh, maybe I'm just unsentimental, but I think if I was in that situation, I'd be more concerned with everyone staying alive rather than worrying about who was sleeping with whom. Also Emma/Anna took risks that I thought were silly and dangerous to those around her: going to see her father at the end, which was dangerous to both her and her poor father; keeping her wedding photo at Krysia's, which was dangerous for Krysia as well as herself, and so on. I understand that there was significant emotional attachment involved, but still. A photograph isn't worth a friend's life. Also I didn't see why Anna didn't just keep her wedding and engagement ring with her and keep it with her other jewelry and say that it was her dead mother's. But that's a small point, I guess. Anyways, it was a quick, easy read. It's interesting enough to keep your attention but it's not going to blow your mind or anything.
The Kommandant's Girl is a story of love and great loss. As with all stories about WWII, this book is heart breaking and often churns your stomach, hearing about the suffering that the Jews were put through. Emma is a 19 year old Orthodox Jew who marries her sweet heart, Jacob. A few weeks after they are married, her overly political husband joins the anti Nazi group called the Resistance. He leaves Emma to devote himself fully to their work and try to save their people. Emma finds herself in a Jewish Ghetto with her parents, then later lives in hiding with her husband's Catholic Aunt and a three year old boy whose parent's were murdered. Emma finds herself in a situation where she can help the resistance by accepting a position as the Nazi Kommandant's personal assistant. She can find out classified information to help their cause. Her relationship with the Kommandant grows to be way more than she bargained for, and she is way in over her head in danger. Please do not think that this book is about a woman cheating on her husband with a Nazi. After reading some reviews, I was afraid that was what I was getting myself into. That is not the situation at all. The entire book is terrifying, suspenseful and will leave you up late at night wanting to know what happens next. This book was amazingly well written. I felt I could relate to and knew most of the characters very intimately. The one character I wish that it would have gotten to know better was her husband Jacob. For such a huge role in the story, we really learn little about him. One piece of the story that I found puzzling, was the little boy Lucasz. He goes to live with Emma and the aunt at age three, by the end of the story he is around four. They are still feeding him with a spoon and he is sleeping in a crib. They mention his age several times, yet all of the references to him make him sound like a baby or a toddler. Wasn't really an important aspect, but was just something I noticed throughout the book and thought it odd. If you love historical fiction, or even just amazing love stories with tons of suspense...pick this one up!
Do You like book The Kommandant's Girl (2007)?
Vladimirbabic wrote: "postoji li ova knjiga na nekom od "naših" jezika?"Postoji, izdavač Mladinska knjiga Beograd (dva naslova) a treći naslov je objavio Vulkan
—Tea Jovanović
There is a lot I liked about this book. The most appealing thing is the angle from which Jenoff chooses to tell this story based on historical facts: it is a romance book that just happens to have a major historical event as its backdrop. I would venture to call it a romance thriller because you're definitely on the edge of your seat for some of the events.Emma is a Jewish girl during the German invasion of Poland. She has just gotten married when her family is moved to the ghetto of Krakow (where Jews were kept hidden from the rest of the city). Her husband, a resistance fighter, arranges her escape from the ghetto and sends her to live with his wealthy aunt. As always, there is a catch: Emma must pretend to be a Pole named, Anna. She must take a little orphan and raise him as her little brother. Soon Anna (who is really Emma) is working for the resistance, and in love with a Nazi. As you can tell, this is where the story takes shape.There are so many stages of climax here, that I can't tell more of the story without having spoilers. I will say that the pacing and tension here was just right to keep me moving on to the next chapter, waiting to see what happens next, while still learning more about each character. The story is also powerful because you know the main character's secret and it keeps you worried with her, for her. This definitely makes me want to read the next book in this series.
—Cheryl
I mentioned when I wrote my review on The Book Thief, how dismayed I felt when realizing that the story was set in WWII Germany. It seems to me that the market for fictional stories of the war, especially the persecution and massacre of the Jews, has been saturated.While The Book Thief surprised me by being completely fresh in its story telling, The Kommandant's Girl, stuck to the conservative game plan and told a familiar and unimaginative story.To be fair, the book is set in Poland, not Germany, and the story is based on a real life event the author discovered while doing her research in Poland.Emma Bau, a newlywed whose husband has escaped to help the resistance movement, finds herself in the Jewish Ghetto living with her parents. During one night, she is awoken and smuggled out of the ghetto and set up to live as Anna Lipowski with her husband's non-Jewish aunt. At a dinner party one evening, Emma/Anna meets Kommandant Georg Richwalder, a high ranking Nazi party member, and his attraction to her leads to his hiring her to be his assistant. As his assistant, she is expected to and in fact, wants to, help the resistance by acting as a spy whenever she can. To Jenoff's credit, she attempts to give her characters depth by allowing Emma/Anna to become attracted and attached to the Kommandant, understandable considering the short length of her relationship with her husband, and considering the kind of man Kommandant Richwalder appeared to be: fair, hard working and heartbroken from his wife's earlier suicide. As their relationship progresses, she is ultimately asked to betray her marriage vows and use her relationship with the Kommandant to gain urgent information for the resistance.The story is interesting and even well told (except for the end when the author tried to tie up too many loose strings for plot purposes), but that interesting and well told story has already been done. Many times. Unfortunately for Jenoff, whether this particular story is true or not doesn't make its telling any more consequential. In spite of its familiarity, I'd recommend Pam Jenoff's account to anyone who hasn't reached their own personal threshold of World War II Jewish fiction.
—Lucy
