Jencey's Writer's Corner

  Years ago, I listened to The Kommandant’s Girl by Pam Jenoff. I totally loved the book and thought surely there would be a sequel.  Yes, The Diplomat’s Wife carries many of the characters readers loved into this new story.  Where will the story go from here? Synopsis:  “1945 . Marta Nederman has barely survived the brutality of a Nazi concentration camp, where she was imprisoned for her work with the Polish resistance. Lucky to have escaped with her life, she meets Paul, an American soldier, who gives her hope of a happier future. The two make a promise to meet in London, but Paul is in a deadly plane crash and never arrives. Finding herself pregnant and alone in a strange city, Marta finds comfort with a kind British diplomat, and the two soon marry. But Marta’s happiness is threatened when the British government seeks her help to find a Communist spy—an undercover mission that resurrects the past with far-reaching consequences. Set during a time of great upheava...

  Which side would you choose if your family were in danger?  Could you betray people you knew if it meant safety for your family?  Would the price be high enough that you could justify your actions?  These questions and more will be answered in Code Name Sapphire, a World War II novel by Pam Jenoff.  Synopsis:  “1942. Hannah Martel has narrowly escaped Nazi Germany after her fiancé was killed in a pogrom. When her ship bound for America is turned away at port, she has nowhere to go but to her cousin Lily, who lives with her family in Brussels. Fearful for her life, Hannah is desperate to get out of occupied Europe. But with no safe way to leave, she must return to the dangerous underground work she thought she had left behind. Seeking help, Hannah joins the Sapphire Line, a secret resistance network led by a mysterious woman named Micheline and her enigmatic brother Matteo. But when a grave mistake causes Lily’s family to be arrested and slated for deporta...

Are you ready for the journey? Pam Jenoff delivers another great novel in the Orphan's Tale.  This story is based off of an account of a real orphan train and a Jewish circus.  It also includes friendship between two unlikely women. This friendship will be test in many ways. Synopsis:  Astrid learns that her Nazi officer husband must divorce her because of her Jewish heritage.  Hitler will not allow his SS officers to be tainted by Jewish blood.  So Astrid journeys back to her roots which began in the circus begins, but when she arrives home her family is gone.  There is a neighboring circus nearby and Astrid visits Mr. Neuhoff the owner and ringmaster to see if he might know something about her family.  He does not but he makes an offer she can’t refuse.  Astrid becomes part of the flying trapeze act in his circus.  She hides in the circus from the Gestapo.   A few years later a women comes to the circus.  Noa ha...

I am excited to write this review. I have wanted to read a novel by @PamJenoff for a while. I finally got my opportunity with The Kommandant’s Girl . This novel is historical in nature and focusing on World War II era. For readers who have read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah; will have a nice segue way into this story. Synopsis: Emma has just celebrated her Jewish wedding and honeymoon with her beloved Jacob. Then the Nazis invaded Poland. Jacob tells her to return to her family and burn their marriage certificate. Emma cannot bring herself to destroy this precious certificate. She does go to her family, but finds herself in the ghetto. The resistance helps her to escape and live with Jacob’s cousin. While living with Peter’s aunt Emma assumes a new identity of Anna. Anna works in the Nazi office in Krakow and soon becomes involved with the Kommandant. As her relationship with the commandant grows will she be able to help the resistance? Or will he find out who she really...