For several months I’ve been thinking about adding another regular feature to the blog and the beginning of a new year seems like the right time to do just that. I’ve always loved reading. As far back as I can remember, libraries and bookstores have been amongst my favourite places and I’ve almost always had a book on the go.

From now on, at the beginning of each new month, I plan to feature one of the books that I read during the previous month. Hopefully you’ll also share what you’ve been reading in the comment section and this can become a conversation. Before I introduce this month’s book though, let me share a bit about what I like to read.

I read a mix of fiction and non-fiction. Though I occasionally enjoy what I refer to as a bit of fluff, I generally prefer a book with a bit more meat to it. That’s why, though many of the non-fiction books that I read are of the Christian variety, I don’t read many Christian novels. I find the majority of them too sweet and unrealistic; too happy ever after. I enjoy reading memoirs and novels about life in other times and places, especially novels that shed light on the lives of women. Over the past few months, I’ve read several historical novels set during World War II. Not stories about the war itself, but about the lives of the people affected by it. January’s book of the month is one of those.

The Orphan’s Tale

Pam Jenoff

The Orphan’s Tale is the second of Jenoff’s novels that I’ve read in recent months. The first was her more recent book, The Lost Girls of Paris. 

Jenoff has degrees in history and international affairs. Her experience working at the Pentagon and as a diplomat for the US State Department covering Holocaust issues in Poland, provide her with the background necessary to bring the events of World War II and Nazi Germany to life. She once described The Orphan’s Tale as the most difficult novel that she’d written because of the very dark subject matter and the fact that it’s based partly on true events. 

The summary inside the front cover flap introduces the story this way

A powerful novel of friendship set in a traveling circus during World War II, The Orphan’s Tale introduces two extraordinary women and their harrowing stories of sacrifice and survival. 

After being disowned by her parents for becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier and being forced to give up her baby, sixteen-year-old Noa finds work cleaning a small rural train station. When she discovers dozens of Jewish infants in a boxcar destined for a concentration camp, she is reminded of her own child and impulsively snatches one of the babies. Fleeing into the snowy night, she almost succumbs to the bitter cold, but is rescued by members of a traveling circus residing nearby. Finding refuge with them, she meets Astrid, an older star of the show who is assigned the task of teaching Noa to perform on the flying trapeze. Rivals at first, the two learn to see past their differences and soon forge a powerful bond. Their story unfolds with moments of suspense, terror, and heartbreak but also flashes of joy. 

I don’t want to give away too much, but I will say that I found The Orphan’s Tale difficult to put down! It’s a beautifully told story about the power of friendship even in the harshest of circumstances and it led me to ponder the question, what really makes us family?

Are you a book lover too? What kind of books do you like to read? What have you been reading lately?