People's History

Lots of people think that history doesn't matter. But it really does, very much indeed.  None of us can be entirely sure where we're going, but we can be absolutely certain, whether we knew them or not, that we had parents, who also had parents, who also had parents, going back to the very dawn of time.  So something of each of us has lived through every era, as empires rose and fell, rulers lived and died and wars were won and lost.

I've just finished 'My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me', the story of how a black, German woman came to terms with the shock discovery that she was descended from Nazi concentration camp commandant Amon Goeth. Although raised in an orphanage, Jennifer Teege did have some contact with her mother and grandmother as a child, but neither woman ever gave any hint as to Teege's dark family history.  It wasn't until she was in her late 30s, a happily married mother of two, that she found out by chance when she picked up an unknown book by her mother in Hamburg's central library. Suddenly she finds herself plunged into the shadow of one of World War II's most notorious psychopathic killers, the Butcher of Plaszow in Poland, slaughterer of thousands of Jews - and her grandfather.  As Teege struggles to comprehend what this means for her, her family and her many Jewish-Israeli friends, she summons the courage to face this family skeleton head on.  But is it possible to come to terms with such a chilling discovery?

This book is gripping, uplifting and thought-provoking from beginning to end.  Written from Mrs Teege's perspective, interspersed with supporting sections by journalist Nikola Sellmair, it explores how both a person and a people have had to deal with a past they would rather forget.  Some deny it, some ignore it, but I have great respect for Mrs Teege as she decided to tackle it head on and not give the past power over the present.

I think that this would make an excellent reading group book.  There is much to discuss and think about here.  It's not really a book about World War II, it's a book about family, national guilt and coming to terms with a shameful past.

I found it gripping from beginning to end and would thoroughly recommend it.

Now, what next...

Related Links

'My Nazi Grandfather, Amon Goeth, Would Have Shot Me' (BBC News Magazine, 03/10/2013)

Book Details

'My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me' by Jennifer Teege and Nikola Sellmair.  Translated by Carolin Sommer.  Hodder & Stoughton, 2015. Originally published in Germany as 'Amon: Mein Grossvater hätte mich erschossen', 2013.

Women at War

As many of you know, when I'm not reading books, buying books or blogging about books, I can often be found on Twitter, posting about books as @Girl_LovesBooks (not to be confused with Book Loving Girls with similar names. They're lovely too, I'm sure, but not me!).

Being quite easily distracted and up for a challenge, I began joining in with Doubleday's #bookadayuk campaign in June and July this year.  Each day had a book-related theme to post about and it was great fun trying to come up with an idea for each topic and seeing what other titles people recommended.  A few books on my reading list were mentioned, so that was reassuring!

Anyway, I'd been tweeting away quite happily, coming up with books with blue covers, exotic story settings and childhood favourites, when I got a message saying I'd won the publisher's prize draw.  I hadn't even realised it was a competition, so it was a nice surprise to be sent a copy of 'Wake' by Anna Hope.

'Wake'
by Anna Hope
(Doubleday, 2014)

'Wake' is the story of three women in post-World War One London.  Although none went to the front, each has been affected by the tragedy and horror of the devastating conflict, suffering the loss of a loved one, either in body or spirit.  Hettie is a dance instructor at a night club, hired for sixpence a song to partner men around the floor, forced to surrender half her earnings to her mother while her psychologically damaged brother is trapped by the trauma of his wartime experiences.  Wealthy and defiant Evelyn works in a string of low paid and sometimes dangerous jobs, broken-hearted and looking for something to numb the pain.  Ada's son died at the front, but she is still haunted by visions of him in the streets around her home.  While she watches for him, she is losing sight of her husband and doesn't notice the growing distance between them.  The three stories unfold and entwine over the course of five days in 1920 as the body of the Unknown Warrior makes its way from the battlefields of Europe to Westminster Abbey.  He is destined to bring peace of mind to the grieving country, but can he really take the place of those lost to Ada, Hettie and Evelyn?

I was absolutely delighted to receive this book because, due to this year's centenary of the start of the war,  I'd been looking for something to read set in this period.  I went on a bit of emotional rollercoaster with 'Wake', however, and not just because of the emotive plot.

I love history and didn't realise how much I already knew about the era, so by the middle of the book I was beginning to feel a exasperated because I didn't feel like I was learning anything new.  But I soon realised that I'd quite spectacularly missed the point.  This book's great strength is the way it brings the dry facts to life through characters that readers, particularly female ones, can relate to.  Although I knew more than I'd expected about everything from trench warfare to shell shock to the flu epidemic to women working in factories, it was like I just had pieces of a puzzle.  This book made me put them together and think about World War One and its aftermath in a very different way.

Several other people have said on Twitter that they loved this book and I can see why.  Ms Hope does a wonderful job of making the characters feel real and it's easy to develop great affection for them.  Although they are from another time, the era of our great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents, Ada, Evelyn and Hettie are going through emotional experiences that we can understand and relate to in the modern era.  The joy of love and the pain of loss and broken hearts is the same for us all, no matter the year.

Structuring the story around the arrival of the Unknown Warrior was an excellent idea which I think worked extremely well.  Again, while readers may know the facts, that many bodies were never retrieved and identified, which prevented many families from burying their dead, the book reminds us of the thousands of individuals who gained closure by believing that the Unknown Warrior was their husband, son, brother or lover.

In some ways, the media's current obsession with World War One and the annual acts of remembrance have simultaneously reminded us of and fossilised this terrible event, often making it feel as cold, formal and remote as a memorial statue on a pedestal.  As such, I think this book is a must read for any young woman who finds history dry and distant and wants to understand what World War One really meant to people like her.  'Wake' lives up to its name, helping our ancestors live again and reawakening our understanding of them.

Now, what next..?