The Girl They Left Behind

 

This month, my old New Jersey book club is discussing The Girl They Left Behind, Roxanne Veletzos historical fiction based on her family's story. There's a good possibility that they'll be meeting in person for the first time in over a year so I might not be able to join them virtually. However, I promised the woman who invited me back "into the club" that I would read the book and at a minimum, she and I could discuss.

This is a bit of history that I was really not familiar with. It starts during WW II in Romania, just as they are forced under Nazi rule. But the story continues past the end of the war, into a Bucharest controlled by the Soviets. I think that Veletzos paints the extremely dismal picture of what that was like. (After I read, I often talk about what I've read with my kids My son's first question was whether I'd ever been to Bucharest. No, I have not. He then described his experience there. Eastern Europe is quite different from Western Europe even now.)

The girl in the story is Natalia, a Jewish girl  left behind when her parents escaped the Nazis during the war. After a short stay in an orphanage, she is adopted by Despina and Anton, a well-to-do couple. She has a charmed life. Until the Nazis are out, the monarchy is out, and  the Soviets are in. Their lives become more and more dismal. Until Natalia is offered an opportunity which she is unable to turn down.

As I was reading, I guessed that this novel was based on a true story. The author's note at the end was very interesting.

This book has a lot to be discussed.