The Orphan’s Tale by Pam Jenoff
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.
Sixteen year old Noa has been cast out in disgrace after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier After this judgement by her father, she is forced to give up her baby. She lives above a small rail station, which she cleans in order to earn her keep. When Noa discovers a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, she is reminded of the child that was taken from her. In a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night.
Noa finds refuge with a German circus. Here she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. As the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another, or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything.
Jenoff tells this gripping story in the first person narrative, switching between Noa and Astrid’s point of view. A novel of historical fiction, this book is well researched and seems to ring true to the era in which it is set. As children of Canada, never exposed to the atrocities of war, there were attitudes and actions prevalent in war torn Europe that we can, fortunately, not fully understand. Even though there are acts of unwarranted aggression and betrayal depicted in this story, The Orphan’s Tale is never the less a book of hope, love and generosity of spirit.
Review by Christine