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Warsaw
The Warsaw Ghetto. 1942.
Adam Duritz, a Jewish Policeman, is charged with the duty of selecting five people each day to be transported to Treblinka - or else he will be selected himself.
Thomas Abendroth is a German soldier, trying his best to retain his humanity in the inhumane ghetto. Thomas befriends Adam. Both men make enemies of other people in power though.
Yet, far more than his friendship with the German, Adam realises that his salvation resides in his love for Jessica Rubenstein. If he can save her, he may also save himself.
Their fates - and those of others - will intertwine and be decided during a climactic evening on the streets of the ghetto, where love and tragedy abound – and collide.
Warsaw is a novel which lingers long in the heart and mind. For fans of Dostoyevsky’s Crime & Punishment and Thomas Keneally’s Schindler’s Ark.
Adam Duritz, a Jewish Policeman, is charged with the duty of selecting five people each day to be transported to Treblinka - or else he will be selected himself.
Thomas Abendroth is a German soldier, trying his best to retain his humanity in the inhumane ghetto. Thomas befriends Adam. Both men make enemies of other people in power though.
Yet, far more than his friendship with the German, Adam realises that his salvation resides in his love for Jessica Rubenstein. If he can save her, he may also save himself.
Their fates - and those of others - will intertwine and be decided during a climactic evening on the streets of the ghetto, where love and tragedy abound – and collide.
Warsaw is a novel which lingers long in the heart and mind. For fans of Dostoyevsky’s Crime & Punishment and Thomas Keneally’s Schindler’s Ark.
313 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 7, 2012
115 people are currently reading
603 people want to read
About the author
Richard Foreman
37 books77 followersRichard Foreman is the author of numerous best-selling Kindle books, including Augustus: Son of Rome and the Sword of Rome series of novellas which follow Julius Caesar and his centurion Lucius Oppius during their campaigns in Britain, Gaul and the Civil War. The stories are a blend of action, intrigue and Ancient History.
He is also the author of Warsaw, a literary novel set during the end of the Second World War, and the historical novel A Hero of Our Time, as well as the Raffles series of historical crime novellas.
His latest novel, Band of Brothers: The Game's Afoot, is a story is action, intrigue and historical insight set in medieval times.
He has worked as a literary consultant and publicist to a number of bestselling authors, including Tom Holland, Conn Iggulden and Simon Scarrow. He is now a publishing director at Endeavour Press, the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books, with his business partner Matthew Lynn.
He lives in London.
He is also the author of Warsaw, a literary novel set during the end of the Second World War, and the historical novel A Hero of Our Time, as well as the Raffles series of historical crime novellas.
His latest novel, Band of Brothers: The Game's Afoot, is a story is action, intrigue and historical insight set in medieval times.
He has worked as a literary consultant and publicist to a number of bestselling authors, including Tom Holland, Conn Iggulden and Simon Scarrow. He is now a publishing director at Endeavour Press, the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books, with his business partner Matthew Lynn.
He lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 7, 2015
A heartbreaking account of life in the Warsaw ghetto that uses a mix of historical fiction and fact to bring to life the relationship between the Jewish captives, the unrelenting SS, and the the powerless Wermarcht troops.
The book itself suffers from a slow start that will undoubtedly throw some readers off, especially combined wuth the author's frustrating habit of using both first and last names to identify his characters with no conceivable logic to how he switches between them. That beeing said there are sections of the text that are frought with emotion and heavy with the gravity of the situation.
While the author does, at times anyway, have a tendency to overwrite a scene, taking the drama to extents that would make Williams Shatner shake his head, he, for the most part produces a readable and passion filled text.
As it is historical fiction so aspects are stretched to the edge of believability and accuracy, but these aspects aid the novel on the whole and are acceptable. While not the greatest book I have ever encountered I do recommend it to fans of the genre.
The book itself suffers from a slow start that will undoubtedly throw some readers off, especially combined wuth the author's frustrating habit of using both first and last names to identify his characters with no conceivable logic to how he switches between them. That beeing said there are sections of the text that are frought with emotion and heavy with the gravity of the situation.
While the author does, at times anyway, have a tendency to overwrite a scene, taking the drama to extents that would make Williams Shatner shake his head, he, for the most part produces a readable and passion filled text.
As it is historical fiction so aspects are stretched to the edge of believability and accuracy, but these aspects aid the novel on the whole and are acceptable. While not the greatest book I have ever encountered I do recommend it to fans of the genre.
December 21, 2017
Good from the historical point of view but the style didn't work for me
Both this book and my reactions to it are full of contradictions. On the one hand, it is a well researched historical novel which allows the reader to appreciate in a small way the horrors of the ghetto on Warsaw. (That one does not comprehend life in the ghetto more fully is not the author's fault. How could one understand such appalling circumstances without having experienced them?) However, for me, at least the characters never really came alive and the philosophical element of the novel, which I felt should have been one of its strengths - and something that should have raised the book to a different level - seemed artificially shoe-horned in.
I also found the language an impediment to my enjoyment. The archaisms and Richard Foreman's constant push to slightly alter the meanings of words were frustrating. In 'A Clockwork Orange', the protagonist's eloquent use of a cleverly devised language full of words derived from Russian served to emphasise the 'otherness' of his brutal clique and was one of the outstanding features of the novel, but here I didn't feel the linguistic novelties added to the work; for me they remained artificial and unnecessary - even when I discovered it was Foreman's intention to write a WW2 novel in a nineteenth century style, modelled on Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy and Checkov.
There have been so many positive reviews that I feel the fault must be mine. Be that as it may, the frequent typos do need erradicating.
Both this book and my reactions to it are full of contradictions. On the one hand, it is a well researched historical novel which allows the reader to appreciate in a small way the horrors of the ghetto on Warsaw. (That one does not comprehend life in the ghetto more fully is not the author's fault. How could one understand such appalling circumstances without having experienced them?) However, for me, at least the characters never really came alive and the philosophical element of the novel, which I felt should have been one of its strengths - and something that should have raised the book to a different level - seemed artificially shoe-horned in.
I also found the language an impediment to my enjoyment. The archaisms and Richard Foreman's constant push to slightly alter the meanings of words were frustrating. In 'A Clockwork Orange', the protagonist's eloquent use of a cleverly devised language full of words derived from Russian served to emphasise the 'otherness' of his brutal clique and was one of the outstanding features of the novel, but here I didn't feel the linguistic novelties added to the work; for me they remained artificial and unnecessary - even when I discovered it was Foreman's intention to write a WW2 novel in a nineteenth century style, modelled on Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy and Checkov.
There have been so many positive reviews that I feel the fault must be mine. Be that as it may, the frequent typos do need erradicating.
October 13, 2015
They say this is a book that lingers in the heart and mind; however, it only lingers because you wonder how it managed to get published in the first place. The writing was bad and, as another said, trivialized the suffering of the inhabitants of the Warsaw ghetto. I finally had to give up on the book after about the 25% mark on my Kindle as I just couldn't stomach reading it any longer. Additionally, the fact that this book is fiction is so well buried in some adverts for it that I went into the book thinking it was a history of the Warsaw ghetto not a "let's jump on the Holocaust history-fiction bandwagon" book.
Book received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Book received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
November 23, 2015
I slogged all the way through this because on some level I guess I wanted to see how it turned out. Not because I found any of the characters appealing, other than perhaps the really unlikely Good German Wehrmacht officer.
There were a number of inconsistencies and anachronisms in this book. And the name Jessica in the Warsaw ghetto? Simply sounds like too much a modern popular name to be realistic. These sound like trivialities but contribute to a flip-flopping plot intended, with superfluous language, to be considered a literary novel.
Finally, this book could use a major proofreading.
There were a number of inconsistencies and anachronisms in this book. And the name Jessica in the Warsaw ghetto? Simply sounds like too much a modern popular name to be realistic. These sound like trivialities but contribute to a flip-flopping plot intended, with superfluous language, to be considered a literary novel.
Finally, this book could use a major proofreading.
March 6, 2021
Unique
This novel is different than any I have ever read on the topic and is wonderfully descriptive. I really enjoyed the book other than the grammatical errors, but thankfully there weren't that many. The story is very good and is full of information I didn't know before.
This novel is different than any I have ever read on the topic and is wonderfully descriptive. I really enjoyed the book other than the grammatical errors, but thankfully there weren't that many. The story is very good and is full of information I didn't know before.
October 19, 2017
I was ready to put it down after the first few pages because it was not grasping my attention. Paragraphs, with all its grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors, were much too long. Then, the author changed abruptly from one character to another in the next paragraph without identifying the characters. I would have to back s d reread to see who he was ta!king about. And what's with the sister being named Jessica and the brother named Kolya, duh!
July 18, 2017
I would have enjoyed this story but the spelling and grammar mistakes were really bad. Also there was no clear distinction when the story moved to a new setting or character so it hot a bit confusing. A shame really! I wondered who edited it because they spoiled the enjoyment of this story.
September 7, 2018
This reader's journey into understanding hell
This novel, Warsaw, and other similar period novels bring a greater identity and understanding of the tragedy on WWII. Such hardship, such sorrow, such helplessness and pain are painted on the canvass in the chapters of this book. Highly, highly recommend reading, I was moved beyond my ability to describe in written words.
This novel, Warsaw, and other similar period novels bring a greater identity and understanding of the tragedy on WWII. Such hardship, such sorrow, such helplessness and pain are painted on the canvass in the chapters of this book. Highly, highly recommend reading, I was moved beyond my ability to describe in written words.
December 17, 2018
Sad and scary
Man's inhumanity to man as described in this book is unbelivable. The style of writing was different and detracted from the content for me.
Man's inhumanity to man as described in this book is unbelivable. The style of writing was different and detracted from the content for me.
July 11, 2019
Well written historical novel about the ghettos of Poland with love and fear in equal measure.
June 3, 2020
Eye Opening
I love these stories which take me into awful situations and through good writing skills take me to places and situations hopefully I'll never have to be
I love these stories which take me into awful situations and through good writing skills take me to places and situations hopefully I'll never have to be
April 9, 2021
An interesting read. A work of fiction but hopefully based on some facts.
December 17, 2013
Got through a quarter of the book but could not make myself continue. The writing is poor - author used 10 words when a single would suffice and he was very stingy with commas, which made reading the text a chore. And the characters were all unappealing - a self-involved Jewish policeman who carries out the Nazi orders and uses his position to rape a girl he had admired before the war, the Nazi Colonel who is educated, compassionate, and supposedly empathetic to the Jews but who watches as they are slaughtered, and a young Jewish girl who after she allows herself to be raped to help her family, becomes infatuated with the German Colonel. All in all, the characters and the narrative trivialize what happened in the Warsaw ghetto during WWII, and I don't want to waste anymore time on it.
January 9, 2013
Despite being an area of personal interest for fiction and nonfiction alike, I found myself skipping chunks. Overall I liked the storyline, it just didn't hold my interest throughout.
October 3, 2016
Good read but poor editing.
Good read but many spelling and grammatical errors. Also poor spelling. Took awhile to follow the thread of this novel.
Good read but many spelling and grammatical errors. Also poor spelling. Took awhile to follow the thread of this novel.
Read
January 22, 2017No rating as I gave up less than halfway through. Felt that the writing did not do the subject justice and I couldn't continue.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews