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Out of the Hitler Time #3
A Small Person Far Away: A classic and unforgettable children’s book from the author of The Tiger Who Came To Tea
Partly autobiographical, this is the third title in Judith Kerr’s internationally acclaimed trilogy of books following the life of Anna through war-torn Germany, to London during the Blitz and her return to Berlin to discover the past…
Berlin is where Anna lived before Hitler, when she was still a German child; before she spoke a word of English, before her family had all become refugees. Long before her happy new existence in London. But Mama is there, dangerously ill. Anna is forced to go back, to deal with questions of life and death, to face old fears, and to discover the past which she has so long shut away.
Berlin is where Anna lived before Hitler, when she was still a German child; before she spoke a word of English, before her family had all become refugees. Long before her happy new existence in London. But Mama is there, dangerously ill. Anna is forced to go back, to deal with questions of life and death, to face old fears, and to discover the past which she has so long shut away.
226 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1978
61 people are currently reading
1457 people want to read
About the author
Judith Kerr
117 books379 followersJudith Kerr was a German-born British writer and illustrator who has created both enduring picture books such as the Mog series and The Tiger Who Came To Tea and acclaimed novels for older children such as the autobiographical When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit which give a child's-eye view of the Second World War.
Kerr was born in Berlin but left Germany with her parents and her brother, Michael, in 1933, soon after the Nazis first came to power. They were forced to leave as her father, noted drama critic, journalist and screenwriter Alfred Kerr, had openly criticised the Nazis,who burned his books shortly after the family had fled Germany. They travelled first to Switzerland and then on into France, before finally settling in Britain, where Kerr has lived ever since. She subsequently became a naturalised British citizen.
Kerr was born in Berlin but left Germany with her parents and her brother, Michael, in 1933, soon after the Nazis first came to power. They were forced to leave as her father, noted drama critic, journalist and screenwriter Alfred Kerr, had openly criticised the Nazis,who burned his books shortly after the family had fled Germany. They travelled first to Switzerland and then on into France, before finally settling in Britain, where Kerr has lived ever since. She subsequently became a naturalised British citizen.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 151 reviews
August 12, 2019
Read as a buddy read with Lisa Vegan, Gundula and Abigail, we read a chapter a day, each chapter named after a day of the week. This book is written as a novel but based on the author's life.
I was looking forward to reading the last book in the Out of the Hitler Time trilogy and having absolutely loved When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and having quite enjoyed The Other Way Round I found this book very disspointing. Many chapters were 1 star for me, if this wasn't a buddy read I would probably have given up or skimmed to the end.
The story focuses on Anna's relationship with her mother, there were many arguments to read through, I found these very boring. There were views that were dated Mama behaves in a horrible way to Anna and it feels that the story was written by Judith to air the feelings she had about her own mother, things perhaps she had never said and felt resentment for, which if Judith Kerr's mother behaved like Mama in this story you can certainly understand why. However cathartic this may have been for Judith this didn't make for good reading. I also felt if Judith was going to write about her problematic relationship with her mother and her mother's mental health problems it would have been more appropriate to do this in a biography. The part in the last chapter where Anna thinks she might turn this into a book one day made me feel a bit uncomfortable.
Another disappointing element to this book was that Anna's return to Berlin could have been so interesting to read about. How it had changed, her memories of her birthplace which was barely touched upon. I have no idea why Heimpi who was like a mother to the children before they left Germany was not mentioned, I think she is referred to once in a memory but surely someone so important would have at least been mentioned in terms of wondering if she is okay and where she is now. Even if Anna was afraid of finding out she wasn't okay I cannot believe that being back there she wouldn't have wondered.
Another strange thing is that this book or indeed any of the trilogy does not mention that Judith Kerr's mother was a talented composer who had written an opera. It seems that Judith chose the character of Mama not to have this talent, although this doesn't excuse the behaviour of Mama who comes across in the story as spoilt and selfish it would have helped to explain perhaps why she was so unhappy as she was frustrated and unfulfilled. I can only assume Judith Kerr was very unhappy with her mother and writing this book helped her to say things that in real life she couldn't say.
The last chapter was slightly more interesting and in some ways brings a new beginning But we are left not knowing if the main storyline which is Mama's unhappiness and mental health problems get any better.
I actually read this from the trilogy Out of The Hitler Time but changed my edition otherwise I would be rating the 3 books in 1. I'm glad I read this last book in the trilogy and it was fun to read as a buddy read and discuss with friends.
I was looking forward to reading the last book in the Out of the Hitler Time trilogy and having absolutely loved When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and having quite enjoyed The Other Way Round I found this book very disspointing. Many chapters were 1 star for me, if this wasn't a buddy read I would probably have given up or skimmed to the end.
The story focuses on Anna's relationship with her mother, there were many arguments to read through, I found these very boring. There were views that were dated Mama behaves in a horrible way to Anna and it feels that the story was written by Judith to air the feelings she had about her own mother, things perhaps she had never said and felt resentment for, which if Judith Kerr's mother behaved like Mama in this story you can certainly understand why. However cathartic this may have been for Judith this didn't make for good reading. I also felt if Judith was going to write about her problematic relationship with her mother and her mother's mental health problems it would have been more appropriate to do this in a biography. The part in the last chapter where Anna thinks she might turn this into a book one day made me feel a bit uncomfortable.
Another disappointing element to this book was that Anna's return to Berlin could have been so interesting to read about. How it had changed, her memories of her birthplace which was barely touched upon. I have no idea why Heimpi who was like a mother to the children before they left Germany was not mentioned, I think she is referred to once in a memory but surely someone so important would have at least been mentioned in terms of wondering if she is okay and where she is now. Even if Anna was afraid of finding out she wasn't okay I cannot believe that being back there she wouldn't have wondered.
Another strange thing is that this book or indeed any of the trilogy does not mention that Judith Kerr's mother was a talented composer who had written an opera. It seems that Judith chose the character of Mama not to have this talent, although this doesn't excuse the behaviour of Mama who comes across in the story as spoilt and selfish it would have helped to explain perhaps why she was so unhappy as she was frustrated and unfulfilled. I can only assume Judith Kerr was very unhappy with her mother and writing this book helped her to say things that in real life she couldn't say.
The last chapter was slightly more interesting and in some ways brings a new beginning But we are left not knowing if the main storyline which is Mama's unhappiness and mental health problems get any better.
I actually read this from the trilogy Out of The Hitler Time but changed my edition otherwise I would be rating the 3 books in 1. I'm glad I read this last book in the trilogy and it was fun to read as a buddy read and discuss with friends.
August 10, 2019
I read this third book of a trilogy as a buddy read with Hilary, Abigail, and Gundula. (I’d read the second book with Hilary and Gundula, and the first book with Hilary, who’d already previously read it.) I was the last person to get this book. None of my libraries had it and there was a queue at Open Library, so I broke down and bought a Kindle edition for $1.99. That edition on a pad wasn’t as easy or as enjoyable to read as the Overdrive and the Open Library editions I’ve read the rather rare times I read e-books.
7 chapters, 1 each day, 7 days to read book was the plan. I cheated slightly and read the short last chapter about an hour early, reading at the same time as Hilary. I was glad to finish this book.
This book has an omnibus edition and I think it is marketed to children and it shouldn’t be. The first book is a children’s book, one that I think can be enjoyed by all ages maybe 8 and up. The second book is really young adult but is okay for children and fine for adults. But this third book is a book that adults only should read. I think some teens used to reading books geared toward adults could read it, but only if they are not overly sensitive to reading about some very dark subject matter.
Overall, this book was a disappointment. I adored the first book and really liked the second. This one wasn’t particularly fun to read. Had it not been a continuation of the story but a standalone book I probably wouldn’t have finished it. Reading with buddies and discussing also helped me to read on and helped me to enjoy it more too. I’d rather the author had written an autobiography because this trilogy is thinly veiled autobiography. At least this third book and its subject should have either been autobiography and if she wasn’t comfortable with that then a standalone novel for adults. The differences between the three books is striking and between each book there is a gap in time too which is noticeable. Luckily, the second and third books do rely on frequently referring to memories and previous events. If this book hadn’t done that I would have enjoyed it even less than I did.
One reason I liked this book less than the first two is that I no longer liked the characters. I could like all at times and that helped but it wasn’t enough. The people and their relationships were no longer fun, even though they probably were depicted honestly. I did emotionally connect with a couple of characters but they tended to be peripheral ones. I am still interested in learning a bit more about Judith Kerr and have a book on hold that I’ll read soon.
The man with the photos broke my heart and was on page briefly but I felt was an effective character. I do think this book shows how the trauma of being a refugee and being a victim (one way or the other) of the Nazi regime can have great adverse impact on people, even if they’re more fortunate than many were.
I did enjoy aspects of the last chapter so it ended on a bit of a high note, but it wasn’t enough. The book didn’t really come together as a whole for me. It felt disjointed and given what the main character was experiencing that does make sense.
Once I knew the reason for the book’s title I did really like it. The ways memory and identity are explored felt genuine.
I think it must have been cathartic for Judith to write this book but it wasn’t that much fun to read much of the time.
All three novels in this trilogy are very thinly veiled autobiographies, though from further readers and the buddy read discussion, it’s clear she often deviated from facts and left out many things, true of most autobiographical novels.
A few details that are spoilers:
I’m glad I read the book but I’m glad it’s over.
Only 2 stars for reading enjoyment, at times 1 and at times 3, but rounded up to 3 stars from 2-1/2 because the first 2 books were so good and this feels like a continuation of the story, though 3 stars is generous. I did still want to learn more about the author and the other people in this book. I even researched a bit as I read. So I must have remained interested in some ways. And it ended on an interesting note.
The more I think the more I feel compelled to downgrade this to 2 stars. On its own that's what it was for me.
7 chapters, 1 each day, 7 days to read book was the plan. I cheated slightly and read the short last chapter about an hour early, reading at the same time as Hilary. I was glad to finish this book.
This book has an omnibus edition and I think it is marketed to children and it shouldn’t be. The first book is a children’s book, one that I think can be enjoyed by all ages maybe 8 and up. The second book is really young adult but is okay for children and fine for adults. But this third book is a book that adults only should read. I think some teens used to reading books geared toward adults could read it, but only if they are not overly sensitive to reading about some very dark subject matter.
Overall, this book was a disappointment. I adored the first book and really liked the second. This one wasn’t particularly fun to read. Had it not been a continuation of the story but a standalone book I probably wouldn’t have finished it. Reading with buddies and discussing also helped me to read on and helped me to enjoy it more too. I’d rather the author had written an autobiography because this trilogy is thinly veiled autobiography. At least this third book and its subject should have either been autobiography and if she wasn’t comfortable with that then a standalone novel for adults. The differences between the three books is striking and between each book there is a gap in time too which is noticeable. Luckily, the second and third books do rely on frequently referring to memories and previous events. If this book hadn’t done that I would have enjoyed it even less than I did.
One reason I liked this book less than the first two is that I no longer liked the characters. I could like all at times and that helped but it wasn’t enough. The people and their relationships were no longer fun, even though they probably were depicted honestly. I did emotionally connect with a couple of characters but they tended to be peripheral ones. I am still interested in learning a bit more about Judith Kerr and have a book on hold that I’ll read soon.
The man with the photos broke my heart and was on page briefly but I felt was an effective character. I do think this book shows how the trauma of being a refugee and being a victim (one way or the other) of the Nazi regime can have great adverse impact on people, even if they’re more fortunate than many were.
I did enjoy aspects of the last chapter so it ended on a bit of a high note, but it wasn’t enough. The book didn’t really come together as a whole for me. It felt disjointed and given what the main character was experiencing that does make sense.
Once I knew the reason for the book’s title I did really like it. The ways memory and identity are explored felt genuine.
I think it must have been cathartic for Judith to write this book but it wasn’t that much fun to read much of the time.
All three novels in this trilogy are very thinly veiled autobiographies, though from further readers and the buddy read discussion, it’s clear she often deviated from facts and left out many things, true of most autobiographical novels.
A few details that are spoilers:
I’m glad I read the book but I’m glad it’s over.
Only 2 stars for reading enjoyment, at times 1 and at times 3, but rounded up to 3 stars from 2-1/2 because the first 2 books were so good and this feels like a continuation of the story, though 3 stars is generous. I did still want to learn more about the author and the other people in this book. I even researched a bit as I read. So I must have remained interested in some ways. And it ended on an interesting note.
The more I think the more I feel compelled to downgrade this to 2 stars. On its own that's what it was for me.
March 12, 2022
With my sincere apologies to those readers who have indeed and actually enjoyed A Small Person Far Away, the third instalment of Judith Kerr's Out of the Hitler Time trilogy (and which like When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and The Other Way Round is once again quite heavily based on and influenced by Judith Kerr and her family's real-life experiences before, during and after WWII as refugees from the Nazis), I do have to admit that A Small Person Far Away has been if complete truth be told a very much painful, personally uncomfortable and as such also not really an either enjoyable or engaging reading experience for me, but rather a novel that basically, that for the most part seems entirely bent on only dealing with Kerr family horror stories (dysfunction, marital affairs, both achieved and attempted suicides and in particular with Anna, the thinly disguised author, and her often if not generally majorly fraught and unlovingly problematic relationship with her family, but in particular and especially with her mother, with Mama).
And while I really, while I in fact and indeed did not expect to enjoy A Small Person Far Away in any manner as much as I had previously both loved and also academically appreciated When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and The Other Way Round (as trusted friends had already warned me that A Small Person Far Away was both very different from the first two novels and supposedly also much the weakest story of the Out of the Hitler Time trilogy), I also did not expect to so utterly despise A Small Person Far Away, I did not expect to so completely and lastingly be turned off by both Judith Kerr's writing style and yes also by ALL or at least by most of the presented main characters, as in particular, Anna, the mother, brother Max, the mother's fickle love interest Konrad, they yes indeed have all and sundry simply tended to annoy and frustrate me, and truly to such a massive and all encompassing extent that I am honestly and truthfully just so so glad to be finished once and for all with A Small Person Far Away and to never ever have to read it, to have to consider it again.
For basically, the only part of A Small Person Far Away that has somewhat managed to hold and retain my interest have been Anna's flashbacks to her childhood, to when the family still lived in Berlin (prior to 1933, prior to Hitler and the Nazis taking over). And no, this has not really been even remotely enough for me to consider A Small Person Far Away with more than two stars, as there is just too much distancing writing and too much annoying and personally unrelatable (and often really not all that likeable characters) inhabiting the pages of this novel for me to consider a higher star ranking. And yes indeed, that is my final and personal opinion (and even though I do realise that A Small Person Far Away should probably be approached more and to large extent as Anna's, or rather as Judith Kerr's feelings and attitudes towards her family, and especially towards her mother, that still does not make me like or even appreciate A Small Person Far Away all that much, if really at all, as for all intents and purposes, A Small Person Far Away has simply and sadly been a total reading disappointment).
And while I really, while I in fact and indeed did not expect to enjoy A Small Person Far Away in any manner as much as I had previously both loved and also academically appreciated When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and The Other Way Round (as trusted friends had already warned me that A Small Person Far Away was both very different from the first two novels and supposedly also much the weakest story of the Out of the Hitler Time trilogy), I also did not expect to so utterly despise A Small Person Far Away, I did not expect to so completely and lastingly be turned off by both Judith Kerr's writing style and yes also by ALL or at least by most of the presented main characters, as in particular, Anna, the mother, brother Max, the mother's fickle love interest Konrad, they yes indeed have all and sundry simply tended to annoy and frustrate me, and truly to such a massive and all encompassing extent that I am honestly and truthfully just so so glad to be finished once and for all with A Small Person Far Away and to never ever have to read it, to have to consider it again.
For basically, the only part of A Small Person Far Away that has somewhat managed to hold and retain my interest have been Anna's flashbacks to her childhood, to when the family still lived in Berlin (prior to 1933, prior to Hitler and the Nazis taking over). And no, this has not really been even remotely enough for me to consider A Small Person Far Away with more than two stars, as there is just too much distancing writing and too much annoying and personally unrelatable (and often really not all that likeable characters) inhabiting the pages of this novel for me to consider a higher star ranking. And yes indeed, that is my final and personal opinion (and even though I do realise that A Small Person Far Away should probably be approached more and to large extent as Anna's, or rather as Judith Kerr's feelings and attitudes towards her family, and especially towards her mother, that still does not make me like or even appreciate A Small Person Far Away all that much, if really at all, as for all intents and purposes, A Small Person Far Away has simply and sadly been a total reading disappointment).
October 27, 2021
3.5 🌟 for the last in this trilogy. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the previous two, but glad I finished the set....
May 13, 2014
This book is full of the depth of emotions brought to the surface by the serious, possibly fatal, illness of a parent and the issues which this situation raises. Particularly when the parent lives far away or abroad and difficult decisions may need to be made.
Returning reluctantly to Berlin in about 1953 to visit her sick mother, the semi-autobiographical Anna finds that things are worse than she had expected. Even though Anna was very young when her Jewish family fled Berlin in 1933, she is afraid to go back, especially as there is international tension due to the Russian invasion of Hungary, not to mention the thought of what the Nazis did to the Jews. She is also somewhat reluctant as she is a newly-wed and has just been offered a writing job at the BBC. Anna has a complicated relationship with her mother, who comes across as a rather childish socialite who feels that the world has conspired against her and her life is over at the grand age of 56. Of course, she knows that her father was impractical and her mother had kept the family afloat during their time as refugees, but she also blames her mother for her drama queen tendencies and for the death of her father. This is mixed with guilt for not keeping in touch and for her mixed feelings. When her beloved brother Max arrives, she cannot help feeling jealous of his relationship with their mother and resentful of the way it is assumed she will stay longer with their mother. Max and their mother have always been close and Anna has lost her old confidant, her father, and cannot talk to her husband because of the difficulties of booking long-distance phone calls. However, Anna seems oblivious to the mental similarities she has to her mother, seeming somewhat neurotic herself.
This is a fascinating account of family relationships, the impact being a refugee can have on children and insights into memory and forgetting. Anna has vague memories of living in Berlin, but with time on her hands, she visits almost-forgotten places and finds that she is unable to completely remember. Yet she recognises places and they bring her back to her childhood at a more visceral level, at the level of feeling an emotion, the sense of how it was to be the small person of the title.
"For a moment, as she looked at it [her childhood home], she remembered exactly what it had felt like to do this. It was as though, for a fraction of a second, she had half-seen, half-become the small, fierce, vulnerable person she had once been, with her lace-up boots and socks held up by elastic bands, her fear of volcanoes and of dying in the night, her belief that rust caused blood poisoning, liquorice was made of horses' blood, and there would never be another war, and her unshakeable conviction that there was no problem in the world that Mama could not easily solve.
The small person did not say, "Is Mama home?" She said, "Ist Mami da?" and did not speak a word of English, and for a moment Anna felt shaken by her sudden emergence."
As the family had moved through several countries before settling in England, the children had been thrown together more than most siblings and there was a wonderful rapport between Anna and Max, mixed of course with the usual sibling rivalry. I love the mention of their trilingual jokes which nobody else understood and Max's private name for Anna. At the end of the book, nothing is really resolved. I wonder if Judith Kerr was planning on writing another book about her family; I would like to know what happened.
Returning reluctantly to Berlin in about 1953 to visit her sick mother, the semi-autobiographical Anna finds that things are worse than she had expected. Even though Anna was very young when her Jewish family fled Berlin in 1933, she is afraid to go back, especially as there is international tension due to the Russian invasion of Hungary, not to mention the thought of what the Nazis did to the Jews. She is also somewhat reluctant as she is a newly-wed and has just been offered a writing job at the BBC. Anna has a complicated relationship with her mother, who comes across as a rather childish socialite who feels that the world has conspired against her and her life is over at the grand age of 56. Of course, she knows that her father was impractical and her mother had kept the family afloat during their time as refugees, but she also blames her mother for her drama queen tendencies and for the death of her father. This is mixed with guilt for not keeping in touch and for her mixed feelings. When her beloved brother Max arrives, she cannot help feeling jealous of his relationship with their mother and resentful of the way it is assumed she will stay longer with their mother. Max and their mother have always been close and Anna has lost her old confidant, her father, and cannot talk to her husband because of the difficulties of booking long-distance phone calls. However, Anna seems oblivious to the mental similarities she has to her mother, seeming somewhat neurotic herself.
This is a fascinating account of family relationships, the impact being a refugee can have on children and insights into memory and forgetting. Anna has vague memories of living in Berlin, but with time on her hands, she visits almost-forgotten places and finds that she is unable to completely remember. Yet she recognises places and they bring her back to her childhood at a more visceral level, at the level of feeling an emotion, the sense of how it was to be the small person of the title.
"For a moment, as she looked at it [her childhood home], she remembered exactly what it had felt like to do this. It was as though, for a fraction of a second, she had half-seen, half-become the small, fierce, vulnerable person she had once been, with her lace-up boots and socks held up by elastic bands, her fear of volcanoes and of dying in the night, her belief that rust caused blood poisoning, liquorice was made of horses' blood, and there would never be another war, and her unshakeable conviction that there was no problem in the world that Mama could not easily solve.
The small person did not say, "Is Mama home?" She said, "Ist Mami da?" and did not speak a word of English, and for a moment Anna felt shaken by her sudden emergence."
As the family had moved through several countries before settling in England, the children had been thrown together more than most siblings and there was a wonderful rapport between Anna and Max, mixed of course with the usual sibling rivalry. I love the mention of their trilingual jokes which nobody else understood and Max's private name for Anna. At the end of the book, nothing is really resolved. I wonder if Judith Kerr was planning on writing another book about her family; I would like to know what happened.
April 12, 2020
The final part of Judith Kerr's Out Of The Hitler Time trilogy, A Small Person Far Away, is as splendid and fascinating a piece of autobiography-turned-into-fiction writing as the previous two, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (Essential Modern Classics) and Bombs on Aunt Dainty
Judith Kerr (fictionalised as Anna in the book) is now in her late 20s, happily married to her scriptwriter husband Nigel Kneale, (fictionalised as Richard) and beginning to make her own journey as a writer.
The structure of this third book is particularly satisfying, as various motifs and minor occurrences serve as little memory portals back to the past ( a beautiful rug, finding the receipt for the rug in her coat pocket during a particularly stressful episode, so there is a hook back to the memory, and the simultaneous experience of then and now) This is all done in a very natural, unforced, organic way. She is a remarkably good writer, there is real psychological depth going on, great observation, a really strong sense of narrative - and the ability to offer startling images in an arresting way, that feels very authentic.
As in the previous books, the major events all happened, but she has crafted and tightened and carefully chosen, I guess, central moments, and pared out and removed padding. I have a sense that her artist's eye for composition has been put to excellent use in her writing. It's not that she gets involved in a lot of visual description, it's more a sense of composing the frame and placement of narrative.
Set mainly in Berlin again, where her mother is now living, the narrative superficially inhabits a very short time frame of a few days in 1956. Anna has returned to Berlin because her mother is seriously ill; this itself is quite complex. The few days coincide with both the Hungarian Uprising and the Suez Crisis - so, again, we are in a time when another war, from two directions, seemed like a distinct possibility. Inevitably for those who lived through one devastating war, so very recently, all those old terrors and memories must have been freshly re-awakened. So, over those days, Anna is constantly revisiting her past.
"She suddenly remembered that when she was small, too, she had listened to distant trains in bed. Probably it's the same line, she thought. Sometimes when she had found herself awake when everyone else was asleep, she had been comforted by the sound of a goods train rumbling interminably through the night. After Hitler, of course, goods trains had carried quite different cargoes to quite different destinations. She wondered if other German children had still been comforted by their sound in the might, not knowing what was inside them. She wondered what had happened to the trains afterwards, if they were still in use"
I like the quiet and rather modest way she drops the reader into chasms and intense reflections, without ostentation
I can't recommend this trilogy highly enough - and I'm amazed that I had never heard of Kerr until so very recently, when these marvellous books have been around for some time (- perhaps because primarily she became known as a writer and illustrator of books for young children.
Judith Kerr (fictionalised as Anna in the book) is now in her late 20s, happily married to her scriptwriter husband Nigel Kneale, (fictionalised as Richard) and beginning to make her own journey as a writer.
The structure of this third book is particularly satisfying, as various motifs and minor occurrences serve as little memory portals back to the past ( a beautiful rug, finding the receipt for the rug in her coat pocket during a particularly stressful episode, so there is a hook back to the memory, and the simultaneous experience of then and now) This is all done in a very natural, unforced, organic way. She is a remarkably good writer, there is real psychological depth going on, great observation, a really strong sense of narrative - and the ability to offer startling images in an arresting way, that feels very authentic.
As in the previous books, the major events all happened, but she has crafted and tightened and carefully chosen, I guess, central moments, and pared out and removed padding. I have a sense that her artist's eye for composition has been put to excellent use in her writing. It's not that she gets involved in a lot of visual description, it's more a sense of composing the frame and placement of narrative.
Set mainly in Berlin again, where her mother is now living, the narrative superficially inhabits a very short time frame of a few days in 1956. Anna has returned to Berlin because her mother is seriously ill; this itself is quite complex. The few days coincide with both the Hungarian Uprising and the Suez Crisis - so, again, we are in a time when another war, from two directions, seemed like a distinct possibility. Inevitably for those who lived through one devastating war, so very recently, all those old terrors and memories must have been freshly re-awakened. So, over those days, Anna is constantly revisiting her past.
"She suddenly remembered that when she was small, too, she had listened to distant trains in bed. Probably it's the same line, she thought. Sometimes when she had found herself awake when everyone else was asleep, she had been comforted by the sound of a goods train rumbling interminably through the night. After Hitler, of course, goods trains had carried quite different cargoes to quite different destinations. She wondered if other German children had still been comforted by their sound in the might, not knowing what was inside them. She wondered what had happened to the trains afterwards, if they were still in use"
I like the quiet and rather modest way she drops the reader into chasms and intense reflections, without ostentation
I can't recommend this trilogy highly enough - and I'm amazed that I had never heard of Kerr until so very recently, when these marvellous books have been around for some time (- perhaps because primarily she became known as a writer and illustrator of books for young children.
August 10, 2019
The final entry in author Judith Kerr's trilogy of autobiographical novels exploring her family's experiences as German Jews before, during and after the Second World War - the first two were
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
and
The Other Way Round
- A Small Person Far Away is set in 1956, and follows Anna (a thinly disguised Judith) as she returns to Berlin to visit her mother, who had just attempted suicide. The events of the story occur over the course of a single week, with a chapter devoted to each day. As the Hungarian Revolution and the Suez Crisis unfold in the background, Anna must contend with the ghosts of the past, and the troubling after-effects of that most recent conflict, WWII. Her relationship with her mother is the focus here, although her brother Max, mother's boyfriend Konrad and husband Richard also feature, as does the memory of her father, who also committed suicide. The "small person far away," who is mentioned in the title, is Anna's childhood self, who occasionally surfaces in her memory, as she tries to make sense of what is going on with her deeply unhappy mother...
I was surprised to find, after enjoying the first two installments of this trilogy quite a bit, that A Small Person Far Away was so unappealing to me. It's not the darkness of the topic - after all, the prior books also dealt with some very serious realities - nor is it the greater maturity of feeling here, although I do think that this is not children's fiction, despite the marketing of the trilogy, and have changed my shelf designations accordingly. Rather, there is an unpleasant tone throughout, perhaps owing to the author's own conflicted feelings about her topic, that made for unpleasant reading. It's almost as if Anna (and through her Judith) is sneering at her own family's trauma. She refers to the events on a number of occasions as "corny," highlighting perhaps a sense of embarrassment at the fallibility (but also perhaps the normalcy?) of her loved ones. Perhaps being a family who quarrels over petty things, as so many families do, doesn't suit her sense of self as well as being a refugee? One feels so ordinary, while the other has more epic, historical implications. Or perhaps again, I am simply being unfair to Kerr and her character.
Whatever the case may be, although I was glad to read this one, both to finish the trilogy (what can I say? I am a terrible completist), and because it was a group reading project that enabled me to discuss it with my friends Gundula, Hilary and Lisa Vegan, in the end this one was a disappointment.
I was surprised to find, after enjoying the first two installments of this trilogy quite a bit, that A Small Person Far Away was so unappealing to me. It's not the darkness of the topic - after all, the prior books also dealt with some very serious realities - nor is it the greater maturity of feeling here, although I do think that this is not children's fiction, despite the marketing of the trilogy, and have changed my shelf designations accordingly. Rather, there is an unpleasant tone throughout, perhaps owing to the author's own conflicted feelings about her topic, that made for unpleasant reading. It's almost as if Anna (and through her Judith) is sneering at her own family's trauma. She refers to the events on a number of occasions as "corny," highlighting perhaps a sense of embarrassment at the fallibility (but also perhaps the normalcy?) of her loved ones. Perhaps being a family who quarrels over petty things, as so many families do, doesn't suit her sense of self as well as being a refugee? One feels so ordinary, while the other has more epic, historical implications. Or perhaps again, I am simply being unfair to Kerr and her character.
Whatever the case may be, although I was glad to read this one, both to finish the trilogy (what can I say? I am a terrible completist), and because it was a group reading project that enabled me to discuss it with my friends Gundula, Hilary and Lisa Vegan, in the end this one was a disappointment.
November 29, 2023
I see lots of two star ratings and that might be because this is an entirely different book and different style to the first book in this series, which seems to be a lot of people’s childhood favourite.
I enjoyed all three books. But I enjoyed them differently. I thought this one was superb. Very grown up, adult themes, tightly written and edited. Telling both a succinct story but also a generational epic with a political backdrop.
I feel like it’s going to stay with me for a while.
I enjoyed all three books. But I enjoyed them differently. I thought this one was superb. Very grown up, adult themes, tightly written and edited. Telling both a succinct story but also a generational epic with a political backdrop.
I feel like it’s going to stay with me for a while.
April 28, 2016
A Small Person Far Away is the final part of Judith Kerr's fictional autobiography of her early life. In Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and Bombs for Aunt Dainty we learn about her family fleeing Germany when she was nine years old, eventually settling in London via Switzerland and Paris. In a kind of summary of these events, Anna (aka Judith) returns to Berlin in 1956 to be with her mother who is working with the Americans. She finds her mother hanging between life and death after taking an overdose of tablets after finding out that her new boyfriend has cheated on her.
What the book is really about is the cost of being forced from your homeland, living in poverty, struggles with language and lives unfulfilled. The irony is that Judith herself became a great and successful children' writer and illustrator and her brother a successful lawyer. Mother and father were not so lucky, their lives, which h offered so much promise, having been destroyed by the Nazis. Mother is drawn as a tower of strength in difficult times who, at the age of fifty six, has just had enough.
All three books are superbly written and all characters easily recognisable. A Small Person Far Away is much darker than its predecessors and consequently, not quite as enjoyable. Nevertheless, a fine trilogy.
David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen and Two Families at War, all published by Sacristy Press.
What the book is really about is the cost of being forced from your homeland, living in poverty, struggles with language and lives unfulfilled. The irony is that Judith herself became a great and successful children' writer and illustrator and her brother a successful lawyer. Mother and father were not so lucky, their lives, which h offered so much promise, having been destroyed by the Nazis. Mother is drawn as a tower of strength in difficult times who, at the age of fifty six, has just had enough.
All three books are superbly written and all characters easily recognisable. A Small Person Far Away is much darker than its predecessors and consequently, not quite as enjoyable. Nevertheless, a fine trilogy.
David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen and Two Families at War, all published by Sacristy Press.
May 3, 2021
I wanted to enjoy this final part of the trilogy so much more than I did, but oh it's so melancholy. Whilst the first two books have a lightness to them in their descriptions of the Kerr family's travels from pre-war nazi Germany through Europe, and then wartime London, this installment focuses on one week in Anna's life in the 1950s. Its about mother-daughter relationships, survival and despair, loss of hope and suicide, its insightful, well-written but so bleak.
March 31, 2023
The third of the Pink Rabbit trilogy by Judith Kerr. This one picks up Anna as a thirty year old, newly married, woman travelling back to Berlin to visit her ailing mother. Beautifully written again of course, but this one is has a melancholic - sometimes uncomfortable - vein running though it. Still a brilliant read but the first of this series will definitely remain my favourite.
October 3, 2015
Meh. It was all right. I had a hard time connecting to the characters, they were all very self centred. the story was ok, but I struggled to care about any of them.
September 8, 2025
“The small person did not say ‘Is Mama home?’ She said ‘Ist Mami da?’, and did not speak a word of English, and for a moment Anna felt shaken by her sudden emergence”.
Small Person is the third part of Judith Kerr’s partly autobiographical trilogy. The trilogy follows Anna from her childhood in Germany and escape from Hitler, life as a refugee in London and living through the Blitz. This story takes place in 1956 and in the context of a tumultuous history - Berlin is partitioned, Hungary is trying to resist Russian control and a situation is evolving in Suez. Anna is in London buying carpets for the home she shares with her husband when she receives an urgent telephone call advising her that her mother is seriously ill. Anna must fly back to Berlin, the city of her childhood, the place she fled and where she left so many memories alongside her beloved Pink Rabbit.
I am really surprised to read so many negative reviews for this. I loved it. Kerr has a wonderful engaging style and immediately draws you into the story. Although this is Anna’s story I guess we are all the more interested because it is Kerr’s too. After two volumes spent with Anna, the reader has a vested interest in her story and that of beloved family members -her brother Max, her Mother and her Father who sadly died shortly after the war.
When Anna arrives in Berlin she discovers her Mother had attempted suicide. Her relationship with her Mother is complex and I think she captures this so well in her narrative. She really wants to be home with her husband and being back in Berlin brings back so many difficult memories of herself - ‘the small person.’ Her mother is overwhelmed by the war years which have demanded so much of her. Unbelievably she is only 56 and desperate to experience a joy that has been rather limited until now. Her children are married and she has discovered her partner having an affair. She sees little left to live for..
I was overjoyed to see Max again and to watch the tenderness between the siblings..how much have they gone through together! This story of a family is extraordinary because of its backdrop against some of the biggest historical events of the 20th Century. Having escaped Hitler, survived the Blitz, yet again their lives feel small and fragile in the face of new conflicts.
I think that this book is a vital addition to any collection of refugee literature. Anna's sense of identity and belonging feels particularly fragile and fragmented as she is pulled between her present and the past.
Whilst Pink Rabbit is very much a children’s novel, this is an adult read and embraces some difficult topics. Although Anna’s story is unique, it embraces some universal themes: identity; family; looking after an elderly parent.
Small Person is the third part of Judith Kerr’s partly autobiographical trilogy. The trilogy follows Anna from her childhood in Germany and escape from Hitler, life as a refugee in London and living through the Blitz. This story takes place in 1956 and in the context of a tumultuous history - Berlin is partitioned, Hungary is trying to resist Russian control and a situation is evolving in Suez. Anna is in London buying carpets for the home she shares with her husband when she receives an urgent telephone call advising her that her mother is seriously ill. Anna must fly back to Berlin, the city of her childhood, the place she fled and where she left so many memories alongside her beloved Pink Rabbit.
I am really surprised to read so many negative reviews for this. I loved it. Kerr has a wonderful engaging style and immediately draws you into the story. Although this is Anna’s story I guess we are all the more interested because it is Kerr’s too. After two volumes spent with Anna, the reader has a vested interest in her story and that of beloved family members -her brother Max, her Mother and her Father who sadly died shortly after the war.
When Anna arrives in Berlin she discovers her Mother had attempted suicide. Her relationship with her Mother is complex and I think she captures this so well in her narrative. She really wants to be home with her husband and being back in Berlin brings back so many difficult memories of herself - ‘the small person.’ Her mother is overwhelmed by the war years which have demanded so much of her. Unbelievably she is only 56 and desperate to experience a joy that has been rather limited until now. Her children are married and she has discovered her partner having an affair. She sees little left to live for..
I was overjoyed to see Max again and to watch the tenderness between the siblings..how much have they gone through together! This story of a family is extraordinary because of its backdrop against some of the biggest historical events of the 20th Century. Having escaped Hitler, survived the Blitz, yet again their lives feel small and fragile in the face of new conflicts.
I think that this book is a vital addition to any collection of refugee literature. Anna's sense of identity and belonging feels particularly fragile and fragmented as she is pulled between her present and the past.
Whilst Pink Rabbit is very much a children’s novel, this is an adult read and embraces some difficult topics. Although Anna’s story is unique, it embraces some universal themes: identity; family; looking after an elderly parent.
March 16, 2018
Qui troviamo un'Anna adulta, alle prese con i problemi degli adulti e al tempo stesso impegnata in un confronto quasi inconscio con il suo passato. L'autrice spiega bene la situazione nella Germania del dopoguerra senza essere pesante, ma soprattutto ho trovato che il punto di forza di questo libro - che chiude una trilogia - stia nella capacità di illustrare i sentimenti di un rifugiato politico, in questo caso una donna ebrea, vissuta sempre lontano dalla propria patria dai 9 anni in poi.
Mi è piaciuto che ad un certo punto Anna rivendicasse le proprie conquiste, come l'accento inglese, e si trovasse a fare continui confronti tra Berlino e Londra, la città che sente sua, quasi a confermare di aver trovato un posto nel mondo. Al tempo stesso Anna si stupisce e in qualche modo si spaventa di ritrovarsi ogni tanto a pensare o parlare nelle altre lingue che è stata costretta ad imparare quando viveva costantemente da esule in fuga da Hitler, come se avesse il terrore di rivivere il passato.
Mi è piaciuto anche (e, in realtà, soprattutto) come Judith Kerr riesca a parlare di depressione in maniera delicata, anche se il tema non è centrale rispetto a quello dell'essere immigrato, rifugiato, apolide,...
Se devo trovare un difetto, questo sta nella trama: non ho gradito per niente che sia Anna sia Max non vedessero l'ora di tornare a casa, che non avessero voglia di stare con la loro madre in difficoltà, dopo tutto quello che ha fatto per loro nei due libri precedenti.
Tutto sommato una trilogia carinissima: il secondo libro è il top (forse anche perché si svolge proprio durante i bombardamenti, entrando nel vivo dell'azione, ma anche perché Anna è adolescente e la sua vita è molto più interessante :D), ma anche gli altri due mi sono sembrati deliziosi. Questo forse l'ho trovato meno brillante dei precedenti, con meno inventiva e meno azione, ma rimane comunque un'ottima lettura.
Mi è piaciuto che ad un certo punto Anna rivendicasse le proprie conquiste, come l'accento inglese, e si trovasse a fare continui confronti tra Berlino e Londra, la città che sente sua, quasi a confermare di aver trovato un posto nel mondo. Al tempo stesso Anna si stupisce e in qualche modo si spaventa di ritrovarsi ogni tanto a pensare o parlare nelle altre lingue che è stata costretta ad imparare quando viveva costantemente da esule in fuga da Hitler, come se avesse il terrore di rivivere il passato.
Mi è piaciuto anche (e, in realtà, soprattutto) come Judith Kerr riesca a parlare di depressione in maniera delicata, anche se il tema non è centrale rispetto a quello dell'essere immigrato, rifugiato, apolide,...
Se devo trovare un difetto, questo sta nella trama: non ho gradito per niente che sia Anna sia Max non vedessero l'ora di tornare a casa, che non avessero voglia di stare con la loro madre in difficoltà, dopo tutto quello che ha fatto per loro nei due libri precedenti.
Tutto sommato una trilogia carinissima: il secondo libro è il top (forse anche perché si svolge proprio durante i bombardamenti, entrando nel vivo dell'azione, ma anche perché Anna è adolescente e la sua vita è molto più interessante :D), ma anche gli altri due mi sono sembrati deliziosi. Questo forse l'ho trovato meno brillante dei precedenti, con meno inventiva e meno azione, ma rimane comunque un'ottima lettura.
June 30, 2017
A read this book a while ago but I really enjoyed it. It contained touching moments such as the death of her father and the near death of her mother.It also gave information on what life was like after the war and how long it took everyone to recover from it and how it effected so many people. I would definitely recommend for young teens and I would also recommend the other books from Judith Kerr of which I have also read.
August 25, 2010
I didn't find this book as interesting as the previous two in the series. It seemed to lack the interesting stuff about fitting in, apart from where it repeated incidents originally told in the other books. The character of Mama seemed rather unrealistic and, although I sympathised with her, Anna didn't seem as interesting. I came away from this book rather disappointed.
January 4, 2023
Anna hat die Erlebnisse im Krieg hinter sich gelassen. Sie hat in England eine neue Heimat gefunden und in Richard einen liebevollen Ehemann. Ihr Leben ist perfekt. Da bekommt sie einen Anruf aus Berlin: ihre Mutter liegt in einem Berliner Krankenhaus im Koma.
In der Zeit zwischen dem zweiten und dritten Teil der Trilogie ist vieles passiert. Der geliebte Vater ist gestorben, Max ist als Anwalt erfolgreich und die Mutter ist nach Berlin gezogen, wo sie als Übersetzerin sehr erfolgreich ist und hat in Konrad einen neuen Partner gefunden. Aber die Erlebnisse während des Kriegs lassen sie nicht los. Als Anna in Berlin angekommen ist, erfährt sie von Konrad, dass ihre Mutter sich umbringen wollte.
Anna versucht alles, um ihre Mutter aus dem Koma zurück zu holen. Aber selbst als sie aufwacht, ist noch nicht alles vorbei. Endlich spricht die Mutter über das, was sie belastet. Sie fühlt sich, als ob sie ihr gesamtes Leben für andere geopfert und ihre eigenen Bedürfnisse hintenan gestellt hat. Aber auch Anna fühlt ähnlich. Sie hat sich immer als zweite Wahl hinter ihrem Bruder gesehen. Max, der mittlerweile aus Griechenland angekommen ist, kann auch endlich über seine Gefühle sprechen. Statt der Freude, dass es der Mutter besser gerät, kommen die lang unterdrückten Gefühle ans Tageslicht und die Drei streiten nur noch.
Rückblickend konnte ich mich an vieles von dem, was Anna, Max und ihre Mutter ansprechen, erinnern. Besonders daran, wie oft die Mutter aus Frust oder Verzweiflung manchmal geschrieen hat. Schon damals war sie überfordert gewesen und hat sich nie mit ihren Gefühlen auseinander setzen können. Aber sie ist auch eine sehr starke Frau, die ihr Umfeld mit ihrer Stärke manchmal überfordert.
Man merkt, dass alle erwachsen geworden sind. Deshalb ist der letzte Teil der Trilogie meiner Meinung nach kein reines Jugendbuch mehr.
In der Zeit zwischen dem zweiten und dritten Teil der Trilogie ist vieles passiert. Der geliebte Vater ist gestorben, Max ist als Anwalt erfolgreich und die Mutter ist nach Berlin gezogen, wo sie als Übersetzerin sehr erfolgreich ist und hat in Konrad einen neuen Partner gefunden. Aber die Erlebnisse während des Kriegs lassen sie nicht los. Als Anna in Berlin angekommen ist, erfährt sie von Konrad, dass ihre Mutter sich umbringen wollte.
Anna versucht alles, um ihre Mutter aus dem Koma zurück zu holen. Aber selbst als sie aufwacht, ist noch nicht alles vorbei. Endlich spricht die Mutter über das, was sie belastet. Sie fühlt sich, als ob sie ihr gesamtes Leben für andere geopfert und ihre eigenen Bedürfnisse hintenan gestellt hat. Aber auch Anna fühlt ähnlich. Sie hat sich immer als zweite Wahl hinter ihrem Bruder gesehen. Max, der mittlerweile aus Griechenland angekommen ist, kann auch endlich über seine Gefühle sprechen. Statt der Freude, dass es der Mutter besser gerät, kommen die lang unterdrückten Gefühle ans Tageslicht und die Drei streiten nur noch.
Rückblickend konnte ich mich an vieles von dem, was Anna, Max und ihre Mutter ansprechen, erinnern. Besonders daran, wie oft die Mutter aus Frust oder Verzweiflung manchmal geschrieen hat. Schon damals war sie überfordert gewesen und hat sich nie mit ihren Gefühlen auseinander setzen können. Aber sie ist auch eine sehr starke Frau, die ihr Umfeld mit ihrer Stärke manchmal überfordert.
Man merkt, dass alle erwachsen geworden sind. Deshalb ist der letzte Teil der Trilogie meiner Meinung nach kein reines Jugendbuch mehr.
September 8, 2024
Ein eher trauriger Abschluss der Trilogie, aber dennoch grandios erzählt. Das Leben wirkt so leicht aus Kinderaugen betrachtet und je älter man (Anna) wird, desto mehr muss man (sie) akzeptieren, dass nicht alles immer einfach ist. Trotzdem ein sehr schönes Buch, wobei auch Historisches nochmal aufgegriffen wird.
tbr-not-at-library
February 27, 2018I loved When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit as a kid. I didn't know it was part of a trilogy.
January 13, 2012
The third in Judith Kerr's "Out of the Hitler Time" trilogy, describing the emigration of Anna, her brother Max and their parents; a family of Jews fleeing from the growing persecution of the Nazi regime. All three books are from Anna's point of view and as she grows, so too does the style of writing.
The first book, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, deals with the early years from 1933 and the family's escape to first Switzerland, then Paris and finally London. As Anna is only 9 years old at the time, the severity of their situation is glimpsed but not fully revealed until later, both in the books and in Anna's own mind.
The second book, The Other Way Round, follows Anna in her late teens, following through on her passion for art, discovering herself and first love as any teen does. However, Anna has to deal with the displacement of the refugee, the trilingual confusion of having spent her childhood in several different countries with different languages and cultures. As is usual, the people around her find this far more interesting than she does- the whole family strive for normality but this is a luxury only available to those young enough to adapt, to be able to settle in new surroundings and fight the curse of the refugee accent. Both mother and father are immensely proud of their eventual British citizenship but, ironically, this pride marks them as not really belonging. Anna and Max are able, as childish minds are far more malleable than adults', to actually become English, not just citizens. This is not to say that they forget their German heritage or regret the course of their lives - as they discuss in the first book, all the greats had troubled childhoods- but in post-war Britain and just as they grow up, it is easier and safer to belong to just one nation.
In this third book, Anna is grown up and married, as such this book differs from the rest as the family is no longer together. Max is a successful barrister, Father has passed away and Mother has returned to Berlin, leaving the pages to much more of Anna's solitary thoughts rather than basing them on the family interactions as in the previous volumes. Although the central plot of the book is Anna going to visit her sick mother in Berlin and Max also plays his part, the narrative is far more internalised as she tries to make sense of the situation, her fears about returning to now divided and occupied Germany, the fragility of memory and trying to find a connection to her childhood amongst the rubble (both literal and metaphorical), to hone in on that small person far away.
What I find particularly interesting about this series is that, contrary to other stories of this ilk, their being Jewish is almost an unlucky coincidence rather than the driving force of their lives or their emigration. They are Jewish by descent, not by practice, in fact they are a family of agnostics, and references to Judaism are few and far between. The real issue for the family is that the father is a writer, one who refuses to roll over to the will of the Fuhrer, and it is when he goes one article too far that they realise they have to flee. The issue of language becomes ever more poignant as they move on from France to England. The father can write in French and therefore has both an outlet for his creativity and a means of income but after the move to London, he begins to withdraw within himself. Due to the nature of the German language, heavy on metaphor, symbolism and turns of phrase which cannot sustain translation, he loses his words and so his strength. This barrier is evermore heartbreaking as Anna tells us that as she grew older, her German began to fade and due to her father's loose grasp of English they resorted to jokingly talking in formal French. Although she says it was a joke between them, this formality highlights one of the effects of emigration- parent and child finally belonging to different nations.
The first book, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, deals with the early years from 1933 and the family's escape to first Switzerland, then Paris and finally London. As Anna is only 9 years old at the time, the severity of their situation is glimpsed but not fully revealed until later, both in the books and in Anna's own mind.
The second book, The Other Way Round, follows Anna in her late teens, following through on her passion for art, discovering herself and first love as any teen does. However, Anna has to deal with the displacement of the refugee, the trilingual confusion of having spent her childhood in several different countries with different languages and cultures. As is usual, the people around her find this far more interesting than she does- the whole family strive for normality but this is a luxury only available to those young enough to adapt, to be able to settle in new surroundings and fight the curse of the refugee accent. Both mother and father are immensely proud of their eventual British citizenship but, ironically, this pride marks them as not really belonging. Anna and Max are able, as childish minds are far more malleable than adults', to actually become English, not just citizens. This is not to say that they forget their German heritage or regret the course of their lives - as they discuss in the first book, all the greats had troubled childhoods- but in post-war Britain and just as they grow up, it is easier and safer to belong to just one nation.
In this third book, Anna is grown up and married, as such this book differs from the rest as the family is no longer together. Max is a successful barrister, Father has passed away and Mother has returned to Berlin, leaving the pages to much more of Anna's solitary thoughts rather than basing them on the family interactions as in the previous volumes. Although the central plot of the book is Anna going to visit her sick mother in Berlin and Max also plays his part, the narrative is far more internalised as she tries to make sense of the situation, her fears about returning to now divided and occupied Germany, the fragility of memory and trying to find a connection to her childhood amongst the rubble (both literal and metaphorical), to hone in on that small person far away.
What I find particularly interesting about this series is that, contrary to other stories of this ilk, their being Jewish is almost an unlucky coincidence rather than the driving force of their lives or their emigration. They are Jewish by descent, not by practice, in fact they are a family of agnostics, and references to Judaism are few and far between. The real issue for the family is that the father is a writer, one who refuses to roll over to the will of the Fuhrer, and it is when he goes one article too far that they realise they have to flee. The issue of language becomes ever more poignant as they move on from France to England. The father can write in French and therefore has both an outlet for his creativity and a means of income but after the move to London, he begins to withdraw within himself. Due to the nature of the German language, heavy on metaphor, symbolism and turns of phrase which cannot sustain translation, he loses his words and so his strength. This barrier is evermore heartbreaking as Anna tells us that as she grew older, her German began to fade and due to her father's loose grasp of English they resorted to jokingly talking in formal French. Although she says it was a joke between them, this formality highlights one of the effects of emigration- parent and child finally belonging to different nations.
November 28, 2018
According to GR, one star is "did not like it." While I didn't have the strong feelings of dislike I have had for other books I've one-starred, I certainly didn't care for this. It was a real trudge to read, particularly in comparison with the first two instalments of the trilogy. No longer a child, the main character is now married with a home of her own in London, and yet she acts more like a spoiled brat than she did when things were really bad.
Anna is called to Berlin to attend her mother who is a coma after a failed attempt at suicide. Obviously not a happy homecoming, but I got tired of Anna's constant self-pitying whining. She doesn't like the hotel (like British hotels in postwar England were so great?), the people--be they German, American or British--her mother's second husband, and spends the entire time feeling either put-upon (why me?) or left out. Not even being instrumental in waking her mother from the coma helps her feel better about being there, because no one gives her enough attention for it. Her jealousy of Max, her older brother, made me feel like I was watching Annie Hall, which is not a compliment. Konrad offers to let her stay at their home, but she wants to get away from everyone and hide in the hotel, where she focuses on how drab and dirty everything is and how unpleasant the proprietor is, either (according to her) nosy or rude. When I finished the book I realised she was there for less than a week, it's not like she was stuck on hospital visiting duty for a month or something.
The text is also repetitive to a tiresome degree. I don't know how many times she rang the changes on the idea of "I must write about all this"--and immediately feels guilty about wanting to. Over and over and over. A better writer would give us that message without repeating the same exact words to the point of exhaustion. Anna was very obviously her mother's daughter--which would have enraged her, but then the truth often does.
I finished the book because it was short and because I didn't want it to get the better of me, but I can't recommend it, unless depressing, dysfunctional dynamics are your cuppa. They aren't mine.
Anna is called to Berlin to attend her mother who is a coma after a failed attempt at suicide. Obviously not a happy homecoming, but I got tired of Anna's constant self-pitying whining. She doesn't like the hotel (like British hotels in postwar England were so great?), the people--be they German, American or British--her mother's second husband, and spends the entire time feeling either put-upon (why me?) or left out. Not even being instrumental in waking her mother from the coma helps her feel better about being there, because no one gives her enough attention for it. Her jealousy of Max, her older brother, made me feel like I was watching Annie Hall, which is not a compliment. Konrad offers to let her stay at their home, but she wants to get away from everyone and hide in the hotel, where she focuses on how drab and dirty everything is and how unpleasant the proprietor is, either (according to her) nosy or rude. When I finished the book I realised she was there for less than a week, it's not like she was stuck on hospital visiting duty for a month or something.
The text is also repetitive to a tiresome degree. I don't know how many times she rang the changes on the idea of "I must write about all this"--and immediately feels guilty about wanting to. Over and over and over. A better writer would give us that message without repeating the same exact words to the point of exhaustion. Anna was very obviously her mother's daughter--which would have enraged her, but then the truth often does.
I finished the book because it was short and because I didn't want it to get the better of me, but I can't recommend it, unless depressing, dysfunctional dynamics are your cuppa. They aren't mine.
February 5, 2014
I recently watched a BBC documentary on Judith Kerr, whom we know from the Mog stories and The Tiger Who Came to Tea. It was fascinating. I thought it would be a good idea to read some of her books for a slightly older audience. This one was on the shelf at the local library, so I took it home. I know it is the third of a trilogy, but thought that wouldn't matter. I don't think it did, but I now have the first book, so might change my mind.
The main character is called Anna, but it is really Judith Kerr. She is pretty happy, setting up her home with her husband, still in the newlywed stage, when she is called to Berlin as her mother is terribly ill. Anna and her family fled Berlin when we was a little girl, the day before the Nazis were elected. They spent several years on the run, finally settling in Britain and eventually becoming British citizens. It upsets Anna terribly to have to return to Berlin.
The author writes well, although some turns of phrase disturb me. I wonder if it is a generational or cultural thing, though, as I'm American. For example, she wrote more than once that she heard a car scraping gravel. I would never describe it that way.
Anna gets into a complete flap about several things, and I find it a little difficult to relate. However, I didn't live through the things that she did, and it is easy enough for me to be certain the Soviets weren't going to march into West Berlin. It wasn't as certain at the time, now was it? I spent time in East Berlin and East Germany, and it certainly made one feel a bit uneasy.
Well, I'm off to start the first book. I thought it was a compilation of the first and second, but is just the first, so I will have to request the second. I hope it is available!
The main character is called Anna, but it is really Judith Kerr. She is pretty happy, setting up her home with her husband, still in the newlywed stage, when she is called to Berlin as her mother is terribly ill. Anna and her family fled Berlin when we was a little girl, the day before the Nazis were elected. They spent several years on the run, finally settling in Britain and eventually becoming British citizens. It upsets Anna terribly to have to return to Berlin.
The author writes well, although some turns of phrase disturb me. I wonder if it is a generational or cultural thing, though, as I'm American. For example, she wrote more than once that she heard a car scraping gravel. I would never describe it that way.
Anna gets into a complete flap about several things, and I find it a little difficult to relate. However, I didn't live through the things that she did, and it is easy enough for me to be certain the Soviets weren't going to march into West Berlin. It wasn't as certain at the time, now was it? I spent time in East Berlin and East Germany, and it certainly made one feel a bit uneasy.
Well, I'm off to start the first book. I thought it was a compilation of the first and second, but is just the first, so I will have to request the second. I hope it is available!
August 15, 2022
This is the third book of a trilogy, and was originally written in English, titled as A Small Person, Far Away. The German version was given to us by a friend when we lived in Darmstadt. I read it to brush up on my German reading skills, and found it fascinating. It's based on the life of the author, who was born in Berlin, but fled with her family in 1933 when the Nazis took over. The family ended up setting in London, and the author became a British citizen. By the date of this story, 1956, her father had died, and her mother had moved back to Berlin.
In this volume, the author's alter ego Anna, is a young, recently married woman who loves her British life and budding career. When she is called to Berlin because her mother is critically ill, she viscerally does not want to re-visit the city she still fears, and doesn't want to deal with her mother - a difficult person, to put it mildly. But of course Anna relents. The story's timeline is about two weeks , mostly while she is in Berlin. It's a wonderful personal book, reflecting her thoughts and emotions regarding her past family life and feeling forced to be in Germany. Many of her feelings could be regarded as selfish, but I see them as .....normal.
In this volume, the author's alter ego Anna, is a young, recently married woman who loves her British life and budding career. When she is called to Berlin because her mother is critically ill, she viscerally does not want to re-visit the city she still fears, and doesn't want to deal with her mother - a difficult person, to put it mildly. But of course Anna relents. The story's timeline is about two weeks , mostly while she is in Berlin. It's a wonderful personal book, reflecting her thoughts and emotions regarding her past family life and feeling forced to be in Germany. Many of her feelings could be regarded as selfish, but I see them as .....normal.
May 9, 2025
The final installment of the “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit” trilogy shows us Anna returning to Berlin to visit her ill mother. As a full grown adult, she deals with not only the physical, but mental repercussions of the war and life she has lived. Her mother, who has attempted su*cide, fails and remains ill, believes that her life has been accomplished and her suffering should be allowed to end on her own terms.
Much more mature content is speckled through this last and short piece. I found the discussion surrounding su*cide to be incredibly raw and interesting. I think it’s much more nuanced than we think and a discussion between Anna and a wise character makes the whole book worth the read.
I found it difficult to read these books due to the current climate we live in. Many of the themes and references here could’ve been found on the news in the last week and you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Much more mature content is speckled through this last and short piece. I found the discussion surrounding su*cide to be incredibly raw and interesting. I think it’s much more nuanced than we think and a discussion between Anna and a wise character makes the whole book worth the read.
I found it difficult to read these books due to the current climate we live in. Many of the themes and references here could’ve been found on the news in the last week and you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
June 11, 2011
This book is totally different from the other two books in the trilogy - and not nearly so good. I would still recommend it, as it completes the trilogy and I still liked it. The feel of the book is completely different: firstly Anna is an adult, recently married, her father died some years before, and she's well-established in England (to the extent of considering herself English). Secondly - and this is the big difference - the book only covers a period of less than a fortnight, when her mother is taken ill and she is called to Berlin to be with her. The book ends just as she arrives back in England. I am not surprised that this was not as successful as the previous two books, but it is worth a read anyway.
April 30, 2015
I didn't dislike this book. But I didn't overly enjoy it either. Very middle of the road for me. That will be, in some part, owing to my lack of enthusiasm for the genre - not being a war literature fan. It is an interesting peek into the ongoing effects of war on a personal level. I found the protagonists mother to be a frustrating individual. Very take-it-or-leave-it in my opinion.
December 1, 2023
Seems to be an unpopular opinion but I thought this was a poignant and effective end to the trilogy- it was very melancholic and a very different style to the other two, and I remember not liking it when I first read it years ago, but I appreciated its nuance and themes of displacement, nostalgia and home more this second time of reading.
March 25, 2012
From BBC Radio 4:
1956. Anna is settled in London when she gets a worrying telegram about her mother.
1956. Anna is settled in London when she gets a worrying telegram about her mother.
May 15, 2021
Apparently many readers find this the weakest of the trilogy, but I liked it considerably better than the second book – perhaps because I'm older myself.
November 1, 2021
This book is the conclusion of the trilogy (When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and Bombs on Aunt Dainty). It is quite different from the other two books in the trilogy and in my opinion, not nearly as good. Firstly, Anna is now an adult, recently married and is living a well-established life in England. Secondly, the entire book only covers approximately a two-week period.
Anna’s father died some years before and when Anna receives a call that her mother is seriously ill, she returns to Berlin to be with her. I was hoping that when Anna returned to Berlin, the book would detail some of the changes Anna witnessed since she left as a child. Whilst the book does make some small references, it is not in great detail, which I found a little disappointing. I also felt that this book does not work as a story for teenagers (13 years plus). Whilst the style of writing is fairly simplistic, I do not think that the topics therein would entice a teenager to read this book. Without giving away any spoilers, a large part of the book also covers a serious mental health topic.
Whilst I am glad that I have read the book to conclude the trilogy, it is my least favourite of the three.
Anna’s father died some years before and when Anna receives a call that her mother is seriously ill, she returns to Berlin to be with her. I was hoping that when Anna returned to Berlin, the book would detail some of the changes Anna witnessed since she left as a child. Whilst the book does make some small references, it is not in great detail, which I found a little disappointing. I also felt that this book does not work as a story for teenagers (13 years plus). Whilst the style of writing is fairly simplistic, I do not think that the topics therein would entice a teenager to read this book. Without giving away any spoilers, a large part of the book also covers a serious mental health topic.
Whilst I am glad that I have read the book to conclude the trilogy, it is my least favourite of the three.
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