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Interrogating Ellie
On the eve of World War II a naïve young woman makes a fateful decision: she will abandon her British citizenship and go to live in Nazi Austria. When her marriage breaks down and she finds herself alone in an enemy land, her passionate, restless nature drives her in a struggle for survival against the odds.
Who can she trust? And ultimately, who can she love?
Interrogating Ellie is based on a true story.
Visit
www.interrogating-ellie.com
to find out more
Who can she trust? And ultimately, who can she love?
Interrogating Ellie is based on a true story.
Visit
www.interrogating-ellie.com
to find out more
308 pages, Paperback
First published March 7, 2015
52 people are currently reading
863 people want to read
About the author
Julian Gray
34 books32 followersJulian has written numerous non-fiction books and articles under another name.
He is married, with three children and lives in London.
He is married, with three children and lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 21, 2016
I should start with a disclaimer: I know Julian Gray. It is a pen-name, and with good reason, because this extraordinary book – although written as a novel – is substantially true.
Interrogating Ellie is both well-researched and extremely readable. It is the story of Eloise, or Ellie, Picot (not her real name). She was born in St Helier, in the Channel Islands, in 1916. She and her brother were the illegitimate children of a teenage mother, who had been banished to Birmingham by her family. Eloise remained in Jersey. She was brought up by foster-parents, and eventually found a job as a waitress at a local hotel. In 1934 she met a fellow hotel-worker, and in 1938, having just had their first child, they moved to his home town in Austria and moved in with his family. Ellie took Austrian (actually by now Reich) citizenship. Before long, her marriage broke down, and the family kept her baby daughters. Eloise Picot was 25, alone, with no means of support, in a country of which she was nominally a national but which was actually at war with her own. But she had two things on her side – she was attractive, and she was not a fool. For the next seven years, through the war and the post-war occupation, she would live on her wits.
Ellie did – after some difficulty – return to Britain (although not to Jersey) in 1948, and in the 1950s she remarried and settled in the south of England. She had several more children, of which Gray was one. He and his siblings knew the bare bones of her life-story, and also that they had half-sisters in Austria, but Ellie did not talk about the war, except to blurt out the odd fact. She died in 1973, and the story of her life in wartime Vienna might have been forgotten had her eldest British daughter not chanced to be on the website of the Public Records Office in Kew, south-west London, in 2013. She knew that Ellie had had to reapply for British citizenship after the war, and decided to check if there was a file on her mother. There was, and she was taken aback by its contents.
In response to her application, Ellie had been interviewed by the British Field Security Service (FSS) in Klagenfurt. They established that, after some twists and turns, she had gone to ground in Vienna and remained there for the rest of the war. Exactly what she had done there was not clear. The FSS transcripts, however, were damning, suggesting among other things that she had slept her way to survival. An internal Home Office memo stated that: “This woman is of bad character ... I submit that we refuse to grant a renaturalisation certificate.” It was refused. However, in a curious and very English compromise, the Home Office stated that her bad character was not sufficient to bar her from being granted a visa.
So what had Ellie been up to in wartime Vienna that so upset the FSS? Using their reports on Ellie (parts of which are still redacted), Gray has pieced together the story of a hand-to-mouth life. Best not to give too much away; suffice to say that Ellie learned how to handle herself, and got through the war, although not without trouble. And although she may have used (but not abused) men, she also had a genuine gift for friendship, if Gray’s account is to be believed. It is a gripping story, and Gray has written it very well. I found myself on the edge of my seat as I read it, and totally forgot that I was reading a real person’s story; it reads more like a thriller. It helps that Gray’s style is simple and unsensational. This is a tight, clean account.
How much is true? It mostly fits the facts Gray has – from the FSS transcripts, and from his own enquiries in Austria in 2014. However, he has invented or changed some things in order to construct a narrative. Thus he has Ellie in a relationship with one Mayer, an Austrian Wehrmacht officer who is part of the anti-Nazi underground. In fact, Mayer is based on a man called Carl Szokoll, who was real enough, and was in Vienna at the time; but there is no reason to believe they met. (There is also no proof they didn’t.) In real life, Ellie and her Austrian husband had not two but three daughters before they split. A friend killed in an air raid, a Dutchwoman, was also a real person and in this case Ellie did know her, but in real life she didn’t die that way. Is all this all right?
I think it is. There is little here that could not have happened, and Gray is clear about what he knows, and what he has had to invent; he explains all on the website he has set up for the book. In any case, like all good books (and this is a very good book), Interrogating Ellie is about more than the story it relates. As Gray has said on the website: “When I first read the file that delivered the British government’s verdict on my mother’s moral character, it upset me ...But as I say in the book, I realised I had to just try to understand what led up to those judgements. ..I do still wonder, though, about the people who wrote those judgements in the file ...What were their lives like, I wonder?”
It is a fair question. Ellie was one step away from forced labour or a concentration camp. She may have slept with those who could protect her, but there is no evidence that she hurt them, or anyone else. Today, more than ever, one could wonder about the lives of those who grant or withhold the right to remain; and how they would fare were they to seek it.
Interrogating Ellie is both well-researched and extremely readable. It is the story of Eloise, or Ellie, Picot (not her real name). She was born in St Helier, in the Channel Islands, in 1916. She and her brother were the illegitimate children of a teenage mother, who had been banished to Birmingham by her family. Eloise remained in Jersey. She was brought up by foster-parents, and eventually found a job as a waitress at a local hotel. In 1934 she met a fellow hotel-worker, and in 1938, having just had their first child, they moved to his home town in Austria and moved in with his family. Ellie took Austrian (actually by now Reich) citizenship. Before long, her marriage broke down, and the family kept her baby daughters. Eloise Picot was 25, alone, with no means of support, in a country of which she was nominally a national but which was actually at war with her own. But she had two things on her side – she was attractive, and she was not a fool. For the next seven years, through the war and the post-war occupation, she would live on her wits.
Ellie did – after some difficulty – return to Britain (although not to Jersey) in 1948, and in the 1950s she remarried and settled in the south of England. She had several more children, of which Gray was one. He and his siblings knew the bare bones of her life-story, and also that they had half-sisters in Austria, but Ellie did not talk about the war, except to blurt out the odd fact. She died in 1973, and the story of her life in wartime Vienna might have been forgotten had her eldest British daughter not chanced to be on the website of the Public Records Office in Kew, south-west London, in 2013. She knew that Ellie had had to reapply for British citizenship after the war, and decided to check if there was a file on her mother. There was, and she was taken aback by its contents.
In response to her application, Ellie had been interviewed by the British Field Security Service (FSS) in Klagenfurt. They established that, after some twists and turns, she had gone to ground in Vienna and remained there for the rest of the war. Exactly what she had done there was not clear. The FSS transcripts, however, were damning, suggesting among other things that she had slept her way to survival. An internal Home Office memo stated that: “This woman is of bad character ... I submit that we refuse to grant a renaturalisation certificate.” It was refused. However, in a curious and very English compromise, the Home Office stated that her bad character was not sufficient to bar her from being granted a visa.
So what had Ellie been up to in wartime Vienna that so upset the FSS? Using their reports on Ellie (parts of which are still redacted), Gray has pieced together the story of a hand-to-mouth life. Best not to give too much away; suffice to say that Ellie learned how to handle herself, and got through the war, although not without trouble. And although she may have used (but not abused) men, she also had a genuine gift for friendship, if Gray’s account is to be believed. It is a gripping story, and Gray has written it very well. I found myself on the edge of my seat as I read it, and totally forgot that I was reading a real person’s story; it reads more like a thriller. It helps that Gray’s style is simple and unsensational. This is a tight, clean account.
How much is true? It mostly fits the facts Gray has – from the FSS transcripts, and from his own enquiries in Austria in 2014. However, he has invented or changed some things in order to construct a narrative. Thus he has Ellie in a relationship with one Mayer, an Austrian Wehrmacht officer who is part of the anti-Nazi underground. In fact, Mayer is based on a man called Carl Szokoll, who was real enough, and was in Vienna at the time; but there is no reason to believe they met. (There is also no proof they didn’t.) In real life, Ellie and her Austrian husband had not two but three daughters before they split. A friend killed in an air raid, a Dutchwoman, was also a real person and in this case Ellie did know her, but in real life she didn’t die that way. Is all this all right?
I think it is. There is little here that could not have happened, and Gray is clear about what he knows, and what he has had to invent; he explains all on the website he has set up for the book. In any case, like all good books (and this is a very good book), Interrogating Ellie is about more than the story it relates. As Gray has said on the website: “When I first read the file that delivered the British government’s verdict on my mother’s moral character, it upset me ...But as I say in the book, I realised I had to just try to understand what led up to those judgements. ..I do still wonder, though, about the people who wrote those judgements in the file ...What were their lives like, I wonder?”
It is a fair question. Ellie was one step away from forced labour or a concentration camp. She may have slept with those who could protect her, but there is no evidence that she hurt them, or anyone else. Today, more than ever, one could wonder about the lives of those who grant or withhold the right to remain; and how they would fare were they to seek it.
March 23, 2015
Wow what a story! I think this is the book’s greatest feature, a woman’s struggle to survive and thrive in a country foreign to her and that only gets more so for her as time goes on. Knowing that it’s based on true events made the narrative even more engrossing. I found myself gripped by the different hardships Ellie encountered and seeing how she rose to meet each challenge to emerge stronger on the other side.
Ellie’s grit and tact for survival is something to behold. I don’t think I’ve come across a character as deft at changing with her environment as she. She’s able to adapt to whoever is in power (German, Russian, or British) and create situations which help her in survival. She’s portrayed as a flawed human who does what she needs to and isn’t sorry for it. While at times, these flaws almost went to the extreme of making her unlikable; overall, I found her very relatable to myself. I got to wondering what I would have done in her place.
I liked the format in which the story was told. For the most part, it’s a straightforward fictional narrative telling Ellie’s tale. Yet, interspersed within that narrative are snatches of her interrogation report in her struggle to re-apply for British citizenship, letters written by various parties detailing the events in the story, and various memos that also relate her overall story. These different formats give the story a depth and foundation in the events that inspired the story, making it richer and the reader more engaged.
I do, however, wish the book could have ended better. Not in the content, but with how it was written. The ending seems very choppy and sudden. Everything is wrapped up in an epilogue that contains phrases like “this happened”, “they went here”, and “she did that”. A bunch of “told” scenes in the very end give this book an almost unfinished atmosphere as it closes on Ellie’s rich story and WWII life.
With a rich story and a narrator that seems very real, this book is a gripping portrayal of one woman’s struggle to survive the war years in what could be considered enemy territory despite her marriage. She shows her resourcefulness and sheer will to create a life for herself despite incredible odds. I was spellbound by her journey. The ending, however, leaves something to be desired. The reader is dropped out of the conclusion with an epilogue that just tells you what happens, not showing anything. So a great book all around until you get to the end.
Book: Book received for free from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Ellie’s grit and tact for survival is something to behold. I don’t think I’ve come across a character as deft at changing with her environment as she. She’s able to adapt to whoever is in power (German, Russian, or British) and create situations which help her in survival. She’s portrayed as a flawed human who does what she needs to and isn’t sorry for it. While at times, these flaws almost went to the extreme of making her unlikable; overall, I found her very relatable to myself. I got to wondering what I would have done in her place.
I liked the format in which the story was told. For the most part, it’s a straightforward fictional narrative telling Ellie’s tale. Yet, interspersed within that narrative are snatches of her interrogation report in her struggle to re-apply for British citizenship, letters written by various parties detailing the events in the story, and various memos that also relate her overall story. These different formats give the story a depth and foundation in the events that inspired the story, making it richer and the reader more engaged.
I do, however, wish the book could have ended better. Not in the content, but with how it was written. The ending seems very choppy and sudden. Everything is wrapped up in an epilogue that contains phrases like “this happened”, “they went here”, and “she did that”. A bunch of “told” scenes in the very end give this book an almost unfinished atmosphere as it closes on Ellie’s rich story and WWII life.
With a rich story and a narrator that seems very real, this book is a gripping portrayal of one woman’s struggle to survive the war years in what could be considered enemy territory despite her marriage. She shows her resourcefulness and sheer will to create a life for herself despite incredible odds. I was spellbound by her journey. The ending, however, leaves something to be desired. The reader is dropped out of the conclusion with an epilogue that just tells you what happens, not showing anything. So a great book all around until you get to the end.
Book: Book received for free from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
November 16, 2016
This was such a joy to read because the authors words just flowed from page to page. The story (based on true events) was gripping and I found it difficult to stop reading.
This is one womans resilience to survive in a country to which she doesn't belong, in a time when her own country and this are at war, and thwarted by bureaucracy at every turn. Very sad indeed.
This is one womans resilience to survive in a country to which she doesn't belong, in a time when her own country and this are at war, and thwarted by bureaucracy at every turn. Very sad indeed.
January 14, 2019
Good book
Such a very interesting book. I did not realize you were writing about your mother till the end. Ellie it seemed had a hard life and I believe very misunderstood. After Marie was born she apparently suffered from post partum depression that was not addressed. She had to do a lot just to survive, as a woman in her own. I will recommend this book@!
Such a very interesting book. I did not realize you were writing about your mother till the end. Ellie it seemed had a hard life and I believe very misunderstood. After Marie was born she apparently suffered from post partum depression that was not addressed. She had to do a lot just to survive, as a woman in her own. I will recommend this book@!
May 7, 2015
I was totally involved/immersed in the story and characters and found it very difficult to put it down every night. The fact that it is based on your mother's life makes it very moving and meaningful.
It is a fitting tribute to her great spirit and will to survive those awful times.
May 2, 2016
Jersey Girl slogs through WW II in Austria.......
Then more difficulties.
Then more difficulties.
February 10, 2018
*I received a copy of this book in return for an honest review*
I found this equal parts frustrating and interesting. I tend to enjoy World War II stories, but I found Ellie's extreme obliviousness to war hard to believe. She moved from Jersey with her husband and toddler, while pregnant, to Austria...freshly occupied Austria...on the advice of his parents that he would get a good job...
Guess what, he didn't get a good job, he got a job in another area forcing prisoners to build a dam. Ellie and the toddler were left with his parents-the term monster-in-law would apply here. Ellie went through a lot and definitely had mental health issues. Due to the time period, attitudes, and knowledge she never received the help that she required and was instead judged for things out of her control. This book showcased the extreme hypocrisy of men at that time. She was looked down on for being a divorced woman trying to survive during war, while the men could be married or rapists and it wasn't a big deal.
I found this equal parts frustrating and interesting. I tend to enjoy World War II stories, but I found Ellie's extreme obliviousness to war hard to believe. She moved from Jersey with her husband and toddler, while pregnant, to Austria...freshly occupied Austria...on the advice of his parents that he would get a good job...
Guess what, he didn't get a good job, he got a job in another area forcing prisoners to build a dam. Ellie and the toddler were left with his parents-the term monster-in-law would apply here. Ellie went through a lot and definitely had mental health issues. Due to the time period, attitudes, and knowledge she never received the help that she required and was instead judged for things out of her control. This book showcased the extreme hypocrisy of men at that time. She was looked down on for being a divorced woman trying to survive during war, while the men could be married or rapists and it wasn't a big deal.
March 5, 2020
It was a friend on Twitter who recommended this book to me because she knew I loved books with connection to The Channel Islands in the UK, but also Historical Fiction.
Interrogating Ellie weaves a tragic tale of a Jersey lass who moved to Austria just before WW2. As an alien on occupied land she tried to cope with being disliked by her mother in law but also by a girl she realised was once her husband's sweetheart.
What struck me about Ellie was her resilience; her ability to pick herself up and find 'friends' in the most unlikely places as impossible events struck her life. I was gripped to the end of this novel. A brilliant read.
Interrogating Ellie weaves a tragic tale of a Jersey lass who moved to Austria just before WW2. As an alien on occupied land she tried to cope with being disliked by her mother in law but also by a girl she realised was once her husband's sweetheart.
What struck me about Ellie was her resilience; her ability to pick herself up and find 'friends' in the most unlikely places as impossible events struck her life. I was gripped to the end of this novel. A brilliant read.
October 13, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. Excellent first novel. Based on a true story that spans the Channel Isles and war torn Vienna. There are two searches in play: the protagonist who is trying to survive and find her way through the chaos of war and back to her English roots, and the writers story as he searches to understand what his mother went through during these desperate years.
March 4, 2017
I've gone back to the reviews for this book a few times, wondering if its "me". It could be, but although the storyline was interesting... the way the sentence structure and word choices... were extremely confusing. I checked if this was translated from another language- it was not. The sentence structure was awkward, with plenty of commas, and run-ons. Poor word choices that you could easily supplant a better word, so the reader is not derailed in their thinking.
(Whole paragraph is one long sentence)
"No, you could saw what you wanted in favour of the Party, and there was a lot you could say in its favour, chiefly that it had made us all a lot stronger and more positive about the future, and that it was a relief that someone was finally prepared to do something about that Jews and the Gypsy's and other unspeakable types, but if there was one thing where she parted company with them it was over the way they had tried to undermine Christian teachings, persuading people to leave the Church and cease to pay their dues, which she had heard was becoming more and more common, even in this town..."
"Some local schoolboys had got hold of a copy, she had heard, and had to be punished by their teacher. At any rate, she knew times were changing and that new thinking was coming in, but she for one wasn't going along with it, for reasons she had already explained"
"The housing office was located in the town hall on the main road through town, above the tangle of streets that led down to the lake, an ancient white building with black turrets pointing up to the sky like a witch's castle out of a fairy tale."
I might try again, because my opinion seems to be the minority, but I think the writing is adolescent, choppy thoughts, poor word choice, love of commas. DNF
(Whole paragraph is one long sentence)
"No, you could saw what you wanted in favour of the Party, and there was a lot you could say in its favour, chiefly that it had made us all a lot stronger and more positive about the future, and that it was a relief that someone was finally prepared to do something about that Jews and the Gypsy's and other unspeakable types, but if there was one thing where she parted company with them it was over the way they had tried to undermine Christian teachings, persuading people to leave the Church and cease to pay their dues, which she had heard was becoming more and more common, even in this town..."
"Some local schoolboys had got hold of a copy, she had heard, and had to be punished by their teacher. At any rate, she knew times were changing and that new thinking was coming in, but she for one wasn't going along with it, for reasons she had already explained"
"The housing office was located in the town hall on the main road through town, above the tangle of streets that led down to the lake, an ancient white building with black turrets pointing up to the sky like a witch's castle out of a fairy tale."
I might try again, because my opinion seems to be the minority, but I think the writing is adolescent, choppy thoughts, poor word choice, love of commas. DNF
April 1, 2015
An enthralling wartime story of a woman displaced by life events and also a study in relationships.
A masterly piece of work, this fictionalised true story of the eponymous Ellie is a book with two layers. The first, more obvious one, is the narration of a tale of circumstance. A story that richly shows how the smallest of decisions and the tiniest of life’s twists and turns can have major implications. How an ordinary person can slip into different and often less than desirable situations through a simple domino-ing of events that could have happened more or less to any one of us had we been in similar circumstances. Indeed at times I felt a strong empathy with Ellie precisely because I imagined that I might have done similarly in some situations had I been in her shoes. The second layer is a tale of consequences, and of how a person’s life experiences can shape their own personality, character and life situation, and then that of their children. This layer is compellingly introduced in the first few pages, therefore sensitising the reader in their journey through the remainder of the book. The adolescent Ellie is herself a product of unfortunate experiences. Some aspects of her character that were criticised by her interrogator at the start of the book and then later might nowadays have been treated more sympathetically as reactions to trauma, abuse and other events. The author, Ellie’s son, has handled these aspects, and indeed the more questionable and colourful of Ellie’s actions and behaviours, with sensitivity yet honesty, so that I waivered throughout between empathy and disapproval – an achievement of the author since no-one should be considered in black and white.
In terms of writing style, the author has managed something very well paced and never boring and I found myself wondering what the next chapter might hold, between reads. The beginning of each chapter gives the reader both an immediate sense of Ellie’s movement through place and time, and the feeling that there is lots of interest to follow. My interest was further sustained by the author’s successful deployment of different writing techniques to break up the narrative and avoid monotony. Thus there were for example excerpts from correspondence that were used to move the story along and also served to remind the reader that this story is based on facts. The fictional elements of the narrative added depth to the story and the whole was well researched.
Despite being so well crafted, the book makes little use of descriptive prose. Thus for example, sentences describing the mountains of Austria are sufficiently illustrative for you to understand exactly how they might look, but they are brief and used simply to place you in the spot rather than to evoke emotion. This worked for me and it kept the story moving along nicely, but it may not suit all readers. I also agree with another reviewer that the epilogue is in parts less well-crafted than the rest, though it is nonetheless satisfactory and honest.
I can just see this being snapped up for a film, it has all the right elements and is absolutely jam packed with happenings. It’s a strong first novel and I look forward to the next from this author.
A masterly piece of work, this fictionalised true story of the eponymous Ellie is a book with two layers. The first, more obvious one, is the narration of a tale of circumstance. A story that richly shows how the smallest of decisions and the tiniest of life’s twists and turns can have major implications. How an ordinary person can slip into different and often less than desirable situations through a simple domino-ing of events that could have happened more or less to any one of us had we been in similar circumstances. Indeed at times I felt a strong empathy with Ellie precisely because I imagined that I might have done similarly in some situations had I been in her shoes. The second layer is a tale of consequences, and of how a person’s life experiences can shape their own personality, character and life situation, and then that of their children. This layer is compellingly introduced in the first few pages, therefore sensitising the reader in their journey through the remainder of the book. The adolescent Ellie is herself a product of unfortunate experiences. Some aspects of her character that were criticised by her interrogator at the start of the book and then later might nowadays have been treated more sympathetically as reactions to trauma, abuse and other events. The author, Ellie’s son, has handled these aspects, and indeed the more questionable and colourful of Ellie’s actions and behaviours, with sensitivity yet honesty, so that I waivered throughout between empathy and disapproval – an achievement of the author since no-one should be considered in black and white.
In terms of writing style, the author has managed something very well paced and never boring and I found myself wondering what the next chapter might hold, between reads. The beginning of each chapter gives the reader both an immediate sense of Ellie’s movement through place and time, and the feeling that there is lots of interest to follow. My interest was further sustained by the author’s successful deployment of different writing techniques to break up the narrative and avoid monotony. Thus there were for example excerpts from correspondence that were used to move the story along and also served to remind the reader that this story is based on facts. The fictional elements of the narrative added depth to the story and the whole was well researched.
Despite being so well crafted, the book makes little use of descriptive prose. Thus for example, sentences describing the mountains of Austria are sufficiently illustrative for you to understand exactly how they might look, but they are brief and used simply to place you in the spot rather than to evoke emotion. This worked for me and it kept the story moving along nicely, but it may not suit all readers. I also agree with another reviewer that the epilogue is in parts less well-crafted than the rest, though it is nonetheless satisfactory and honest.
I can just see this being snapped up for a film, it has all the right elements and is absolutely jam packed with happenings. It’s a strong first novel and I look forward to the next from this author.
April 14, 2015
Interrogating Ellie is Julian Gray's fictionalized account of the real life of Ellie Maurer - who becomes Ellie Bauer for the book, a British woman who lived in Austria for the duration of World War II. Gray combines Ellie's real life and the people she knew, based on her interrogation files, with other colorful characters who are drawn and adapted from other stories of Austria during the 1940s.
The fictionalization of reality in Interrogating Ellie does not make the reality of horrors in World War II any less.
Ellie Bauer is a woman who can't be classified, literally and figuratively. Growing up without her mother and not having any idea who her father was, she comes to adulthood searching for a family. This would seem to be why she agrees to move from Jersey to Austria with her Austrian husband and their daughter just as the Nazis come to power. To say it is a mistake would be putting it lightly.
But this is an area we don't often read about in World War II - average Austrian families and how they dealt with national pride warring with National Socialism. And Gray handles it beautifully. Ellie goes through the things during her time with the Bauer family that many women have gone through, but it's made more daunting by the Nazis.
When she's cut off from her family, she's forced to survive the war on her own in Austria. She alternates between following the rules - registering with the work and housing authorities - and breaking the rules - hosting clandestine resistance meetings while not being registered to work. It's about survival for Ellie, nothing else. She has no firm political alliances and even as she learns more about what the swastika and the men behind it mean, she carries on for herself most of all.
And it doesn't end after the war.
Ellie is forced to fight her way out of Austria to get home to some sort of life in England. She has to fight Austrians, Americans, and British for the right to keep searching for her place in the world. And she never really finds it, even when she wins - or what passes for winning.
Gray's book on World War II isn't cloak and dagger resistance movements and it isn't focused on the concentration camps. It's more like reality, reality that probably was for a lot of women in that time and in that place. That is what makes it beautiful.
Interrogating Ellie is available for purchase now.
I received a copy of Interrogating Ellie through NetGalley and cloiff books in exchange for an honest & original review.
The fictionalization of reality in Interrogating Ellie does not make the reality of horrors in World War II any less.
Ellie Bauer is a woman who can't be classified, literally and figuratively. Growing up without her mother and not having any idea who her father was, she comes to adulthood searching for a family. This would seem to be why she agrees to move from Jersey to Austria with her Austrian husband and their daughter just as the Nazis come to power. To say it is a mistake would be putting it lightly.
But this is an area we don't often read about in World War II - average Austrian families and how they dealt with national pride warring with National Socialism. And Gray handles it beautifully. Ellie goes through the things during her time with the Bauer family that many women have gone through, but it's made more daunting by the Nazis.
When she's cut off from her family, she's forced to survive the war on her own in Austria. She alternates between following the rules - registering with the work and housing authorities - and breaking the rules - hosting clandestine resistance meetings while not being registered to work. It's about survival for Ellie, nothing else. She has no firm political alliances and even as she learns more about what the swastika and the men behind it mean, she carries on for herself most of all.
And it doesn't end after the war.
Ellie is forced to fight her way out of Austria to get home to some sort of life in England. She has to fight Austrians, Americans, and British for the right to keep searching for her place in the world. And she never really finds it, even when she wins - or what passes for winning.
Gray's book on World War II isn't cloak and dagger resistance movements and it isn't focused on the concentration camps. It's more like reality, reality that probably was for a lot of women in that time and in that place. That is what makes it beautiful.
Interrogating Ellie is available for purchase now.
I received a copy of Interrogating Ellie through NetGalley and cloiff books in exchange for an honest & original review.
March 15, 2015
Interrogating Ellie is an evocative, gripping and beautifully written story which gives a voice to the lives to ordinary people in the midst of political conflict and social upheaval in war torn Austria during World War 11. The central character, Elise Bauer shows a spirt of survival and great moral courage as she experiences the first years of her marriage, its breakdown and subsequent life trajectory as a young English migrant woman from Jersey in the channel Islands. Early on in the novel the reader finds out that when Ellie was expecting her second child she accompanies her Austrian husband, Michael Bauer with their eighteen month old daughter Anna at the promise of a better life in his home town, Zell am See.
Based on a true story, the novel spans war and peace time, using historical facts, personal testimony, letters and official documents to provide the detail and depth to this moving and very well researched narrative. Issues of love, loss of trust, separation, and betrayal, provide the common threads that bind the reader to the twists and turns of a complex and uncompromising script of the life of Ellie to the point when she is interrogated following her application to be repatriated to England after the war had ended. At its most tense moments the only escape from some of the misery that Ellie faced was through the insights provided by reflection and empathy of what it might have been like to live through this historical time.
Based on a true story, the novel spans war and peace time, using historical facts, personal testimony, letters and official documents to provide the detail and depth to this moving and very well researched narrative. Issues of love, loss of trust, separation, and betrayal, provide the common threads that bind the reader to the twists and turns of a complex and uncompromising script of the life of Ellie to the point when she is interrogated following her application to be repatriated to England after the war had ended. At its most tense moments the only escape from some of the misery that Ellie faced was through the insights provided by reflection and empathy of what it might have been like to live through this historical time.
April 12, 2015
Interrogating Ellie is a poignant and compelling story of a young woman trapped in Austria during WW2. The main character, Ellie, was a real person, and the author has clearly indicated in his introduction what additions are fictional.
The language is straightforward and unadorned, with short, precise sentences. This gives a clarity and lack of ambiguity, and the book reads like a biography in the style of a thriller. The author intersperses the story with quotes from the actual interrogation that Ellie had undergone, and with letters between various characters, which anchors the narrative in reality.
I found the episode which covered the period after WW2 had ended, particularly fascinating and very convincing. Ellie was trying to survive in Austria-a defeated and occupied country. This section had a real flavour of authenticity. It seems obvious that many citizens (including Ellie) had little or no interest in politics- and why should they? Their daily struggle for food and shelter was over-riding: a perspective lacking in contemporary teaching of history.The background research is thorough and detailed, and the information on the book's website is excellent. The genre of this book is similar to that of a historical novel. I can highly recommend this book, and look forward to the author's next one with anticipation.
The language is straightforward and unadorned, with short, precise sentences. This gives a clarity and lack of ambiguity, and the book reads like a biography in the style of a thriller. The author intersperses the story with quotes from the actual interrogation that Ellie had undergone, and with letters between various characters, which anchors the narrative in reality.
I found the episode which covered the period after WW2 had ended, particularly fascinating and very convincing. Ellie was trying to survive in Austria-a defeated and occupied country. This section had a real flavour of authenticity. It seems obvious that many citizens (including Ellie) had little or no interest in politics- and why should they? Their daily struggle for food and shelter was over-riding: a perspective lacking in contemporary teaching of history.The background research is thorough and detailed, and the information on the book's website is excellent. The genre of this book is similar to that of a historical novel. I can highly recommend this book, and look forward to the author's next one with anticipation.
March 6, 2015
I read this beautifully-researched and detailed novel within a day, keen to find out what would happen to Ellie as she lived her complicated life under adverse and shifting conditions. Following a lonely upbringing in Jersey, she married an Austrian national and naively agreed to move with him and their small daughter to Austria in 1938, when her husband was lured home by the expectation of a better life and job prospects under the Nazi regime. Ellie, however, found herself mired in conflict, broken promises, intrigue and separation against a wider background of international warfare. With bombings in Vienna and other dangers forcing changes of job and living quarters, and where the eventual ‘peace’ in 1945 under the Allies was not always an improvement, British-born Ellie constantly had to negotiate new relationships, whilst unsure whom she could really trust. She was also, with some justification, suspected of reinventing herself to fit her circumstances; this seemed very realistic, given the setting and her determination to survive. This vividly-realised depiction of Ellie’s life in war-torn Austria made me want to read more on the subject: I heartily recommend the book and the further information on the associated website.
March 15, 2015
Ellie makes a decision as a young wife and mother,that propels her life towards a series of heart-rending relationships.
Ellie believed her husband would 'magic her into a different life'.
That life, set in Austria during WW11, turned out to be a greater challenge than anything she could have imagined.
This is an amazing story, which gets under the skin, with its insightful account of domestic daily life in worn-torn Austria.
The characters are credible and sensitively drawn. Through the letters sent between the central characters, the emotional and physical suffering inflicted on the people is exposed. This is an account of domestic and political unrest. The reader soon becomes wrapped in Ellie's turmoil, suspicions and disappointments.
Now hooked, the reader feels compelled to find out how much more Ellie can cope with and still survive. Will she find security and a safe place to live with her children?
Knowing this based on a true events, which are incredible in themselves, increases the book's impact and poignancy.
This story is thought provoking...long after closing the book.
Ellie believed her husband would 'magic her into a different life'.
That life, set in Austria during WW11, turned out to be a greater challenge than anything she could have imagined.
This is an amazing story, which gets under the skin, with its insightful account of domestic daily life in worn-torn Austria.
The characters are credible and sensitively drawn. Through the letters sent between the central characters, the emotional and physical suffering inflicted on the people is exposed. This is an account of domestic and political unrest. The reader soon becomes wrapped in Ellie's turmoil, suspicions and disappointments.
Now hooked, the reader feels compelled to find out how much more Ellie can cope with and still survive. Will she find security and a safe place to live with her children?
Knowing this based on a true events, which are incredible in themselves, increases the book's impact and poignancy.
This story is thought provoking...long after closing the book.
March 31, 2015
‘Interrogating Ellie’ is very readable. Based on the author's investigation into his mother's life during the turmoil of the Second World War in Nazi Austria, the historical context and the everyday details of life are excellently researched and evoked. The story's structure is framed with original documents and letters as tangible stanchions marking Ellie's years in Austria. For Julian Gray this book could be called 'Understanding Ellie' or 'Finding Ellie'. Through his investigation of Ellie's past he discovers the truth of her parentage which was kept secret from her and was the cause of much anguish. She died never knowing who her father was.
Anthony Gidden's quote at the beginning of the book: 'Fateful moments are times when events come together in such a way that an individual stands, as it were, at a crossroads', is most apt. The book raises the question - what choices in such circumstances would each of us have made in order to survive such events beyond our control, and through those choices would we, and the generations that follow us, find peace through understanding or be haunted by the past?
Anthony Gidden's quote at the beginning of the book: 'Fateful moments are times when events come together in such a way that an individual stands, as it were, at a crossroads', is most apt. The book raises the question - what choices in such circumstances would each of us have made in order to survive such events beyond our control, and through those choices would we, and the generations that follow us, find peace through understanding or be haunted by the past?
June 25, 2015
We often hear about wartime life on the "home front" but usually from a UK perspective. Interrogating Ellie is the view-point of an English woman in a very different scenario - living amongst "the enemy" in Austria during World War 2.
Ellie is a Jersey girl who marries Michael, a young Austrian who came to the island to work. When Michael decides to return to Austria for his parents' sake, Ellie is happy to accompany him, naively unaware of the potential problems she may face, with Europe heading towards war.
The book charts Ellie's struggle in her new country even before the impact of war makes life even more difficult.
Interrogating Ellie is a compelling story, made all the more so because it's based on a true life account. The "fictional application" makes it particularly readable, as you wonder what further traumas Ellie must endure.
As an informative and interesting insight into "ordinary life" for those suffering the indignities of Nazi rule, it's most definitely worth a read!
Ellie is a Jersey girl who marries Michael, a young Austrian who came to the island to work. When Michael decides to return to Austria for his parents' sake, Ellie is happy to accompany him, naively unaware of the potential problems she may face, with Europe heading towards war.
The book charts Ellie's struggle in her new country even before the impact of war makes life even more difficult.
Interrogating Ellie is a compelling story, made all the more so because it's based on a true life account. The "fictional application" makes it particularly readable, as you wonder what further traumas Ellie must endure.
As an informative and interesting insight into "ordinary life" for those suffering the indignities of Nazi rule, it's most definitely worth a read!
February 27, 2015
This is an absolutely fascinating book. The eponymous Ellie is based on a real woman from the Channel Islands who found herself stranded in Austria at the outbreak of World War II. The book tells the story of her wartime life and the difficulties she had to overcome to survive in such an alien environment. It progresses via straight narrative, letters and official documents and the reader is drawn irresistibly along. Ellie's love life is complicated to say the least and through her various men friends we gain insight into the politics of wartime Vienna where betrayal and sudden death were an ever-present danger. Towards the end of the story as Ellie encounters the occupying armies we are introduced to the prejudices and ignorance of British officers overwhelmed by the tide of humanity seeking to re-establish their lives after the turmoil of war. From beginning to end the book is beautifully written and scrupulously researched. It deserves to find a wide readership.
April 2, 2015
The author takes us on a compelling journey; issues of trust, mistrust and the need to risk rub shoulders with changes of heart, moments of stoical determination and simple courage. A keen eye for detail throughout helps set the context, generating images that bring the twists and turns of this essentially human drama to life on the page. A series of letter exchanges between key protagonists changes the pace, increasing the tension revealed through unexpected shifts in perspective and orientation.
Historical narrative is handled deftly, subtly enabling us at times to form our own impressions of the wider impact of significant events.
The result is a rare account that richly conveys the struggle to survive in a hostile Europe caught up in war and its aftermath, a world of rapidly changing fortunes, where the personal, familial and political constantly collide. Recommended!
March 11, 2015
Based on a true-story, Interrogating Ellie, is a WW II story worth reading. Ellie is a complex, flawed and sympathetic young woman. She is a survivor in the face of fear, hunger, and loss. She is a friend, effortlessly drawing both men and women to her wherever she goes, but repeatedly betrayed by those around her. She is a mother who suffers from postpartum depression and a divorce that separates her from her children. The narration, mostly from Ellie's point of view, also includes letters and documents that give a sense of the wider context of the war, the shifts in power and the prejudices. Ellie's story is carefully researched and skilfully told.
March 17, 2015
I absolutely loved reading this book. Once you have started, you would want to follow this true lif story through. It is about how the Heroine in this story, Ellie, survive in nazi- occupied Austria. Ellie's courage, resilience and bravado sense of adventure have won my utmost admiration. It is a good book for your train or plane journey. You wouldn't want to watch the videos on the plane when you have this book in your hand. Julian Gray writes with an easy and sympathetic prose. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good biography! Da rah Li
April 23, 2015
This is a well written novel based on the true account of Ellie, a young woman who leaves Jersey to live in Austria after marriage in the hope that under the New Nazi Regime things will work out well and they will have a better life to look forward to. How Wrong they were as things don't turn out that way and Elli faces many trials and tribulations in her future.
I think this is a must read and it compels you to want to research and dig deeper. Well Done.
I think this is a must read and it compels you to want to research and dig deeper. Well Done.
March 24, 2015
Strong, well-sustained narrative of an extraordinary and adventurous life. The depth of characterisation supports the narrative very effectively through a remarkable sequence of locations and activities. This makes for a compelling read and a sense of loss in the aftermath of completing it; it trails intriguing questions in its wake.
July 5, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed this book... It was very rich and detailed and with believable characters . The story span around a little but as it was based on a true story I thought that this gave it an integrity. Life is a bit of a spin around sometimes. An amazing story !
January 4, 2016
Not sure
I really don't know what to say about this book. I guess my one thought is that it lacked emotion, it seemed to me the book was only facts. I almost stopped reading the book but finished it instead.
I really don't know what to say about this book. I guess my one thought is that it lacked emotion, it seemed to me the book was only facts. I almost stopped reading the book but finished it instead.
March 25, 2016
Interesting enough story, especially when you know it's based on fact but I couldn't warm to the central character at all. I also didn't like the way it was written. Very surprised by all the 5 star ratings. Was glad when I finished it.
March 28, 2016
Memorizing wartime tale
Ellie, a intelligent girl of the 30,s, becomes another victim of the Nazis ,Her will to survive caused those with the powers to judge ,to be wrong, and she did survive in spite of them.
Ellie, a intelligent girl of the 30,s, becomes another victim of the Nazis ,Her will to survive caused those with the powers to judge ,to be wrong, and she did survive in spite of them.
June 2, 2016
Not the best I've read. Don't recommend.
Eh. This book was a bit disappointing as it painted a very poor picture of the main character. It was hard to root for her success, nor were there any characters of interest, or inspiring good will.
Eh. This book was a bit disappointing as it painted a very poor picture of the main character. It was hard to root for her success, nor were there any characters of interest, or inspiring good will.
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