Persephone Books discussion

This month we are reading Manja by Anna Gmeyner. One I have been meaning to get to for a long time, and now seems like a fitting time to be reading it.

Who will be reading this one with us?

A lovely review here from Claire at 'The Captive Reader' to whet your appetites:

https://thecaptivereader.com/2011/05/...

I just started this one a few days ago - I read it before and remember it was a really powerful book. My memory is not great for books I read many years ago, so it's almost like I'm reading it for the first time! Haha :)
Thanks for posting that review, Tania!

I own this one and the review really makes me want to hurry and read it but I may not be able to fit it in timing wise. But I will try once I’m home from vacation.

Hi Antoinette! Even if you don't get to it this month, you can always add to the discussion afterwards. :)

Thanks, Gina.

I started a couple of days ago. People are beginning o come into focus now, but initially I found it hard to keep track of who was who.

Knowing what we know, it is clear how things are going to go for the characters involved in this story.

I have read the first part. On to part two. I wonder if this book was seen as shocking when it was first released. First we have the five conceptions, then we have the births, and descriptions of breast feeding. I quite often think this with some of the older books I read, so I question our perception that these thing just weren't talked about. Maybe it was much more prevalent than we are lead to believe.

I just finished. Hard to read at times, but in many ways it does help us to understand how Germany came under Nazi power. Really interesting to read about it all in a book published in 1938.

I will be reading ‎Crooked Cross by Sally Carson next. I got it at the weekend, but as it had such a similar setting, I couldn't read it along side Manja. There has been a lot of buzz around this book, apparently they had to order a second pressing before it was even released.

Yes, this definitely had some difficult scenes to read! And I totally agree, it was super interesting that the book was published in 1938, as everything was happening. She really painted a very clear picture of what things were like in Germany during that time.
And I'm glad we have a few months in between this read and Crooked Cross!