DECEMBER 2019 - AudioFile
Narrator Louise Brealey impressively conveys the horror in this controversial sequel to THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ. The novel’s fictionalization of a real person, particularly scenes involving sexual enslavement, is being viewed by some as unethical. The story focuses on Cecilia “Cilka” Klein. After surviving many years at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Cilka is sentenced to 16 years in a Siberian gulag for collaborating with the Nazis. Listeners will be horrified on behalf of Cilka and her barracks mates as they endure unimaginable mistreatment but will also feel hopeful when they help each other physically and emotionally. Brealey excels with the many accents and diverse personalities of the prisoners, their relationships, and the demands of their heartless captors. The repetitious and overly graphic descriptions of injuries and Cilka’s unrealistic medical skills are somewhat ameliorated by Brealey’s measured delivery. S.G.B. 2020 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
09/30/2019
In the stirring follow-up to The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Morris tells the story of a woman who survives Auschwitz, only to find herself locked away again. Cilka Klein is 18 years old when Auschwitz-Birkenau is liberated by Soviet soldiers. But Cilka is one of the many women who is sentenced to a labor camp on charges of having helped the Nazis—with no consideration of the circumstances Cilka and women like her found themselves in as they struggled to survive. Once at the Vorkuta gulag in Sibera, where she is to serve her 15-year sentence, Cilka uses her wits, charm, and beauty to secure an opportunity tending to the sick and malnourished within the camp. Morris weaves a fast-paced story that captures the immediacy of Cilka’s duties caring for prisoners while appeasing guards at every step, but the brisk speed often papers over a lack of emotional depth and character development. Cilka and those around her respond with a positivity that feels unnatural. Even so, Morris’s propulsive tale shows the goodness that can be found even inside the gulag. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Praise for The Tattooist of Auschwitz:
“Based on a true story, the wrenching yet riveting tale of Lale’s determination to survive the camp with Gita is a moving testament to the power of kindness, ingenuity, and hope.” —People
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz is the story of hope and survival against incredible odds and the power of love.” —PopSugar
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz is an extraordinary document..I find it hard to imagine anyone who would not be drawn in, confronted and moved. I would recommend it unreservedly to anyone, whether they’d read a hundred Holocaust stories or none.” —Graeme Simsion, internationally-bestselling author of The Rosie Project
DECEMBER 2019 - AudioFile
Narrator Louise Brealey impressively conveys the horror in this controversial sequel to THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ. The novel’s fictionalization of a real person, particularly scenes involving sexual enslavement, is being viewed by some as unethical. The story focuses on Cecilia “Cilka” Klein. After surviving many years at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Cilka is sentenced to 16 years in a Siberian gulag for collaborating with the Nazis. Listeners will be horrified on behalf of Cilka and her barracks mates as they endure unimaginable mistreatment but will also feel hopeful when they help each other physically and emotionally. Brealey excels with the many accents and diverse personalities of the prisoners, their relationships, and the demands of their heartless captors. The repetitious and overly graphic descriptions of injuries and Cilka’s unrealistic medical skills are somewhat ameliorated by Brealey’s measured delivery. S.G.B. 2020 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
