"The German Girl" by Armando Lucas Correa

Later this month, my library book club will be discussing "The German Girl" by Armando Lucas Correa.

The book is a fictionalized account of the voyage of the M.S. St. Louis, as seen through the experiences of one family (including their life before departure, and what happened afterward).  A bit of a history lesson:  The St. Louis set sail from Hamburg, Germany, to Havana, Cuba, in May 12, 1939, with more than 900 passengers on board -- most of them Jewish refugees from Hitler's Germany, seeking asylum in Cuba.  When they arrived in Havana, however, all but a handful were denied entry to the country. The United States and Canada also refused entrance, and the ship was forced to return to Europe. Several countries (including the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and the Netherlands) agreed to admit some of the refugees -- but unfortunately, many of these countries were soon overrun by Nazi forces. It's estimated that at least one-quarter of the St. Louis's passengers died in the Nazi death camps.  (The story was later turned into a Hollywood movie, "Voyage of the Damned.")

Late last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a formal apology from the government of Canada to the passengers of the St. Louis, their families, and Jewish communities in Canada and around the world. (The policy of the Canadian government towards Jewish immigration in the 1930s & 40s was infamously summarized as "None is too many.")  Dh & I saw a memorial to the St. Louis when we visited Pier 21, Canada's national immigration museum in Halifax (sort of Canada's Ellis Island). (Everything I've read says it was unveiled in early 2011 -- including a mention in this book -- but I will swear we saw it when we visited in September 2010...??)

The story goes back & forth between two young girls in two different eras: Hannah Rosenthal, an 11-year-old girl from Berlin, who escapes with her parents, her best friend Leo and his father aboard the St. Louis;  and 12-year-old Anna Rosen, who lives with her mother in New York, trying to cope with the mysterious absence of her father. Then one day, in 2014, a package arrives in the mail for Anna from a great-aunt in Cuba she has never met...

This was a sad, melancholy book, but ultimately a story of survival and coming to terms (or not) with grief and loss, and how history sometimes winds up repeating itself.  I enjoyed the back & forth-ing between the stories of Hannah and Ana and how they eventually intertwine. This should be an interesting discussion at my book club...!

I gave this 4 stars (3.5, rounded up)on Goodreads.

This was book #9 that I have read in 2019 to date, bringing me to 38% of my 2019 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 24 books.  I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 3 books ahead of schedule to meet my goal. :)