A marvellously original story based on themes of identity and survival and loss. Lucy Adlington provokes new ideas and understanding of displaced people in Europe during and after the Second World War.
There are also strong threads of class differences, injustice and prejudice. These can be weighty but there are also lighter glimpses of youthful enjoyment of dance, music and food. Music and smell, in particular, bring back snippets of memory and link the confusing present to the dangerous and tragic past. And this is also a coming of age story so will appeal to young adults.
The story is fairly intricate for such a slender novel but it all works out as satisfactorily as possible in the end.
There are also strong threads of class differences, injustice and prejudice. These can be weighty but there are also lighter glimpses of youthful enjoyment of dance, music and food. Music and smell, in particular, bring back snippets of memory and link the confusing present to the dangerous and tragic past. And this is also a coming of age story so will appeal to young adults.
The story is fairly intricate for such a slender novel but it all works out as satisfactorily as possible in the end.