The story of Dr Korczak and his orphanage was not one that I had previously come across and my rating is for that - a wonderful man whose tale very much deserves to be better known.
Having said that, I was not a fan of the writing style. Present tense I find works in certain genres and I'm not convinced it belongs in historical fiction. I found it very difficult to connect with the characters because the author is constantly telling us what they feel rather than showing the reader through their actions. If the text hadn't told me that Misha and Sophia were in love I'm not sure I would have realised! I'm not saying there should be sex scenes galore but their relationship is incredibly chaste and each scene where they kiss is almost a carbon copy of the one before.
Overall, I was a little disappointed in the book but I'm still glad I read it. I knew that life in the Warsaw ghetto was horrific but until reading this I hadn't realised the terrible extent of what went on. However hard later scenes were to read, I think it's important to remember what happened and those who lost their lives.
Having said that, I was not a fan of the writing style. Present tense I find works in certain genres and I'm not convinced it belongs in historical fiction. I found it very difficult to connect with the characters because the author is constantly telling us what they feel rather than showing the reader through their actions. If the text hadn't told me that Misha and Sophia were in love I'm not sure I would have realised! I'm not saying there should be sex scenes galore but their relationship is incredibly chaste and each scene where they kiss is almost a carbon copy of the one before.
Overall, I was a little disappointed in the book but I'm still glad I read it. I knew that life in the Warsaw ghetto was horrific but until reading this I hadn't realised the terrible extent of what went on. However hard later scenes were to read, I think it's important to remember what happened and those who lost their lives.