Beautiful

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Author: Elisabeth Gifford

Genre: Historical fiction

Rating: 5/5 star


I received this book from the publisher via Readers First. This in no way effects my opinion on the book.

The Good Doctor Of Warsaw by Elisabeth Gifford is based on the true accounts of two Jewish survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto - Misha and Sophia. The book tells the story of what happened in the Warsaw Ghetto during the years between 1931 and 1945. It is a crushing and heartbreaking account of not only two peoples experiences during this time but also a tale of the famous Dr Janusz Korczak and his Warsaw orphanage.

This book is beautifully written and laid out in monthly chapters. It introduces us to Misha as part of the Russian army searching the ruins of Warsaw for survivors. We then flashback from there to before the Nazis took Warsaw and explore Misha’s meeting of Sophia and their life from there alongside Dr Korczak. This book bleeds pure heartfelt pain and suffering throughout its pages and leaves a lump in the throat of the reader. The characters are so real (being based on real people) and it’s impossible not to love them all dearly. I just loved this book so much, even though I broke my heart.

There is a postscript at the end of book which tells what happened the characters real life doubles after or before the Warsaw Ghetto was destroyed. It is historically important and interesting but is a further blow to read the names of the orphans who didn’t survive. It is heartbreaking to know less than 1% of the entire Warsaw Ghetto survived. It’s a book that has certainly opened my eyes to the history of the war - which as an history student has previously been an era I didn’t choose to focus on much. This will definitely be changing now.
I really couldn’t recommend this book enough!