Books of the week July 5
“Lilac Girls”
By Martha Hall Kelly
Lilac Girls is a historical fiction based on real events of WWII. It follows the lives of Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager who wants to make a difference in the resistance movement, Caroline Ferriday, a socialite and philanthropist from New York and Herta Oberheuser, a Nazi doctor. How could three such different women be connected? Kasia blames herself for getting her mother detained along with her and sent to Ravensbruck, Hitler’s only all-female camp. While there, Kasia is subjected to the terrible experiments conducted there by the camp “doctors.” The women that were experimented on became known as the Rabbits because the injuries left them unable to walk normally so they had to hop around the camp. Herta was among the ones performing those experiments, with no mercy.
After the war, Herta is captured and sentenced to 25 years in prison but released after five years. In the meantime, Caroline had raised enough money to bring some of the Rabbits to America and receive treatment for their wounds and help them to walk easier and without as much pain. After a successful treatment, Kasia was told that Herta was rumored to be practicing medicine and they needed someone to positively identify her. Kasia doesn’t know if she was strong enough to face her torturer again, but someone has to make sure Herta doesn’t get away with what she had done.
“Romantic Comedy”
By Curtis Sittenfeld
Sally Milz is one of the many writers for the late-night comedy show called “The Night Owls.” As a sketch writer, she comes up with her own sketches and she helps the celebrity guest hosts out with their own sketches. However, the best joke is the one she is currently writing about her love life. She got married early, divorced early and now only has the occasional hook-up. As she says, romance is only for the screen. This attitude of hers slowly changes when she meets this week’s host of “The Night Owls,” pop star Noah Brewster. He keeps Sally on her toes. After Sally sabotages their instant connection, they lose contact until the pandemic happens. After a few months in isolation, Noah reaches out to Sally to see if they can finally act on the connection they both felt. Will she finally stop destroying her love life?
Romantic comedy is a great book for readers who love to read romance. This book examines the realities of love, relationships and the comedy that is life. Also, both of the main characters are entering their 40’s and need to rekindle their passion for work. You can find this book on the Libby app and in the library.
