The Orphan's Tale

I couldn’t put the book down. It was well written, with the exception of not always knowing which of the two primary characters. Tended to get a little confusing. I will totally read this again and am looking forward to reading more from this author.

Reviewer: D. Goin Pam Jenoff calls the folks at MIRA books her "dream team." Well, she'd better wake them up, because they let slip by--what? Call them style quirks-- and errors that, like leeches, suck blood from and bog dowm one of the best stoties I have read in yeatrs. Ms. Jenoff is clearly a great story teller, who has researched her work well and drawn her characters finely. One cam see, hear, smell, feel and even taste her scenes. Yet, I can agree with some of the one-star reviewers who call the tale boring. To me, "boring" is a bit harsh. Yet, one does become weary spending so much time in Noa and Astrid's heads, listening to backstory repeated endlessly and hearing for the umpteenth time how guilty Noa feels about lying about her past. We get it, okay? I mentioned style qrirks. Both Noa and Astrid appear to be all-knowing, forever in terpreting what other characters say. For ecample, Noa is the poin-of-view character observing Peter and Astrid. Peter says somerhing to. Astrid and Noa notes, "But she (Astrid) turns away from him, her pride too hurt to let him close." How in the world can Noa know why Astrid turns away. Noa might say, "But she turned away, as if her pride..." This psychoanaalysis by POV characters goes on throughout the book, imparting the wiadom of the author rather than of the characters. Another style quirk thar makes no sense to me is the interruption of dialogue to get back i nto the POV character's head. For example, in a scene where Astrid is the POV character and where Noa suggests she and Astrid help the workers putting up the tent, Astrid shakes her head and says, "No, let them do their work." Then we go into Astrid's head, when she thinks the following: We can no more help raise the tent than the workers can swing from the trapeze. Why not make this last sentence part of her response to Noa, which would, as dialogue always does, allow deepening characters and the conflict between them? Above, l also mentioned errors. I will point out two of the most prevalent: First, showing and telling at the same time. Showing is always better, but certainly not both. For example, in a scene where the police are arresting an old man and his granddaughter, the old man stalls for time "The policeman will hear none of it." (telling) "'Now," says the policeman. (showing). Telling is heavy-handed throughout the story. The second and more egregious error involves getting the past tense of verbs mixed up with the past perfect (pluperfect) tense. This happens frequently. For example, Astrid thinks, "I see his face more vividly than I had in months." This should read "...than I have in months." To use "had," she would need to establish a past event, before which something happened. She could think, for example, "I saw his face clearly, yesterday. I had not thought of him for months before that." Enough! This is a damn fine story I recommend it and plan to read more of Pam Jenoff's work. But please, dream team, wake up!

I think NPR said it best: "Christina Baker Kline's ‘Orphan Train’ has collided with the circus caravan from Sara Gruen's ‘Water for Elephants,’ and out of wreck has come Pam Jenoff's ‘The Orphan's Tale.’ The novel is a magical carnival saga, a bit grittier than either of its antecedents, and with more at stake...Jenoff has written a tribute to the human spirit that soars in the midst of epic despair." And I ask you, “How could I pass this up?” In short, I didn’t. I quickly moved this one up to the top of my TBR pile and dug right in. We start with a prologue where an elderly woman makes her way into a new exhibit on European circuses. Based on the dust jacket, I know that it’s either Noa or Astrid. By the time I reached the prologue’s end, I was hooked. Then the story moves back in time to Germany, 1944. When Noa is sixteen, she is kicked out of her parents’ home when she discovers she is pregnant by a German officer. While we only see her after she has given up her baby, we see that she has lost none of that innocence that got her in the family way. Noa is cleaning a train station and lives in a closet. One night, a train pulls in. Thinking she hears a baby crying, Noa inspects the boxcars and finds a horrific sight. One of the cars’ floor is covered with babies, none more than two years old. Most are dead, frozen, but she pulls one out. Taking the child, she runs away in the middle of a blizzard. She is found by Astrid and is taken in. Astrid is one of Europe’s leading aerialists, but with a war raging, she is not with her family circus. Instead, she is with her neighbor’s family circus. The Neuhoff Circus needs another aerialist, so Noa must take to the trapeze to earn her place in these strangers who become family. The young women become close. Almost as if they were sisters, watching out for each other. Noa kept the baby she stole and named him Theo. One of the major hurdles that they face, is that Astrid is Jewish. The story is the tale of the circus and its people. I loved reading about how Astrid trained Noa and circus life in the 1940s. The book ends with an epilogue that gives complete closure to all the supporting characters. It was nice to learn their fate. The story did get sluggish in the bottom part of the first third. I wanted to give The Orphan’s Tale receives 6 stars, but that blip caused me to award 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

This is a book I would read again and again. Historical fiction that completely fascinated me. What a beautifully woven tale- but I could gush for pages. I remember when I was a kid and we learned about the Holocaust. I remember as a kid actually wondering if someone might have escaped Germany – as a Nazi – and moved to Thailand – because I met people who may have fit the description, as I was living in Thailand. I had learned enough in school and read enough on my own, even as an elementary-aged child, to have these thoughts. Yes, my imagination was always wild. The horseback riding instructors at the popular camp for young pre-teens in Thailand probably weren’t escaped Nazis. Even though they used to scrape our uneaten, chewed up bits of fried eggs off of our plates and eat them each morning. And shout in seemingly angry German (is there any other way?) at us as we tried to maneuver riding a horse. In the end, I was too sensitive for horseback riding camp. But, then as a high school graduate – yes, still a kid technically, at 17 years old – I made the trip to visit a concentration camp-turned-memorial in Austria. What a trip that was. To see the buildings, preserved as they were, kept intact to TEACH people what happened. Gas chambers, dissection tables, even blood stains still on the floor. Even at that age, as naive as I was on many levels, I knew the importance and that this must never happen again. And that I would fight injustice for the rest of my life. Bravo to Ms. Jenoff. Thank you for your writing. I cannot wait to read more of your work.

There are so many tales of unique bravery and courage during World War II. Tales such as this one based on little known people and events during the war are so interesting and heart wrenching and amazing at the same time. This story focuses on and blends two tales into one: the German circus that hid Jews in its ranks and a boxcar filled with babies taken from their families and being sent to Auschwitz. The author tells the story in alternating chapters from the points of view of the two main characters- Astrid, a Jewish aerialist and Noa, a Danish unwed mother banished by her family. The author does a good job of weaving the story with intertwining events throughout. I liked the portrayal of love, hope, friendship, and sacrifice permeating the story. I liked this book, but I didn't give it 5 stars because there were a few times that the storyline was a little hard to follow but not enough to hinder the story. If you enjoy World War II historical fiction, then definitely get this book to read!

3.5 stars. I think the author's own note says it all and appreciated her weaving a story from this historical info, yet bringing the two together was a bit forced. It held my interest but wasn't gripping. I found some of the characters well formed yet others lacking. I found the dynamics between the characters interesting and loved the ending. The author's note at the end of the book. "I found two remarkable stories in the archives of Yad Vashem. The first was a heartbreaking account of the “Unknown Children”— a boxcar full of babies, ripped from their families and headed for a concentration camp, too young to know their own names. The second was a story of a German circus that had sheltered Jews during the war. The Circus Althoff had taken in a young Jewish woman, Irene Danner, who herself hailed from another circus family. Several parts of the story were fascinating to me. First, I learned that the circus had sheltered not just Irene Danner, but her sister, mother and father. Her father, Hans Danner, was in fact not Jewish and was a soldier in the German army. When the German army sent him on leave and ordered him to divorce his Jewish wife, he defied the order and instead joined his wife and children in hiding. I also discovered that Irene Danner had fallen in love with a clown who was part of the Circus Althoff, Peter Storm- Bento, and that they had children together."

I absolutely loved this story, and stayed up many nights until the wee hours of the morning reading. I highly recommend reading this story of the hardships of war, love, loss and an unexpected ending.

I would like to thank the Publishers, HarperCollins, Mira, and Harlequin Enterprises Limited, as well as Pam Jenoff for the Advanced Reader’s Edition of “The Orphan’s Tale” by Pam Jenoff. This has to be one of my favorite Pam Jenoff’s novels. The historical fiction novel takes place during World War Two, and the Holocaust. This is a turbulent and devastating period in history. Pam Jenoff’s description of the isolation and depravity of the towns and villages as well as the attitudes of people during this time period is extraordinary and exceptional. The author has been so ambitious in weaving her tale, there is so much to absorb. One of the main characters, Noa,gets pregnant by a German soldier, and is forced to give up her baby. Noa’s family is intolerant and throws her out, where she is forced to clean near a railway station. Noa discovers a railroad car filled with Jewish babies, some alive, destined to a concentration camp, and decides to take one of the babies. She names him Theo, and is forced to escape in the ice and cold with no papers. Noa winds up in a German Circus. The owner of the Circus, has tried to provide safety for Jewish people, and offers Noa a job. At this time Noa meets Astrid, an acrobat in this circus. Astrid is Jewish, and was part of a Jewish Circus. Astrid is instructed to teach Noa how to do acrobatics. The two of them have a conflicted friendship based on a lack of trust and a need for survival. Astrid does not know where her family is, and is divorced. We do meet a number of complex characters. In my opinion, Pam Jenoff compares the indifference and immorality of people with courageous, caring people who offer hope, faith and love, and are willing to take risks. Kudos to Pam Jenoff for telling an amazing story, and bringing a different perspective to light. I am left with so many provoking thoughts and questions. I highly recommend “The Orphan’s Tale as a wonderful novel of historical fiction genre.