Marta could see her reflection in the parlour window. Her hair was dark and curly; she had a dimple in the middle of her left cheek that seemed to drive her innocence home. Pavel got up from his chair, and he stood next to her for a moment, looking down at the town square. There was a woman trying to cram an enormous valise into the boot of a Tatra, and several more detachments of Czech soldiers. A young girl cried openly as she watched a uniformed back retreat across the square. Her man going off to fight. She held a single rose in her hand, the petals pointed toward the ground like a magic wand that had lost its power. And Marta felt suddenly the same helpless dread. The fog inside her lifted and the old familiar feeling came back. Things were about to happen, she knew. Things she would be powerless to stop.
(from Far to Go, page 13 in the ARC)
As I turned the last page and brushed away a few tears, I realized how deeply affected I was by Alison Pick’s newest novel, Far to Go. I was hooked from the first page, and I found it hard to pull myself away from it for all those necessary tasks — work, housekeeping, and even sleep. Far to Go is one of those novels that you read holding your breath; you know the bottom is going to fall out from under you at some point, but you just can’t stop reading.
In Far to Go, Pick tells the story of a Jewish family and their Gentile governess, Marta, just before the outbreak of World War II from Marta’s point of view. After the annexation of Austria, Hitler sets his sights on Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland, where Marta lives with Paval and Anneliese Bauer and their son, Pepik. Marta doesn’t have a family, and despite being a servant, she loves Pepik as if he was her own, and she feels like part of the Bauer family. Paval tells Marta his concerns about the Nazis taking his country, and Marta carries Anneliese’s darkest secret — and the two women are bound together, given that Anneliese suspects Marta is having an affair with Ernst, the Sudeten German who manages Paval’s factory.
When the Nazis take the Sudetenland and things for the Jews begin to change for the worse, Ernst tells Marta that she has to take sides, and even though she does things she later regrets that change the course of a family’s history, Marta’s loyalty remains with the Bauers — the only real family she has ever known. Through Marta’s eyes, we see the Bauers relocate to Prague, and after the Nazi occupation of the city, scramble to escape the country. We feel her desire to be loved and accepted as part of the family, her fears of abandonment, her guilt, and her confusion about the swiftly changing world under Hitler.
Along with the narrative from Marta’s point of view, Pick includes letters from the Bauers and others that reveal pieces of their story and a present-day narrative from the point of view of a narrator whose identity is revealed toward the end and sheds new light on the events that occurred in 1938-39 and the fate of the main characters. Through this narrator, Pick also tells the story of the Kindertransport, in which families in England, Scotland, and elsewhere took in Jewish children to protect them from the evils being perpetrated in their native countries.
Pick’s writing is tight, beautifully conveying emotion in few words. I became so involved in the lives of her characters, and as I watched their world fall apart, I felt a deep sadness in my chest. It’s amazing how writing can hit you so hard, but even though Far to Go is fiction, I kept thinking about all the Jewish families who actually lived through what the Bauers and Marta experienced — people losing their family businesses, being forced to choose whether to keep their children close or send them away, not knowing who to trust.
Far to Go is a powerful novel about a painful part of our world’s history. It’s about loyalty and family, love and loss, betrayal and guilt. It’s about how a single action can change everything. Most importantly, it’s about remembering and makes you wonder how many survivors of the Holocaust — especially children — had to piece together the story of their families and even their own existence before the war from letters and scant memories. Pick’s novel is one that will stay with me for a long time and definitely will make my “best of” list for 2011.
Thanks to TLC Book Tours for allowing me to participate in the blog tour for Far to Go. To follow the tour, click here.
Disclosure: I received a copy of Far to Go from HarperCollins for review purposes. I am an IndieBound affiliate and an Amazon associate.
© 2011 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
This book sounds really compelling. I’m so impressed with your words and am off to see if I can get this on my Kindle. Not a cheerful book for my vacation, but I think it might be a good one to read soon. Thanks for sharing, Anna!
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Thanks, Kay! I hope you love it as much as I did.
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What a fantastic review, Anna. I will add this book to my list immediately!
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Thanks, Beth! I hope you get a chance to read it soon.
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Great review. It sounds wonderful, and painful
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Yes, it was both of those things and more.
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This looked so good — glad it didn’t disappoint. I’ve added it to my TBR for later this fall — sounds wonderful.
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I can’t wait to read your thoughts on it!
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Oh, this sounds really good!
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It was! You should give it a try!
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Anna, wonderful review! It sounds like a very affecting book.
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Thanks, Suko! I still find myself thinking about it a week later.
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Now this is the type of WWII novel I love. Those are the best that make you feel for every character in the book. Great review….now I have to add it to the tbr list on good reads
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Just let me know when you want to borrow my copy. I really think you’d like it.
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Sounds good and sad. I really should read more WWII related books.
Thanks for the review!
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My pleasure! Sometimes I think I read too many WWII books. I have to space them out more because they really are heavy.
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I love your review of this book, Anna. I thought it was wonderful, so sad and touching and the characters were amazing. My heart broke for poor Pepik. His story made me think of the impact of the war and Holocaust on other children and families. I read stories like this and books on history… I know Hitler was a real person and tore peopl’s lives apart but sometimes it’s hard to believe, it feels surreal because it’s hard to imagine such evil walking among us doing such terrible things. It really puts life in perspective.
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My heart breaks for all the children. By focusing on one family, Pick personalizes the experience of living under the Third Reich. That makes it hit harder.
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Oh, I just love it when I become that engrossed in a book! This sounds fabulous!
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You definitely should give this one a try!
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I can feel how emotionally involved you were in this story. Your review really touched me and now I MUST experience this story for myself!!
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I do hope you read it and love it as much as I did!
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Sounds like such a moving story. Thank you for sharing your review of it.
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You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by.
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Wonderful review Anna. This sounds like a very powerful book and one worth reading.
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Thanks, Darlene!
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This sounds like a very moving, emotional story, great review!
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Thanks, Sharon!
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Wow, this sounds wonderful. I’m going to keep an eye out for it!
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I’d love to hear what you think of it!
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I’m really loving the historical fiction I’ve been reading this year so I think I need to check this one out now!
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There’s been a lot of great historical fiction this year. Hope you have time for this one.
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I loved this book too. My heart was breaking for those poor children on the Kindertransport.
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Such a sad period in history. Makes me hurt thinking of all those kids.
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I can’t imagine not knowing about my family history – it’s such a huge part of who I am, I think I’d be lost without it. Having to build a life for myself without knowing where I came from would be very, VERY difficult for me.
Thanks for this fantastic review. I’m so glad you enjoyed the book and that you were a part of this tour.
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Thanks, Heather! I don’t know too much about my great-grandparents, but at least I have memories of my family. I can’t imagine not even knowing who they were or what they looked like or if they loved me. So sad!
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Wow, this sounds like a moving read. Wonderful review Anna.
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Thanks, Naida!
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oh wow! this book sounds amazing and i’m glad that you were touched by it so much and enjoyed it. i’m adding it to my wishlist, although it’ll probably will take me some time to get around to it. i’ve been reading so many depressing books lately that i need something to cheer me up now.
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I hope you get a chance to read this one, but I know what you mean about reading too many depressing books at one time. It takes a toll after awhile.
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Hope you had a special Mother’s Day Anna.
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Thanks, Diane! I hope you did, too!
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Great review Anna! I’ve seen this book before, but now I really want to add it to my TBR list. The writing sounds spectacular, along with a fantastic story, sounds like my kind of review! Just what I needed, more books on the TBR list!
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Sorry about that…sort of. 😉 I hope you have a chance to read this book!
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Glad to hear you liked the book. I only skimmed your review (avoiding spoilers). Can’t wait to get my hands on this one.
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I sure hope you do. Would love to hear your thoughts.
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[…] 12. Lebensborn by Jo Ann Bender (WWII) 13. Heart of Deception by M.L. Malcolm (WWII and later) 14. Far to Go by Alison Pick (WWII) 15. The Winter of the World by Carol Ann Lee (WWI) 16. Island Beneath the Sea […]
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[…] Far to Go by Alison Pick […]
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