Lilac Girls

This gripping first book, which draws inspiration from the life of a real-life World War II heroine, is an amazing tale of love, redemption, and horrific secrets that were kept for many years.

On the eve of a fateful war, New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.

Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish adolescent living across the ocean from Caroline, feels her carefree youth ebbing away as she becomes more and more engrossed in her work as a courier for the underground resistance organisation. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspect neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.

An advertisement for a government medical post seems to be Herta Oberheuser's ticket out of a lonely existence as a driven young doctor from Germany. But, once hired, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.

The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious female-only Nazi concentration camp. The tragedy and triumph of their stories cross continents—from New York to Paris, and Germany to Poland—capturing the indomitable pull of compassion to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.

Martha Hall Kelly has written a wonderful book about underappreciated women and their pursuit of happiness, love, and second chances called Lilac Girls. It is a story that will keep readers bonded with the characters, searching for the truth, until the final pages.