"The Survivors", by Kate Furnivall

Post war Germany 1945, this epic historical fiction brings us to Graufeld Displaced Persons camp where we follow Klara Janowska and her daughter Alicja, they along with thousands others who needed to navigate through dangerous conditions and do anything to find a safe home. Klara and Alicja were the lucky ones.

Klara and Alicka are the heart in this sad tale. The story highlights how far a mother would go to protect her child and how deep the love of a daughter has for her mother. Both had endured the horrors of war before fleeing their native Poland walking for weeks to get to Graufeld , a camp where they found themselves in a grim situation, with basic rations and where they will be plunged in a cat and mouse game with an old adversary….. Oskar Schotz.

The story is narrated by Klara, Alicja and Davide Bouvier, the camp administrator.

The characterisation is superb especially when Klara and Oskar circle each other amidst the confines of the camp. The story also moves beyond the camps’ walls where the cost of war is revealed in heart wrenching depth. Cruelty and kindness and simple human compassion are poignantly explored. Ms. Furnivall particularly knows how to emotional engage us with shocking events in the darkest days of wartime and by vividly bringing to life the uncertainty and desperation of the displaced.

“The Survivors” although brutal is beautifully written, full of tension, thrills, and historical details. This is another cleverly plotted historical fiction which explores the resistance of human against adversity.

Well-done

Thank you Simon & Schuster and Netgalleys for this ARC