Title: Wunderland
Author: Jennifer Cody Epstein
Published: 2019
Call #: FIC Epstein
http://pclib.polarislibrary.com/view.aspx?author=epstein&title=wonderland
Wunderland is not your typical World War II novel. It is told from the perspective of three women, Ilse, Renate and Ava, and in different places and time periods. Ilse and Renate are young women and the best of friends in 1930s Germany. Ava is Ilse's daughter who lives in New York in the 1970s and 1980s. The story is told in alternating chapters. Each chapter identifies the character and time period, so the back and forth is not confusing.
In the chapters set in Germany, Ilse and Renate watch as Hitler's vision begins to take hold and galvanize the nation. The persecution of the Jews has not really begun yet, and the two girls are focused on being a part of the Hitler Youth Movement. When the Nuremburg laws force Renate to confront a family secret, Ilse and Renate's friendship begins to rapidly unravel. Epstein does a wonderful job of taking you into the world of Nazism before war breaks out. How the extremism of the movement creates a new German ideology where there is only one correct political outlook, one true race. The chapter in which Nazis begin to burn down Jewish businesses and synagogues and begin openly inciting violence against their non-Aryan friends and neighbors is particularly devastating to read. When Renate's family is caught up in the violence, Ilse makes a decision that ultimately and completely, severs the fragile friendship between the girls and has lasting impacts that no one sees coming until the end of the story.
In the chapters set in the 1970's & 80's, Ilse and Ava's strained relationship illustrates what happened to Ilse, Renate and their respective families during and after the war. Forgiveness is sought and absolution is withheld from so many of the characters, that the ending is much sadder than I expected. All in all, this was a very interesting story about friendship, war and betrayal. Recommended for fans of All the Light We Cannot See and The Nightingale and for WWII historical fiction fans.
Jill B.
Popular Materials Manager