Prague 1939. Young mother Eva has a secret from her past. When the Nazis invade, Eva knows the only way to keep her daughter Miriam safe is to send her away - even if it means never seeing her again. But when Eva is taken to a concentration camp, her secret is at risk of being exposed.
In London, Pamela volunteers to help find places for the Jewish children arrived from Europe. Befriending one unclaimed little girl, Pamela brings her home. It is only when her young son enlists in the RAF that Pamela realises how easily her own world could come crashing down.
Many thanks to Headline via NetGalley for my copy of The Child On Platform One to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Gill Thompson's second novel The Child on Platform One has certainly cemented her as one of my favourite historical fiction authors. Her début The Oceans Between Us was a stunning read and this second story proved to be no different. At times this is a very difficult and heartbreaking read given the subject matter but I am glad the author did not spare the painful and devastating details and experiences the main characters were going through. This is truly an eye opening and powerful read that gives food for thought.
We have all read and heard lots of details surrounding the events of World War Two but Gill Thompson takes the reader even further and delves deep into just what Jewish families were forced to endure all because of the insane actions of one man hell bent on domination, destruction and devastation which still has such an impact on so many even to this day. I found myself flying through the chapters because I became so engrossed in the characters and the various strands of the story unfolding before my eyes. The writing was so vivid and realistic that I could picture each setting quite clearly and as the tension, unease and danger was amplified with each chapter the further I progressed through the book, I questioned could there ever be some form of happy ending given all the cruelty and hardship that was unfolding.
If the intriguing title doesn't make you sit up and take notice then the extremely hard-hitting prologue will certainly do that. In the city of Prague in 1930, Eva is late returning home from her music lesson. Music is her passion and she hopes she will be able to turn it into something that will fulfil her life when she is older. As she races through the streets to be back before the curfew she takes a short cut through the cemetery which proves to be a very bad idea. Eva is Jewish and her religion proves to be a target on her back. What follows is upsetting to read but it's only as the book progresses that you come to understand how crucial this event was as it forms the basis from which many strands of the story develop and how connections are formed later on.
We then move forward to part one which focused on the years 1933-1939 and subsequently there are a further two parts. I would have loved within each part for specific years or dates to be mentioned as I found in the beginning as I settled into the rhythm and flow of the story that chapters could jump forward a year or two without you even realising it and you would have only become familiar with the characters and what they were doing and then within a turn of a page their situation had changed and the time frame had significantly moved forward. Apart from this issue, which I did become accustomed to, I thought this was an excellent read and a real worthwhile inclusion to the genre where the subject matter has already been extensively written about.
In 1933 things have changed for Eva and she is married to Josef, a widower significantly older than her. He is a scientist with a good job working at the university and Eva looks after the house. I instantly wondered what had happened to Eva in the intervening years that the young girl with such promise and hopes and dreams with regards to her music now seemed to be stuck in not a loveless marriage as such but one which perhaps was not what she had wished for her if that had been her first choice of direction for her life. Josef is kind and was willing to take her in but most of the time she feels lifeless and numb and she has suppressed painful and disturbing memories. The extent and ramifications of these memories will be exposed and felt much later in the novel and as I came to understand why Eva felt the way she did things really made sense and I came to understand what a truly remarkable, resilient and self sacrificing woman she truly was.
There are rumblings of discontent in Czechoslovakia as Hitler, the new German chancellor, begins to express his feelings about Jews and with the introduction of the Nuremberg Laws life will never be the same again When Eva gives birth to a daughter, Miriam, little does she realise the huge sacrifice she will have to make and the consequences it will have.What follows over the course of several years as the country is invaded and war declared is a harrowing and heartbreaking story but at the same time it is one of great courage in the face of adversity. Hope always lingers in the most sad, hard and upsetting of times and as you come to view Eva as a friend you cross your fingers that something positive will occur.
Eva is soon faced with a choice and one she must make on her own even though her mother is in on the secret. Josef refuses to believe that anything bad can happen to them given his high position in the university but Eva is wise and can see the bigger picture. She knows once the Germans cement their mark that really all bets are off. OK she didn't know what horrors would be inflicted upon masses of innocent people but she did understand that Miriam needed to be kept safe and as a mother she made the ultimate decision. She heard of a man helping to transport people out of Prague to safety in England and she knew given the daily news of atrocities and rules being enforced that her daughter was her priority and that she needed to leave. I can't imagine what it must have been like to have to say goodbye to your own flesh and blood never knowing would that be the last time you held them in your arms as you tried to imprint their face on your mind. Eva without doubt was brave and courageous always putting others including her mother and father as well as Miriam before her own needs.
Told concurrently alongside Eva's story is the story of Pamela who is married to Hugh who works in the Foreign Office. They have a son, Will, who is away at boarding school so Pamela occupies her days volunteering organising clothes for those children sent to England due to increasing hostilities on the continent. There is a restlessness about Pamela as if she is not quite sure what she needs to be doing in life given the day to day care of Will is no longer there. But similar to Eva I felt there was a kind, brave and determined woman waiting to emerge and given the circumstances that unfold when war breaks out, it seems this is her opportunity to show that she is more than just a housewife. She helps with the Jewish Kindertransport and through some sort of fate, Pamela and Hugh take in Miriam.
Over the period of the war they treat her like one of their own and give her the best opportunities possible but as news emerges of what has gone on behind closed doors in Poland and Czechoslovakia everyone wonders will Miriam ever be able to return to some sort of normality. As much as I liked reading about Pamela and her perspective of the story I felt at times that some of her chapters did seem a like a bit of filling in as there was some repetition or else not much was happening from her end. I found myself more eager to get back to what Eva and her family were experiencing once the Germans invaded. When I reached the conclusion of the novel it only really made sense to me why Pamela had to be there as such a big part of the overall book because without her we firstly would not have had the take on war from the English perspective and secondly connections that emerged in the later chapters would not have been able to occur only for the fact that Pamela did feature in the book.
But really it was Eva and her experiences right from the prologue that thoroughly captured my attention and had my heart in my mouth on more than one occasion. The sheer terror, guilt, fear, hunger, horror and danger felt by her oozed from almost every page. All the familiarity, love and support she had ever felt was whipped from underneath her not to mention her beloved daughter was gone to a different country. It was difficult to read of the daily struggle just to keep going given the rampant illness, infections and appalling conditions she and so many others were forced to endure. But her love for music and her strength of character and spirit always shone through.
There was a very very surprising turn of events at about the three quarter way mark that made me reassess the whole book and in a way given how certain things turned out I am glad that this twist did occur because other elements were just too heartbreaking to fully comprehend. Gill Thompson kept me in suspense throughout and showed how through such suffering, misery, misfortune, torture and distress that there can be a ray of hope and happiness in the murkiest of times and that hardship can produce all kinds of courage. There are three true/real life strands that feature throughout the story as mentioned in the end notes and I was surprised to read they were actual fact as I had never heard about them before which only goes to prove the extensive research undertaken by Gill Thompson in order to write this excellent book which deserves huge success. You will be easily taken in by the story and amazed at the depths of courage displayed. It's definitely well worth a read.
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Huge thanks Emma and Sharon xx
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