Reviewed by Emma Crowley
As the darkest shadows of the war spread, nurse Margarete Weiss is sent away to work in a mother and baby home in a beautiful corner of the German countryside. As she approaches the fairy-tale castle with manicured grounds and fair-haired young women laughing in the sunshine, she imagines she will be helping to create a haven for young German mothers to have their children. But when she discovers what is really going on inside the castle walls, she knows she needs to do whatever she can to put a stop to the horror she witnesses, even if it means risking her own life…
Italy, 2005. 90-year-old Margarete sits in her chair in her care home, her hands trembling as she looks into the face of the young reporter, Kristel, sitting in front of her. Kristel’s bright blue eyes and intelligent smile are so familiar, and as Kristel explains she is here to talk to her about the children taken from their mothers during the war, Margarete knows her faded blue notebook with its list of names might hold the answers that Kristel needs.
But as Margarete shares the names with Kristel, her heart beats fast inside her chest. She knows that sharing the truth about those terrible days is the right thing to do, but it also shines a spotlight on her own painful secrets. The notebook will provide Kristel and Margarete with answers… But at what price? And can the two women help each other find the peace they so badly need?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Orphan List to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Orphan List is the first in a new series from Ann Bennett which shines a light on the Lebensborn programme run by the Germans during World War Two. I had vaguely heard of this subject matter prior to reading this book but I didn’t know specific details so this proved to be an enlightening read. But Anne has provided the reader with a fascinating account into a terrible, shameful and inhumane policy inflicted upon so many women. I’m always blown away that so many years later there are still so many facets to World War Two that can be written about and as a reader I am continuously learning about new aspects of the war. The story is told from three points of view and moved back and forth between the past and the present. This method of telling the story worked very well and the movement between the timelines was smooth and effortless. The book opens with a very brief prologue where Hedda is travelling to Fussen in Bavaria to meet Sebastien. She has found herself in a situation and hopes that he will care for her. But little does she know what is around the corner and her trust might very well be misplaced.
The story then moves to Trento in Italy. It’s 2005 and Margarete is 90 and has spent several years in a care home. She promised herself that she would never go back to Germany where she was born and to all intents and purposes her carers believe that she is Italian. Margarete harbours many memories and secrets and now that she is old and feeble and her health is failing she wants to tell her story but she fears that she will die alone and unfulfilled. When she sees a news report from Germany by journalist Kristel her interest is piqued and the past comes rushing back to meet her. Now is the time she knows that she must share the burden which has weighed on her for so long. Contact is made with Kristel and soon she arrives at the care home where Margarete is ready and willing to share her haunting, traumatic and heart-breaking story.
Kristel has a vested interest in researching more about the Lebensborn programme. It is personal to her and the reasons for this become clearer the further we delve into the story. I had my suspicions right from the start regarding this aspect of the story and I was quite smug that I had worked things out so early on. I thought this is too predictable. I know where things are going to go regarding Kristel but I was delighted to be proven wrong and to be honest I should have known I was getting my timelines wrong. Kristel is an interesting enough character but not one who I was always eager to get back to in order to learn more about her. I felt she served her purpose well as the conduit to connect the past and the present but beyond that it as Margarete that I was deeply invested in as I keen to know more about what she did during the war. The romance aspect to Kristel’s storyline I could have done without. It just seemed too implausible and occurred far too quickly but feeling this way didn’t attract from my overall enjoyment and understanding of the story for it played only a very minor role.
Hedda is the third woman which the book focuses on. We get brief chapters every now and again from her viewpoint in the present day. She slowly reveals her story and how it connects to the overall picture. She is still suffering from her experiences during the war. Living alone in an apartment block in Munich she is miserable and depressed and the scars of the past are very much evident. She is but one example of the Lebensborn programme and how this systematic programme of eugenics destroyed so many people’s lives and tore women from their children. Hedda too sees Kristel’s report but has she the inner strength to share her story and if she does so will it allow for healing, forgiveness and acceptance or has too much water passed under the bridge?
Margarete is the stand out character from the book. She is the glue that holds all the pieces together. She holds true to her morals and convictions in the face of such a deplorable programme and she did this all to keep her family safe as they did not align with the Nazi’s way of thinking. Margarete works at a children’s hospital in Berlin as a nursery nurse. She is talented and dedicated to her job. So much so that she catches the eye of Nazi officials and before she knows it and with no other choice given her family’s stance on the Nazi’s rise to power and their actions she finds herself sent to Bavaria to work in a programme created by Himmler. She will work under a Doctor Finkel and time and time again her integrity will be tested but I loved how she always remained true to herself and what she believed in and what she knew to be right and just. At all times Margarete retained her humanity and did everything in a fair manner. She knew if a day of reckoning came then she could clearly face her conscience. I felt sorry for her that she was forced to leave the security of her job and the comfort of her family and be put in a situation where she didn’t agree with what was going on. Knowing that time and time again she was engaging in something that was wrongful, underhand and unforgivable I questioned how could she engage with it and live with herself but she had her family at the heart and centre of everything that she did and that deserved nothing but admiration.
So what exactly was the Lebensborn programme? It was a system where unmarried mothers were encouraged to keep their babies in order to increase the stock of Ayran children in the Fatherland. Women were sent to the castle in Bavaria (there were other homes dotted around Germany at the time also) where their ancestry and that of the father of their child were checked. If the requirements were met women would remain at the home until they had their babies upon which they would relinquish all parental rights and the babies were then in turn adopted by members of the SS or well to do Germans who were unable to have their own children. It was evident that the author had done lots of research into this topic and it was a real eye opener for me. I don’t know how the women could do what they did but then you have to take a step back and be subjective and look at the overall situation that they were in.
Another aspect of the programme involving women and men being accommodated at the home for a short time was actually stomach churning. The women seemed to be brainwashed into certain actions and it showed how under the Nazi’s thumb they were. Margarete knows she can’t stand by and do nothing and it was interesting to delve deeper into story to learn and understand the remarkable actions that she under took. She knew she one woman alone couldn’t stop the onslaught of such a forceful and powerful programme but through the actions that are described and the courage she possess she does her small bit that will one day go on to hopefully have positive consequences.
There is a romance aspect to the story for Margarete and I felt it worked much better than that of Kristel’s. It felt genuine and that Margarete deserved happiness and through working with this person she was doing her utmost best and could stand over every action no matter what danger it placed her in. There is one major question that went unanswered at the end of the book and yes I was frustrated because of this but it only means I am desperate for book two in the hopes that it will continue on even though some aspects have been already been resolved. There is also one other character where I felt oh we don’t know specifics about them so maybe there could be more to come about them in the future. The Orphan List was an informative, heart-breaking, well plotted and well developed book which shows that resistance no matter how big or small will always make a difference.
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