Reviewed by Emma Crowley
As the smell of smoke drifts through the air, Jewish people lock their doors. They no longer feel welcome in their home city, and while some mothers hide their children, others take them, clad in dark threadbare coats, to the crowded train station and the hope of a new life.
Rosa has feared for her twins since they were born two weeks ago. As she huddles in her filthy house, crammed in with her neighbours, she sees children growing weaker. It may be too late for her and her seven-year-old daughter Therese. But can she find a way out for her precious babies?
Dora scans the desperate crowd on the platform, despairing as she knows there isn’t room for all of them on the train to England. And when a woman thrusts a basket containing newborn twins into her arms, a shiver of dread slides down her spine. Babies aren’t authorised to travel – how can she keep them hidden from the cold-eyed soldiers?
She knows this mother wants the same thing she does – safety for these innocent children. But will she be able to help this brave woman before it is too late?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Twins in the Train to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Twins on the Train is without doubt the best book that Suzanne Goldring has written. Set in the years preceding World War Two and concluding in and around the outbreak of the war. The reader is taken on a journey which details the incredible efforts of the Quaker organisation to save as many Jewish children as possible. This method being the Kindertransport. I was aware of this prior to reading this book but Suzanne has brought the amazing feat of so many people richly to life and I have gained a deeper understanding and a much greater appreciation of what went on at the time.
As she mentions in her end notes she hoped that by setting the story before the outbreak of the war that readers would understand the climate at the time and how the Nazi’s grew to become so powerful. She certainly achieved this and despite the subject matter I found it refreshing that the story didn’t focus specifically on the events of World War Two as I have read so many historical fiction books that do this. It was brilliant to read about a different angle to the reasons for the outbreak of war and that for many years before September 1939 that people were aware of what was coming down the line and did their best to help those in desperate need. Yes, not everyone could be saved but those that were, were forever in their debt.
The story opens with a brief prologue set in 2023 as we meet Esther who lives in a care home. She doesn’t want to tell her story as she doesn’t know the end to it and she never knew much about the start of it. Herself and her twin Josef were one of the hundreds of children taken to Britain on the Kindertransport when they were but a few weeks old. Their mother Rosa took a risk and gave them to a stranger on the train and all these years later Esther has no definitive answer as to what happened her family.
Then we move back to early 1930’s Germany as the story of how twins came to be on the transport unfolds. The pacing was perfect throughout and the writing was excellent. In the past, I have at times found that the author’s ideas were good but that not much happened until much later in her books. But here the writing and plot was much tighter and in Dora, I found there to be a main character whom the reader could feel apathy towards her and above all else a deep respect. She was a remarkable woman placing herself in danger time and time again and the needs of others were always placed above her own.
The chapters move back and forth between Dora and Rosa not alternately, but we get enough of Rosa’s viewpoint to realise where her story is going and how her life changed once the Nazi’s came to power. But it was Dora who really caught my attention. She was British and came from a good background and had visited Germany with her cousin Verity (herself coming from plenty of money with an estate in the country) on several occasions. One trip in the summer of 1934 sees Dora sensing that terrible times are ahead. I knew from the get go that she was astute and could see the overall picture forming. The roots of evil were being sewn and she knew that the results of this would be disastrous for the thousands of Jews living in Germany. Dora is a Quaker and works for the Quaker Friends Society. She marries Hugh, a trainee doctor, but they agree to wait to have children as they are both aware that down the line war could be looming and neither would wish to bring a child into that climate.
The relationship between Hugh and Dora was something special and as Dora finds herself getting deeply involved in the Kindertransport along with the formidable, determined yet kind Brenda, I absolutely adored the respect that Hugh had for his wife. Theirs was a marriage built on fairness, trust and equality. Not once did he forbid her doing anything in relation to the transports. He could have easily been of the attitude that a woman’s place was in the home but Dora was given freedom and allowed to be an individual in her own right. He respected her views and supported her in every action, thought, word and deed never allowing her to become confined. She was allowed spread her wings and she used this to voice her opinions and do good in the world at a time when a horrific regime was beginning to ensnare so many.
Dora alongside Brenda made for a powerhouse of a team and she took so many trips over and back to Germany to transport as many Jewish children as possible. She understood the position the children’s parents found themselves in and she showed such emotion, kindness and empathy towards them. But it is hard for her when Verity seems to go against everything that Dora is fighting for. Verity to me seemed very flighty and to be honest not a woman of strong substance or character. She was all about having a good time and advancing her position in society and she certainly does that when she becomes entrenched in Hitler’s posse. I was surprised how her plot evolved and it made me change my opinion of her and I loved how Dora never gave up on her cousin. Verity had to go through the mill to emerge a different person who became useful and respected further on in the book.
Children are the future and must be saved. This statement had me stopping in my tacks because it is very true and Dora stands by this motto. The details of the transports were very well researched and the little subplots that developed and anecdotes that were added in all helped the reader develops a clear understanding of what was going on. I could see from Rosa’s chapters as to how her life disintegrated when her husband who had been a well-respected tailor was taken away. How each new law enacted against the Jews meant more restrictions, persecution and prejudice. Rosa was a selfless person backed into a corner and I loved seeing how her story melded with that of Dora’s. They were two amazing women living in dark, challenging and horrific times as the tide of hatred in Germany grew stronger and stronger. Normal life become impossible for the Jewish population but Dora struggles on with the missions of salvation. She just feels that she can never do enough and when the twins of the title appear in the book than things took a completely different turn but I thought the way the author developed this aspect of the book was very done.
The Twins on the Train shows that in times of danger, hatred and destruction there are many people out there who will put everything aside and do their bit for those in desperate need. Dora was a fantastically written character full of strength, passion and decency and I would have gladly continued reading her story far beyond the last word of this book. This as an emotional, heartfelt and very interesting read and as I have said the best book that the author has written and long may this continue.
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