Emma's Review: The Girl with the List by Shari J. Ryan

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Day in, day out, servant Rosalie is forced to aid in the harrowing medical selections at Auschwitz, marking prisoners as “fit” or “unfit” with trembling hands. She once thought “unfit” meant they’d get the help they needed. Now she knows the devastating truth: “Fit” means they live another day, “unfit” means they don’t…

Every day, her heart breaks further as she hopelessly scans the crowds for the face of the man she loves, torn from her a year ago simply for being Jewish. Praying that he’s still alive, Rosalie desperately tries to save as many other men as she can—risking everything by marking them as fit and hoping her act of rebellion isn’t noticed.

Then one icy morning, she looks up from her list into the stunning green eyes of the man in her line—the man her heart beats for. And now the real fight begins, as Rosalie risks her life to save Stefan’s again and again. But then one morning, Stefan isn’t there. Rosalie frantically searches for him, blood turning to ice. He’s gone. But how far will she go to find him? And can he stay alive without her until she does…?

Book Links: Kindle 

Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Girl with the List to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.

Shari J.Ryan mentions at the end of her latest book, The Girl with the List, that this as with all her stories gives a voice to those who were suppressed during the Holocaust and through this incredible, extraordinary, heartbreaking and devastating read she does this. No matter how many books I have read that are set during World War Two I am still shocked by what people had to endure through the most devastating and horrific of times. The author has written a story that will pack an emotional punch and at times it is difficult to read given the nature of the subject matter where no detail is shied away from. Rosalie and Stefan are two awe inspiring people whose deep rooted love for each other sees them plunge to experience the bottom depths of depravity and hardship through no fault of their own. Their journey is remarkable, inspiring, courageous and steadfast and it makes for a superb read.

Told through the perspectives of the two main characters, chapters alternate back and forth between Rosalie and Stefan and their time in Auschwitz, both of whom have very different experiences of this gruesome place but also we learn of their time in the years leading up the war. At times it did feel like two separate stories were being told but midway through I realised that this was actually working well and at some point the strands would merge and certain things that I had wondering about/questioning would mould together and make perfect sense. Survival, strength, stamina, protection and love are just some of the words that spring to mind when I contemplate the themes and emotions that emerge throughout the book. 

1943 sees Rosalie in a very precarious position that she has no immediate way out of without risking instant death. Forced to work for Weyman, a member of the S.S. and one of the key figures at Auschwitz, she is beholden to his every order. Initially, it was to care for his newborn baby and other children as a nanny in the family home in the residential area outside of the camp where German families go about their day acting oblivious to the horrors that were occurring behind the barbed wire fence of the camp. But now Weyman has Rosalie doing much of his dirty work and she has no other choice but to keep going and do what no person should have to experience. How did she get to be her given that she is not Jewish or would not be considered as one of the undesirables that Hitler wishes to rid from society in order to create his vision of the perfect Aryan race? I found myself asking this question many times and when the actual details of why she came to be there make themselves known it’s bittersweet but it makes sense why early on in the book she says its her fault that Stefan is in the camp. Because of this she will do anything if it means providing him with one more day of life which would hopefully last until the war was over. Her love and devotion for Stefan radiates from every page and the acts of courage, fearlessness, grit and heroism are admirable.

Both characters are faced with indescribable torture and are forced into positions that would have seemed unfathomable pre war. Rosalie is made to identify people fit to work as they line up daily. With one stroke of the pen she can condemn a man to his fate. What power to wield but it’s not a skill she wishes to posses or be in charge of but she is given no option. Seeing Stefan amongst the inmates and knowing that he suffers from epilepsy and will be without his medication she is more resolute than ever that she will do her best to make sure he survives the confines of hell that he is being subjected to. What follows are subtle but extraordinary acts of resistance and defiance that go against the regime. Her heart is torn in two at everything she witnesses and does but she knows it is vital if she wishes to be reunited with Stefan. Turmoil, angst, horror, sickness, death and harrowing scenes ensue the details of which I won’t go into but suffice to say they were hard hitting and at times difficult to comprehend and digest as one awful thing after another ensued. In a way as Stefan becomes detached from the reality around him the more his suffering endures the reader attempts to try and distance themselves also but this is impossible because by this stage the characters have really got inside your head.

The love and devotion that Rosalie and Stefan have for each other is what remains with them as they battle through undesirable events as the brutal Nazi killing machine relentlessly marches on. I felt Rosalie was given more time to shine as Stefan was the one physically incarcerated and suffering even more so than the position Rosalie found herself in. That’s not to take away from her precarious situation by any means but I felt Stefan was experiencing and witnessing awful degradation, starvation, exhaustion, illness and inhumane acts with death and disease all around him but he hadn’t the strength to always fully explain how he was feeling. He was in a position of helplessness as she physically couldn’t do anything to try and escape and he was placing all his faith and trust in Rosalie that she would always try and do the right thing by him. Given his weakened state how he drove on each day and was moved about the camp only to go through even more horrific things, I just can’t fathom how the human spirit can be so resilient. But the love and devotion that he had for Rosalie is one thing that stood to him and to understand how this came to be I enjoyed how the author took us back to earlier years. We came to know of both characters backgrounds living in a Polish village and although of different faiths they were destined to be together. Rosalie has an event from her childhood that fuels her fire and the theme of time also plays a central role throughout the book which can be interpreted in many ways by the reader.

Rosalie would trade her life for Stefan’s without a second thought and I felt Stefan would do the same. In this case, the traditional role of man protecting and saving the woman was reversed and I enjoyed reading how it all played out. Stefan endured humiliation, starvation and torture but he demonstrated how the heart, soul and mind has a remarkable way of endurance and resilience when we are pushed to the absolute limit and in are in danger of falling over a praecipe that doesn’t have ledge to cling to. I will say that I felt the ending was very rushed especially as such time, care and compassion was given to establishing and developing the story. Another few chapters from the characters perspectives leading up the final pages would have been great and given the story concluded around the 90% mark on Kindle there was ample room to do this. Apart from this minor issue, I found The Girl with the List, to be a fantastic read reminding us of all those who were lost and those who survived one of the most horrific, appalling and heinous times in history