One sentence summary
Lilac Girls: A Novel (Woolsey-Ferriday) is a historical fiction novel by Martha Hall Kelly about the lives of three women during the Second World War in Germany, Poland and America.
Book genre
Lilac Girls: A Novel (Woolsey-Ferriday) is a historical fiction novel.
Main topic of the book
Lilac Girls: A Novel (Woolsey-Ferriday) tells the stories of three different women who have endured extreme hardship during WWII. The story begins in 1939 and follows Caroline Ferriday, a socialite in New York, Herta Oberheuser, a doctor in Germany, and Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager taken by the Nazis. Each woman faces a different set of challenges and struggles due to the war, yet their lives soon become intertwined in a surprising way.
Key ideas
- Diverse stories highlighting the strength and resilience of women during times of war.
- The strength of friendship and hope during times of despair, fear, and darkness.
- The horrific consequences of war.
- The consequences of bearing witness to and speaking up about injustice.
Main parts of the book and a short summary
In the first part of Lilac Girls: A Novel (Woolsey-Ferriday), the story follows Caroline Ferriday, a wealthy socialite living in New York at the start of World War II. Her life changes when she takes in volunteer work with the French consulate to help the “Lilac Girls” — a group of Polish women imprisoned in Ravensbrück concentration camp. She encounters a former prisoner who has been tortured, and, driven to find justice for the Lilac Girls, she decides to find and bring it to the camp criminals.
The second part of the novel follows Herta Oberheuser, a German doctor who works at Ravensbrück. Under the Nazis, she faces terrible pressure to please her superiors and navigate the camps’ barbaric rules and punishment, and is eventually convicted as a war criminal.
The third part of the novel is about Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager taken by the Nazis who is forced to work in a German labor camp, witnessing many horrors. After years of hardships, she finds her place back in her home city while her beautiful letters draw her and Caroline’s stories together.
In the final part of the book, all the characters’ stories finally converge as they come together to face the aftermath of war and its consequences.
Key takeaways
- The consequences of bearing witness to and speaking up about injustice: This is embodied in Caroline’s and Kasia’s characters, as they are both driven to seek justice in the face of great disadvantages.
- The horrors of war: From Herta’s struggles as an unwilling Nazi doctor to Kasia’s experience as a captive, Lilac Girls emphasizes the devastating power of war and the sufferings of the innocent.
- The strength of women during wartime: Despite the hardship of war, the three women put their whole hearts into showing kindness and courage, and eventually come together to face the aftermath.
Author’s background and qualifications
Martha Hall Kelly is a New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction. She graduated from Wesleyan University in 1984 and went on to become a senior marketing executive. Her debut novel, “Lilac Girls: A Novel (Woolsey-Ferriday)”, has been published in over twenty countries and is being developed for a feature film.
Target audience
Lilac Girls: A Novel (Woolsey-Ferriday) is written for readers who are interested in fiction based on true events. It is particularly targeting female readers who are looking for a novel highlighting the strength and resilience of women during times of hardship.
Publisher and first publication date
Lilac Girls: A Novel (Woolsey-Ferriday) was published by Ballantine Books in 2016.