Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
As June Goulding tells it, things were even worse for those in the hospital where no assistance apart from that of the midwife was allowed - no pain-relief, no episiotomies, no sutures, no healing baths, a doctor who only came to take Wassermann tests or, once, to provide anaesthesia. One big problem, Margarete has to forever live as the German girl, Annegret! She is on the run to escape to the free zone in France. Wilhelm and Reiner are relentless in their pursuit to find Margarete to kill her. Let's just say these brothers aren't nice guys. Only one has a change of heart as the story goes on. Does she live? The question is posed throughout this story is, who has the chose to decide who lives or who dies?
That's the worst of it, maybe, but it's also the tip of the iceberg. Goulding rapidly realised that nursing at the convent was going to bear little resemblance to the standards of care she was used to. The sister in charge had the final say, and her focus was punishment. That meant: insufficient rations, and hard physical labour while acutely pregnant, and no painkillers, and no stitches no matter how badly a women tore during birth, and no calling the doctor, and on and on it goes.This is an amazing story of survival on Margarete's part. It's 1941 during WW2 in Germany. She's Jewish working for a rich German family as a maid. She is treated horribly by them and when a bomb explosion happens, the house they are in explodes! This is Margarete's chance to escape because she looks so much like Annegret, the youngest spoiled daughter of the family and there is only a 2 year age difference between them. Margarete switches identity papers with Annegret,who was killed. Reiner and Wilhelm are the older brothers of the family and the only surviving members because they weren't there during the explosion. This is a story of strength, courage and survival. A story of determination against all odds. A story that highlights the prejudices and bigotry whilst reminding us that there is hope. But it is also a love story... June recounts all of this faithfully but most interestingly for me, she adds in her perspective as a nurse and midwife. The goal here was clearly to punish vulnerable women and girls; how else could you possibly explain a nun refusing to allow a teenage mother to be sutured following a traumatic delivery? No pain relief or medical interventions allowed either. No kindness, no dignity, no care. You’ve often said how important a rural upbringing was for you. How has it influenced your writing? A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW is a heartwrenching tale of survival that is a compelling read you won't want to put down. It draws you in and has you questioning the moral dilemma of whether one human life is worth more than another. The despicable views of the Nazis concerning Jews and even the French people has you shaking your head with disbelief. The German people actually believed the brainwashing propaganda of the Nazis concerning their superiority and the unworthiness of the "filthy Jews". There were times when Wilhelm shook his head in disbelief when he was actually puzzled as to why the French did not welcome them with open arms. He actually believed the propaganda Hitler spouted.
I know the world was a very different place when the events that took place in the book occurred, but I could still slap the face of the Nun who condemns the girls and women who come to the convent to be hidden away while they are pregnant and to give birth. I enjoyed this book, except at times the writing was choppy and hard to follow. There's also some swearing in it, but not so much or else I wouldn't have finished it.
I found there to be a lot of repetition initially as to how Margarete felt about the decision she had made. Literally the same thing was said over and over with just a few words changed. I felt it had been said once it didn’t need to be repeated again and again and it was like it was being used as a filler in of sorts. But once this stopped I found the flow of the story to be excellent and I existed in a constant state of fear for Margarete. She became a pawn in a disgusting game and even though she knows she is slightly better off in her new found situation rather than facing harassment, brutality and abuse in a camp still her conscience constantly plays at her as to whether she made the right decision? She was a strong, brave and admirable character but when her feelings begin to change you lose some respect for her but at the same time I did see where she was coming from considering how well pivotal male character had been written. Even I began to feel the way she did. After the women had given birth, the babies were kept a while, but then were sent by the nuns themselves over to America to be adopted, giving the birth mother no indication of what may have happened to their baby, again, this was done as a form of punishment. The mothers, who were mostly teenagers, were kept there until they gave birth, with no form of pain relief or the stitching up of tears that the birth may have caused afterwards. They were also expected to give birth on a commode, instead of a bed. All of this, because these girls were considered outcasts and sinners to society. Berlin, 1941: The story opens with a bang - quite literally - an air raid on the city sees the Hubers scrambling to the safety of their cellar. An officer of high standing within the SS, Huber and his wife along with their daughter Annegret push their maid aside in an attempt to save themselves without sparing a thought for her. And why would they? She was nothing but a dirty Jew, employed as a housemaid to undertake their every whim and every chore...ableit unpaid. Her life meant nothing to the superior greatness of the German people. Book II: In A Light in the Window, Father Tim is in love and running scared. Cynthia has won his heart, but he is set in his ways and afraid of letting go. To complicate things, a wealthy and powerful widow pursues Father Tim, plying him with crab cobbler and old sherry. In the ensuing comedy of errors, he just can’t set his foot right. Somehow the antidote to this confusion rests in the history of his oldest and dearest parishioner, Miss Sadie, and the discovery of family she didn’t know she had.
Many people shelve this series as "Christian literature" and for some reason or another I have never placed it in that category. To be sure, Father Tim quotes plenty of scripture - especially to his big floppy dog, Barnabus (the only way to keep Barnabus from jumping on you is to quote a verse from the Bible; amazingly, Barnabus immediately sits or lies down upon hearing scripture. Barnabus is also fond of Wordsworth!) Even though scripture is quoted, it is not proselytizing. This series is about how the life of a sixty year old stressed out, worn out priest, was infused with new spirit and energy when a dog, a boy and a new neighbor entered his life. It is also about kindness, love and caring neighbors who look after each other. Who wouldn't want to live in Mitford! I can always count on Marion Kummerow to pen a compelling historical fiction novel that grabs my attention, holds it and rewards me with a plethora of knowledge learned! Páči sa mi, ako sa zmenil charakter Wilhelma. Na začiatku bol rozmaznaný syn dôležitej rodiny, ale keď sa jeho okolnosti zmenili a on si musel prispôsobiť svoj život, videli sme ho, ako sa pýta, čo robí, a začína mať pocit, že chce Margarete chrániť aj keď okolie ma na židov iný pohľad. Margaretin neustály strach, jej morálne dilemy, ktorým čelila, sa nečítali ľahko a boli srdcervúce. While parts of it were compelling, one thing over shadowed the clumsily written memoir - her wait of half a century to write the damned thing. Interesting to note that the inspiration for the book came from within Kummerow’s own family. Her grandfather fought over the same issue when he planned to assassinate propaganda minister Goebbels. He wondered if saving many would erase his guilt for killing one. You’ll have to read to find out if Margarete is accepting of her situation or if she’s willing to make sacrifices.
Become a Member
Ich habe schon viele Bücher gelesen, die in dieser Zeit spielen, aber wenige davon haben mich so wenig überzeugt wie dieses hier. Dabei klang der Klappentext durchaus spannend. Aber spannend war Margaretes Geschichte dann leider nicht, sondern sehr vorhersehbar. Trotz des ernsten Hintergrunds war die Geschichte viel zu seicht und oberflächlich und die Mitwirkenden entweder schwarz oder weiß.
The only thing that didn't sit well with me was that Ms. Goulding seemed a bit too chummy with the cruel head sister running the home, and that she didn't fight hard enough for the girls. I know, it was the dawn of the 1950's, in a strict Irish Catholic home for unmarried mothers. June Goulding was almost as much a prisoner there as the captive girls she was caring for. Speaking up more than she did probably would have just gotten her booted out, so she tried to hang in there and gift the girls with the only thing she could give them, just a little human kindness. I try and keep it in perspective. In a split second, a young girl’s life is changed. Margarete Rosenbaum, a maltreated Jewish maid, takes advantage of the results of an Allied bombing of Berlin to become Annegret Huber, the spoiled daughter of her employer, an upper class Nazi family. As Margaret climbs out of the rubble of her past life, she encounters the body of Annegret and, in a split second decision, takes her papers and her clothing, thus beginning a dangerous life of impersonation, Jan Karon says there are Mitfords all over the country. Do you live in one? If so, why do you think your community is like Mitford? Is Mitford necessarily a small town? Discuss whether it might also be a close neighborhood in a large city. I fell in love with Marion Kummerow's writing style with "Not Without My Sister". While her stories are set within a much written about time period, the concepts with which she portrays them are so unique and wholly original. They are not your usual run-of-the-mill tales re-telling the plight of the Jews. The premise of A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW was certainly an intriguing one that promised a fascinating tale to be told. nebudem prezrádzať, ale viem s istotou napísať, že som nič podobné nečítala. Príbeh sa čítal sám a celý čas som bola v napätí, či sa Margarete zachráni, čo sa s ňou stane. Bude jej dopriata sloboda? Láska? Prežije niečo z toho? Pocíti úľavu? Veľa otázok mi vírilo v hlave počas čítania a postupne som dostala na všetko odpoveď. Záver ma prekvapil, nečakala som to… prekvapil, ale zároveň aj upokojil…His plan seems impossible, and Margarete is terrified they might be found out, not to mention worried about what Wilhelm might want in return. But as the Nazis start rounding up Jews in Paris and the Résistance steps up its activities, putting everyone who opposes the regime in peril, she realizes staying hidden in plain sight may be her only chance of survival… Karon has also published two Christmas-themed books based on the Mitford series, The Mitford Snowmen and Esther's Gift, as well as Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader. Other Mitford books include Patches of Godlight: Father Tim's Favorite Quotes, a compilation of wit and wisdom, and A Continual Feast: Words of Comfort and Celebration, Collected by Father Tim. In addition, Karon has written two children's books, Miss Fannie's Hat and Jeremy: The Tale of an Honest Bunny, and an illustrated book for all ages, The Trellis and the Seed. In addition to the fantastic tension created surrounding the identity switch, the plot is well-paced and the characters well fleshed out. Although the ending might not have been what my heart was aching for, it was representative of the times, and I was pacified with the knowledge that a sequel is in the works. This is the true account of nurse June Goulding who took a position as a newly qualified midwife for a year between 1951-1952 in an Irish “home for unmarried mothers”. June is a young midwife in Ireland when she accepts the post of midwife in a home for unwed mothers. It was an honest read and must have been a challenge for June to write. She describes her role and her inability to challenge the ways of the home, without trying to paint herself as a hero - it is quite clear that she was complacent, she was young and inexperienced and was tied up in the horrible well established system. It was a different era after all, one where religious figures were the highest authority and young midwives did as they were told. I particulary found her discriptons of the nuns 'after hours' interesting. You can't help but assume that women who did what these women did would be rotten and bitter to the core, yet after hours June gave us an account of the nuns that was playful and frivolous as they fussed like excitable teenagers whenever June had a date with her long time boyfriend.
Related:
Great Deal 
New Comment