The Kommandant's Girl by Pam Jenoff Review

Title: The Kommandant's Girl
Author: Pam Jenoff
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance
Series: The Kommandant's Girl, book one
Star Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
The bottom line: A gorgeous, deeply layered novel that asks us what we would sacrifice for freedom and for peace, I loved The Kommandant's Girl--it was as moving and beautiful as it was heartrending!

Young, naive Emma Bau has been married for just three weeks to her husband Jacob when the Nazis occupy her beloved Poland. With Jacob gone to join the resistance, and her parents locked away in a nearby ghetto, she turns to her husband's aunt Krysia for help. Frustrated, angry, and helpless, Emma is soon approached herself by the resistance: She must get close to the Kommandant, a powerful Nazi, in order to gain information. Forced into a deception, Emma must decide what she is willing to sacrifice.. Or it could cost her her very life..

What I enjoyed:
-I loved the gorgeous, luminous prose used to narrate the novel--it was simple but not overly so
-The pacing of this novel was amazing--I couldn't put it down!
-Emma, the naive, sweet narrator who finds herself compromising everything she knows and loves in order to help the resistance--even if it means doing something she isn't comfortable with--and her character development was rich and real
-The Kommandant, on one hand a brutal murderer, and on the other a man who just needs love and companionship again
-Krysia and Lukasz
-Jacob, and his fierce devotion to his ideals
-The ending--it was nearly perfect

What could've been better:
-I didn't really like Marta at first--she seemed really selfish, bratty, and totally indifferent to Emma's difficult situation

I loved, loved, loved The Kommandant's Girl--anyone looking for a good historical novel or romance should pick it up! Next on deck: The Diplomat's Wife by Pam Jenoff!

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