The Storyteller of Auschwitz

By: Siobhan Curham

Narrated by: Samara MacLaren

Auschwitz, 1942. ‘When this is all over, you will be able to tell the world what they did to us.’ The Nazis have already ended so many stories way too soon, but can a person truly die if their story lives on? I have to survive. The world needs to know what’s happening here…

Stumbling through the terrifying wrought iron gates of Auschwitz, Jewish author Etty Weil longs for her apartment overlooking the Seine, where she used to laugh with friends, her shelves full of records and her beloved typewriter by the wide window. Now she looks on in horror as a young girl, Danielle, is ruthlessly torn apart from her sobbing mother. Etty has always longed for the warm embrace of family: and trapped inside the maze of barbed wire, she takes fourteen-year-old Danielle under her wing and soon comes to cherish her like a sister.

Every evening, Etty tells Danielle stories, building a beautiful world of imagination and hope for Danielle to escape into. Soon, Etty realises that the other women in their cramped hut are listening too. She encourages them to share their lives, to talk about their darling children running around clutching their favourite toys, the love affairs they once had and the beloved family they’ve already lost. Etty must survive this terrible place: if only to keep her promise to these brave women that their stories will not be forgotten.

But the more hope Etty gives Danielle, the more chances the young girl begins to take with her life, rebelling against the brutal SS guards and forcing Etty to protect her. And one day, Danielle goes too far…

Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Nightingale and The Choice will lose their hearts to this devastatingly beautiful and hopeful novel. The Storyteller of Auschwitz is a heartbreaking book about finding something to live for when all seems lost.

©2023 Siobhan Curham (P)2023 Hachette UK - Bookouture

amazing

love love LOVED this book. I do not, for the life of me, understand how the world is in the state it is right now. How we can allow even the possibility of this happening again is disgusting. This is a fiction story, yes, but sadly, it isn't .

It was a great rendition of what a person might have gone through in Auschwitz. So sad and heart warming at the same time. l

I loved the narrator. Her voice does all the characters and makes the book come alive.

sad and eloquent!

This book is a true reminder of what can never happen again. It's such a sad gut wrenching story. The reader did a wonderful job!

Such an incredible story

I generally don’t like books about war, but as I am a great fan of the narrator, I decided to give it a chance, and I was glad I did.
It is a story of hope and of love, in face of brutality, hate and murder.
I found myself at tears, often, because the story is so well written and you can’t help but get invested in the characters.

Highly recommended!