The story of Danusha, a young Polish girl, who with her mother and brother flee Poland and go to Germany to save their family. The mother changes their last name and she becomes an employee of a home of a Nazi supporter. Danusha grows up craving more attention from her Mother and it is not until years later that she realizes that her Mother did what she did to save herself and her children.

The Polish Girl by Malka Adler was a well written account of Anna and her children in Poland during WWII. The struggles were told through the voice of Anna and her daughter. I was interested in the relationship between the two and how the daughter felt unworthy of her mother and other people she came in contact with. The writing was easy to follow and it came to a clean ending. I am interested in reading more from Malka Adler.

The Polish Girl was a difficult read for me, not for its subject or content, but because of the way the story was structured. I found the writing to be choppy and disjointed and the dialog was often repetitive. The premise of the story was interesting, hiding in plain sight, and while I appreciate the care Anna took to keep her daughter Danusha safe, I found myself struggling with the relationship between the two of them. Very different from what I’m accustomed to reading in other stories set during this time period. Sadly, this one just didn’t resonate with me.

I would like to thank the publisher, Harper 360 and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance digital copy of The Polish in exchange for my honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own and this is my honest review.

"Even when we quarreled I stayed near her and didn’t leave. It seems I needed Mama’s support."

Tough read with life as a constant struggle for Danusha. She is two before WW2 and six when it's over. They lived in Poland, hiding and moving constantly because they were Jews. They found some kindness here and there for short times. She was always expected to be silent, as though she wasn't there. She stayed near her mother, who didn't show her love, yet they needed each other. Her mother did show love for Danusha's brother, as he was the son of the family. The story is told by Danusha and her perspective in pieces of their lives, then from her mother's perspective as she tells stories to her friends about their experiences during the war. It was a tough time for them to live and survive through the war, it was also very hard for Danusha to find her own way, her own meaning, to figure out life and how to live. Based on a true story of a daughter and mother. It's not an uplifting story, rather of constant struggle and sadness, but there are lessons to be learned about how the same thing can look entirely different from different perspectives and expectations.

I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
#ThePolishGirl #NetGalley #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #HistoricalFiction #MalkaAdler #fivestarbooks

A daughter who desires her mother's love, a mother who desires adoration from everyone else and only has enough love to share with her son. The characters are also trying to survive being under the siege of the Nazi's as they go from place to place to try to outrun the fear of being captured or even killed. It was interesting that the story was told from the daughter's point of view and as she listened to her mother's storytelling to the neighbors more of the story is fleshed out. However, the story left me frustrated as it suddenly wraps up and doesn't really go anywhere. It's clear that the real story is that a narcissistic mother has children that she can't really love or care for, but the story doesn't really go anywhere. We've been following the daughter throughout the story when suddenly it wraps up her "adulthood" in a few sentences and hits the end. I kept waiting for the story to go somewhere or the daughter to take a stance to live her life and it just really didn't go anywhere. I do think the author did a good job of explaining what was going on in the world at the time she set this story, but as far as the characters went, I just don't feel that the author really knew where they were headed and then finally decided they were done writing about them and wrapped up quite suddenly. As a fan of historical fiction, this one just didn't quite hit the mark.

The Polish Girl follows a mother and her children through WWII both during the war and after the war via stories told to friends and neighbors. We get to know Anna, Danusha, and Yashu through these stories.

Anna wanted nothing more than a son and her daughter, Danusha, always feels as though she isn't good enough, isn't loved as much as her brother, Yashu.

This family lived often very close to discovery. One wrong move, one wrong comment would have meant a different ending for this mother and her children. That part of the story kept me reading when I was struggling to decipher what was going on.

While I appreciate this book for what it is, a story based in truth with some fictional elements, as explained at the end, I had a lot of trouble following this book. I often did not know if the particular events were happening or being remembered.

I read a lot of WWII historical fiction. It is among my favorite genres, and I love what each book teaches me. My difficulty with this particular book will not keep me from trying other books by the author.

I voluntarily accepted a copy of this book from Harper 360. The views expressed here are simply my honest opinion.

Malta Adler captured the angst between Anna and Danusha, mother and daughter so well within the pages of The Polish Girl. Such a dysfunctional relationship and so very many reasons for all the tears and cracks in their relationship. Although I was unable to relate to either, their relationship woes were somewhat familiar to others I have heard, although their reasons were very different. Theirs was such a heartbreaking relationship and knowing it is based on real people made it that much more difficult to read. It truly made me appreciate the relationship I shared with my own mother
The horrors of the war was the star of The Polish Girl. Despite having read many many books set within this time frame, this read had me sobbing in disbelief as I read about the horrific lives the Polish people were forced to lead in order to merely exist. I cannot help but compare the destruction to the destruction currently occurring in the Ukraine today.
There were several times when I seemed to lose the flow of the story and found myself rereading to get back on track.
Many thanks to Malka Adler and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read an arc of this heartbreaking tale, just published yesterday.

Hidden in plain sight, this book takes a bit of a different look at a Jewish family trying to get by during the Holocaust and WWII.

The main perspective in this book is from Danusha during their time in the house of a Nazi doctor and all of their moving around after the war.

I liked how different this book was, but it felt very choppy to me. I didn't feel the strong main character voices that is compelling enough to feel the emotions along with the characters. I think some of the dialog from others distracted away from Danusha's story. I wanted to feel more how she felt when her mother really only wanted a son and didn't treat her like her brother.

This book is based on a true story and seemed to be researched well from the details presented.

Thank you to Harper Collins and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this ARC for my honest review.

WW2, Poland, family-dynamics, Jewish, Jews, historical-novel, historical-places-events, historical-figures, historical-research, historical-setting, history-and-culture, hitler, survival****

From toddlerhood, Danusha and her mother did whatever they had to for survival in a Poland that was, once again, invaded by Germany and later by Russia. But this time was even worse because they were Jews and Hitler had an agenda of elimination. The story is told in dual perspective as a child in Poland/adult in Israel (obviously after the war). A very emotional read.
NEVER AGAIN
I requested and received a free-book copy from Harper 360/One More Chapter via NetGalley.

This moves back and forth between 1939 and 1949 to tell the story of Danusha and her mother Anna, who had a big secret to keep in Nazi Poland. It's a tough read in spots but it's also based on a. true story (don't miss the afterword). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For those who like historical fiction.

In the winter of 1039, Danusha and her family are forced to flee their home when the Nazis invade Poland. Danusha’s mother, Anna, changes her last name and secures a position as a housekeeper in a German doctor’s mansion in Kraków where Gestapo meetings are hosted in the kitchen… Her secret is their salvation, but what Danusha remembers most is the solitude, with only her baby brother and the girl in the mirror for company. All Anna ever wanted was a firstborn son. All Danusha ever wanted was a mother who would love her like a firstborn son. Instead she got one who could look a Nazi straight in the eye but not into the eyes of her own daughter. It is only years later, when their neighbors gather in the living room to hear Anna’s stories, that Danusha finally realizes her mother was never a cold unknowable person but a storm-wracked one – sometimes bright, sometimes dark, and always watching over her.

This is a well written historical fiction about how WWII affected the inhabitants of Poland and what they did to survive. At times, I had trouble with the time shifts, but was able to figure out if Danusha was talking about her childhood or how Anna affected her childhood. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book. I recommend it to anyone who like reading about WWII.

A rather sad story, The Polish Girl is based on a true story. A young girl feels as if her mother does t really care for her, favoring her brother. Set in WWII, it’s a great backdrop for yet a different nuance of the war. There are a lot of characters and I did get people mixed up at first.
I liked the author’s historical note and the reason why she wrote the book.

The girl in the mirror.

Harrowing story of a family torn apart by the war and the Nazi invasion of their small Polish town. A mother doing what she must to survive and care for her children even though she must leave one behind to save his life.

A young girl growing up afraid and alone talking to herself in the mirror for company. Hiding, always hiding and living with a constant fear of being found out by the Nazi's.

A woman living and housekeeping for a Nazi officer and hiding that she and her daughter are Jewish. Afraid that someone will find them out. Hoping her son is safe with the family caring for him as it is too dangerous for him to be in the house of the Nazi's.

Danusha feels her mother wanted a son instead of a daughter. She thinks her brother is loved more than her. Finally she realizes , when she listens to her mother tell others her story, that her mother loved them both and was just doing what she could to survive.

It is a story of a desperate mother in one of the worse times in history, a young girl coming of age in unbelievable circumstances and a war that tore everything apart.

It was a well written story and a good read. I would recommend this book.

Thanks to Malka Adler for writing a good story, to Harper Collins UK, Harper 360, One more Chapter for publishing the book and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I applied to read “The Polish Girl” because it seemed like an interesting historical novel about WWII. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish. It just wasn’t for me.

Told from multiple points of view, it seeks to relate the story of a Jewish family’s experience in Poland during WWII

First, I can’t say the writing is bad. The author certainly knows how to construct sentences. I never felt like I was in the hands of an amateur or someone with an ax to grind or who doesn't know how to write.

But the story struck me as chaotic and confusing. Because of the shifting points of view, I never was quite sure who was talking or where I was in the story, especially since there’s a fair amount of repetition. Also, some parts are told in an almost stream-of-consciousness style from the point of view of a very young girl, which is not something I’m generally interested in.

While the characters in the story are “on the run,” which certainly invites sympathy, to me they weren’t all that knowable or interesting or likable. Plus, the author was not particularly successful at creating tension and danger, or in imparting the history of the time and place. In other words, I never was able to get caught up in the story. Finally, I just gave up.

But the author is critically acclaimed and there is a story here, so other readers may well feel differently.

My thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing an ARC. The foregoing is my independent opinion.

I found The Polish Girl by Malka Adler a hard book to read; perhaps because of what’s happening in Ukraine right now or what happened to my grandparents, who spent WWII in a Siberian work camp after fleeing Poland and being captured by the Russian Army. I usually finish a book in two or three days but this one took me well over a week. It was a sad and depressing story. I didn’t connect with any of the characters until I read the Epilogue and then the author’s Q & A (which I appreciated very much). The novel is well-written but slow moving.

I’ve read many historical fiction novels set during the Holocaust, most focusing on the heroes and heroines of the Resistance movement. The Polish Girl is a different kind of Holocaust novel. Danusha’s story, told in the first person, is a two-fold tale; it is a story of how she and her family survived WWII as Jews and, at the same time, about a young girl who felt she didn’t matter to her mother and didn’t fit in anywhere, who reacted by withdrawing into herself. She idolized her missing father and had a hard time making friends. She did everything she could to earn Anna's attention and approval, often failing to get either as her efforts fell short of Anna's expectations. Many mother-daughter relationships are fraught with conflict and my heart ached for Danusha’s desire to feel like she mattered to her mother, Anna. Yet, her younger brother Yashu could do no wrong and was the apple of Anna's eye.

Eventually, Anna, Danusha and her brother Yashu immigrated to Israel. Anna told the stories of how the family survived at atfernoon teas in their home in Haifa. Danusha sat quietly watching her mother and how their guests fawned over Anna. The setting and tales were monotonous and did not hold my attention. Anna was my least favorite of the characters in The Polish Girl. She was beautiful, creative, intelligent and demanding but also self-centered and, at times, mean to Danusha. Luckily, Danusha’s story had a happy ending but it took too long to get there.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an advanced copy of The Polish Girl in exchange for my honest review.

“The Polish Girl” by Malka Adler is a historical fiction book about WWII. I liked that Ms. Adler, in her notes, shared that this story was inspired by someone she knew. Ms. Adler’s tale is moving, heart breaking, and emotional. I found the story a bit repetitive (though with the POV alternating between mother and child, I understand why), but overall it was an interesting story. This book relies a bit on a mother/daughter relationship than I thought it would.

Book received for free through NetGalley

The characters immediately grabbed me and held on tight. Another look at a horrible situation and the humanity therein.

The Polish Girl is a dark story of Mama, Danusha and Yashu finding their way through Poland during the War. A Jewish mother trying everything possible to keep her children safe.
Unfortunately this novel didn't reach me nearly as deeply as Adler's previous novel, The Brothers of Auschwitz. The flip flopping of time period - then vs now- felt unnecessary. It wasn't too difficult to follow but I never understood why we were getting Mamas POV in a current state.
This story fell a little short of what I loved of Adler but it does provide a new vantage point of the War. Instead of the usual horror inside the ghettos and camps, we get a view of the fear instilled into families that lived on the run.
Netgalley provided this as an ARC in exchange for my honest review. #netgalley

A very memorable historical fiction novel. I enjoyed this book very much, and was incredibly moved by a mother’s strength and love for her child during unfathomable times. Historical fiction novels always affect me so emotionally and this one was no different.

I went into reading The Polish Girl by Malka Adler with much curiosity as my ancestry comes from Poland and I was interested in learning more about the history of the country during World War II since this book is a historical fiction about one family’s struggle during and after the holocaust.

The author shared that this was inspired by a true story from a woman she knew, which is heartbreaking that actual living, human beings struggled with the atrocities described in the pages of the book.

There are so many loses, close calls, and twists & turns in this book that make it interesting and engaging; however, the writing style can make it a little difficult to get fully involved in the story. Let me explain:

1. The author tends to repeat certain details, stories, and events, which at first I thought I had re-read a page or two by accident. But upon closer inspection, I didn’t. It was indeed just repeating of the same things.

2. The point of view often changes from the mother to the girl. With what I stated above about the repeating of things, this makes it confusing for readers as to what is going on and the logical flow of the story gets lost.

With the above in mind, you take an interesting story and make it a bit clunky and cluttered to read. It ended up taking me a little longer because I had to re-read and put down the book from getting tired.

Overall, I did enjoy the story but it wasn’t fully engaging and the writing style could have been executed better.

Would I recommend?

Unfortunately I wouldn’t recommend this book because of the writing issues I described above.

3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Netgalley, publisher and author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.