A lovely book that is heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. Always going to be emotive with this setting of both time and location.

Set in south Carolina 10 years after the war, Josef lives alone. When Alice begins to get to know Josef he opens up about his time in Auschwitz. A beautifully written novel.

A heartbreaking story of a Jewish Auschwitz survivor befriending a young American girl and telling her his story. Definitely a book that will keep you hooked until the end and although different to many holocaust stories that I have read I really enjoyed it and it is a book that will stay with you long after you have finished it

No matter how many fictional historical books I've read where the war camps and holocaust are written about, it never gets any easier to read.

This was most definitely not your 'conventional' World War II story an unlike a few others I have read based around this timeline, this book sat heavy in my heart for days afterwards.

Set over dual timelines of life in Auschwitz 1942 and South Carolina 1953. A young girl, Alice, starts an unlikely friendship with Jozef, a German gentleman. The friendship forms through Jozef's storytelling of his painful past with Jozef opening up to Alice that he is an Auschwitz survivor.

This is a story of friendship, secrets, desperate choices, betrayal, loyalty and heartbreak.

A real lump in throat book that had me hooked from start to finish and what a finish it was!

Huge thanks to netgalley and Bookouture for the.

I quite enjoyed this one. It will keep you hooked for sure. It is moving too and will stay with you. Do check it out.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this book by Carly Schabowski.

4 star read- a heart wrenching WW2 tale following from Auschwitz until 1953... and with a german refugee now living in town.. there has been a murder and the suscpicion falls onto him...

Thanks netgalley for giving me a copy of this book. Am afraid it did not quite do it for me.I found the life of Alice and her friends quite boring, and quite silly at times.
The life of Jozef was where the book got more interesting, but am afraid I guessed the outcome.
Have read many books about the holocaust this one was not as moving and emotional as others I have read
Alice was interesting but this boom was not my favourite.

A gorgeous read! Heartbreaking, gripping and intriguing! Similar to Carly’s other books, you are thrown into the terrors of World War II and of course the horrors of Auschwitz when you listen to Josef telling his story in 1950s America. Young teenager Alice is his listener. She was set up to throw stones at his windows when her friends suspect Josef of killing their friend Nancy. Alice writes a confession note to Josef and this is where their unlikely friendship begins. I was engrossed as much as Alice hearing Josef speaking about Auschwitz.

The settings and descriptions are extremely vivid and not for the faint-hearted. It’s a story of an unlikely friendship, survival and full of emotion. You won’t be able to put this one down!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Oh what a beautiful, heartbreaking, thought provoking book. One that will stay with me.juet beautiful. Everyone should read this. A lovely story,one that changes you.

While I found the beginning of the book to be quite slow this still ended up being a 4 star read for me.
The story is a dual time line following 13 year old Alice in South Carolina during the. 50’s and Josef’s time growing up and while in Auschwitz during the 40’s.
The two strike up an unlikely friendship and through that friendship we learn of Josef’s past and what he had endured.
This was definitely an interesting take on a story set in WWII and one that had me gripping my seat and in tears during the last handful of chapters.
If you want historical fiction with a twist you should pick this one up.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy.

This is another really good book that felt like it could have been longer. While I feel like we were missing a lot of details, it wasn’t exactly necessary for the story to be complete. Maybe I’m just a sucker for the details.

The Note by Carly Schabowski is the third book I have read from this author......WoW, Carly writes so beautifully from start till the very end I just love her books. They have all been written from the heart. This latest book is a
heartbreaking World War Two tale, The Note is about lost loves and long-buried secrets, desperate decisions––and the consequences that cannot be escaped…......That will have you hooked and you will need tissues.

This book is split over two timelines, in Auschwitz, 1942: and in 1953, South Carolina. It's the story of Josef and Alice. and their journey through his storytelling with Alice and how it linked with the themes of friendship and loyalty in Alice’s life in the 1950’s Jozef opens ups about his painful past: to Alice that he was an Auschwitz survivor. This story tells of the heartbreak of his life and all the choices he had to make to survive. Alice starts to trust him and becomes close.........Where's my tissues!!!! Sniff Sniff. This book is so good.

The Note is an incredibly gripping and tearjerking page-turner and perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, etc.

I highly recommend this book.

Big Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Note By Caryn Schabowski

This is a story of a very unique friendship between a WW2 concentration camp survivor and a 13 year old girl in South Carolina in1953. Although the story has high reviews I felt the characters were at times flat. The conversations that were had were just discussions. The language used was rather distracting. The mother in the story asked her kids if “you guys” were still up there in their tree house. No mother from SC in the 50’s would have said that. The author also uses amongst and whilst throughout the book making the text stilled. For me it was very distracting. The author being from England should have been more aware of the vernacular of the time/place.

The premise of this book was interesting and could have offered much more.

This book lives up to its high reviews it already has. I don’t have enough words or a way to put into words how to describe The Note. All I can say is read it & have tissues handy. It’s one of the best World War 2 & historical fiction
books I’ve read & I’ve read quite a few.

Quite an unusual ww11 story that is well written & split between two time lines, a heart breaking yet captivating read.
An emotional story of secrets, friendships & family with desperate choices that they needed to make.
The storyline starts in 1950's America with a young girl called Alice who gets caught up in her friends plan to throw stones at the window of a German recluse named Josef who he suspects is involved with killing a young girl.
Alice feels guilty & offers to save & pay for the window her friend breaks.
An unusual friendship is formed & so begins a journey of discovery of what happened to Josef as he tells her is amazing harrowing story.
It never gets any easier reading about the things that happened in the concentration camps such as Auschwitz but in doing so let's hope we can stop the holocaust ever happening again.
This is a well constructed story that builds throughout & tugs at your emotions as the story of Josef's life unfolds & makes for an engrossing, Interesting read.
No spoilers here but I have to say I did not see the surprise twist coming at the end.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book

Germany 1942, Adeline and Jozef arrive at Auschwitz together but as soon as the train stops they are immediately separated from each other. They feel as if life as they know it to be has ended. They wonder if they will ever see each other again. Ten years later in South Carolina, when a horrible summer storm goes through the area, the body of a young girl is found on the shore of a lake. Some of the local residents are at the lake to see what is happening. Thirteen year old Alice is among crowd at the lake, when she notices an on-looker hiding in the trees. He is new in town and a German refugee named Jozef. The townspeople tell Alice that Jozef couldn’t be trusted and that she should stay away from him. Alice wonders why he is there at the lake and if he is somehow linked to what is happening. Alice confronts Jozef and he begins to open up to her and telling her stories of the horrible things that he endured at Auschwitz. He was a survivor but so many others were not. Soon Alice discovers why Jozef was at the lake. This story was so moving and heartbreaking at the same time. It was a beautifully written story and I found myself crying, mesmerized and totally lost among the pages. This story was one that lingered with me, and my mind was wondering back to it for days after I finished the book. The author made such a wonderful and personal connection between the reader and the characters. I loved the author’s notes at the end of the book…well done. This story of friendships, love and loss is just what I needed. I absolutely loved everything about this book from cover to cover and I highly recommend this book. This author is definitely an auto buy, auto read for me.

Thank you Carly Schabowski for a such wonderful, moving and phenomenal story. I was completely enthralled in your book and found myself to be captivated from the very beginning until the end. I highly recommend this book.

The Note is another heartbreaking, emotional story from Carly Schabowski.
Split over two timelines, the story of Josef and Adi was so sad - full of regrets, secrets and decisions taken for right or wrong.
I really enjoyed how we learnt about Josef’s journey through his storytelling with Alice and how it linked with the themes of friendship and loyalty in Alice’s life in the 1950’s.

Initially, I found The Note by Carly Schabowski to be quite slow in getting going. There was a lot of information presented to the reader in terms of setting the scene in North Carolina, America that I felt things could have been said in a line or two, instead it took paragraphs or sometimes an entire chapter to get to the point. I questioned the relevance of the focus being on the murder of a young girl in a small town instead of what the blurb suggested, that the book would detail Jozef’s experiences of Auschwitz. These initial worries/frustrations were soon allayed as once Jozef begins to tell Alice his story during that long hot summer in Milford things slowly started to fall into place and I became engrossed in the fascinating, disturbing and upsetting story that unfolded. This is a heart-breaking read. The true impact of which you only fully appreciate once you reach the very end and you understand the magnitude of what happened, and the sacrifices people made. There is plenty of food for thought here and plenty to debate as there is definitely no clear cut opinions to be formed given how invested you become in the story and then due to the twists, turns and surprises that spill forth towards the end.

On the night in the summer of 1953 that Alice turns thirteen, a local girl, Nancy Briggs is murdered and her body is found in a lake. The town is devastated by this loss and suspicion falls on refugee Jozef. A man who has kept himself to himself, not integrating with anyone but going about his own business. Whilst reading this you do forget that Alice is only just 13, at times she acts far younger in what she says and how she views things but as a friendship with Jozef develops you can see the changes in her as she is deeply affected by what she hears as he recalls his life story. For the first several chapters, there is lots of detail about the town, the heat they are experiencing and Alice’s friends - Mikey, George and Clem. To be honest, I wasn’t that interested in their friendships, although further on I appreciated the role of one of Alice’s friends more so than the other two. I found the descriptions of the tree house and the games they played just extra information that was not needed. Alice also seemed upset that her older brother Billy, who throughout their childhood she is close to at some points and at others they are very separated, now seems even more distant and out of reach.

So it didn’t seem surprising that when Mikey breaks a window in the home of Jozef, that Alice feels guilty and takes the blame. She gravitates towards Jozef and agrees to do some work for him in order to pay for said window. It’s like her family and friends have become preoccupied with other things most notably the murder, Mikey’s family situation and the developing closeness between George and Clem, that Alice herself feels lost and on the outside. Jozef offers her a sanctuary and although other residents may be wary of him Alice soon finds that he is deeply lonely and soon he starts to tell his incredible story. Jozef recounts his story through a few chapters at a time. I felt totally transported back to Germany and France during the war and almost forgot that this book was predominantly set in America. It was like I was jolted back to the small town when Jozef stopped and Alice had to return to her normal life. It shows how caught up in his life I became that I didn’t want those chapters to end. But slipping back and forth between the two timelines although they were not too far apart in terms of years, is how the author wove the story and it served its purpose well.

Undoubtedly, it’s Jozef’s story that stood out in this book and what we learn is an incredible story of love, bravery and strength in the most desperate of times. It’s also a story of a friendship that meant so much but fractured and came back together at a time when needed most. I think lots of readers will form strong opinions of the friendship and what it goes through and the subsequent actions that unfold but I found myself split in two, not able to form a strong opinion one way or the other given the picture built up throughout the story. It shows how we take what we are presented with at face value until firm and solid facts tell us otherwise.

Germany, 1930 and we meet Jozef. He comes from a Jewish family and lives in Munich. Bruno is his best friend since childhood. He is not Jewish and his father is a politician. They come from different backgrounds but have a strong bond but that all changes with the arrival of Adi from Paris whose parents are French and German respectively. Jozef quickly falls in love with her which upsets Bruno. He is angry that he can’t have what he wants but Jozef and Adi’s love is strong and it will see them through the worst of times. Jozef’s story progresses up to the beginning of the war and the years that follow. Adi and himself marry and move to Paris where they believe they will be safe. But danger lurks at every corner and when the Germans arrive in the city they are rounded up with many thousands of others. The descriptions of their imprisonment in a velodrome in the city and their subsequent travelling on a cattle truck to Auschwitz were so powerful and vivid and hard to read about. Such awful horrors and atrocities were committed and such unlawful starvation, barbarity, evil and cruelty were inflicted on so many people.

The couple arrive at Auschwitz and are separated. Here the story once again took on a different tone but the love that Jozef has for Adi never fades. The details of life in the camp, the conditions, the unmentionable work the inmates were forced to do and the struggle to survive on a daily basis were shared in all their horror and it leaves you reeling in shock no matter how many times you have read a book set in Auschwitz. To say much more regarding the camp and what happens would give away far too much. Needless to say my admiration for Jozef grew and in desperate times you turn to those who have always been there for you even though you struggle with the stance they may have taken. Given the situation you are in you will do anything at all to make it out. Jozef continues to tell his story to Alice and there are hints as to what the secret he holds close to his chest will be and when it does come to the light you will be shocked as is Alice and it forces her to revaluate everything you have previously heard and absorbed. Will it affect how she deals with what is unfolding in her own life? Will unburdening help or hinder Jozef?

Given, I found it difficult to get into this book at the beginning, I was surprised how rapidly my overall opinion of it changed. I thought I was going to struggle with it throughout the entire reading but instead I found my reading pace significantly picked up and I read this in one sitting. It’s different from what the author has written before and not your run of the mill World War Two story but I think perhaps it has been one of my favourite books that she was written. I did have some slight suspicions at one stage as to the big reveal but these materialised only in the very later stages. I went on to be correct in my guess but the author had written things so well I was glad to not discover anything to early on as it would have really affected how I viewed a lot of the story far too early on. The Note certainly leaves a deep and lasting impact on you and it’s one of the better WW2 fiction books that I have read so far this year and definitely worth some of your time to uncover the incredible and divisive story that awaits you between the covers.

WWII historical fiction with part of the story in South Carolina? Yes, please.

In this story we meet Jozef as he is befriended by Alice in 1950s South Carolina. A horrible event has occurred resulting in the death of a young woman. Everyone except Alice suspects Jozef did it.

Through their relationship we get to know Jozef, his wife Adi, and their childhood friend, Bruno.

Josef and Adi moved to France in hopes of escaping the Nazi invasion that was taking place in Germany. Unfortunately, even with false identities they are discovered and are transported to Auschwitz.

The story alternates between the two stories as we get closer to who is actually guilty of the horrible crime.

This story was heart touching and heart breaking. Both stories are very powerful and the author does a fantastic job alternating between the storylines. The power of friendship is such a huge part of this story and one of the reasons it will stay with me for a while.

I do feel like the ending was rushed. That could just be because I wanted more time with Adi. The storylines were wrapped up and no detail was left hanging. This was my second book by the author and she is quickly becoming a favorite.

Thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley, and Carly Schabowski for the copy of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

I really enjoyed the first half of The Note. Ali and Jozef were extremely likeable characters, but what really furthered the plot was the imagery. Schabowski did an incredible job of painting a scene in an engaging way. I felt fully immersed in The Note many times. When Ali navigated the difficulties of domestic abuse and friendship, her story was relatable yet moving. I felt the strength of the book was in the first two thirds; by the time we realize what Jozef was willing to sacrifice to help Ali and Billy, the novel felt rushed. Throwing in Adi at the end didn't give her character the development or honor the first part of the book did. I wish Schabowski finished the title with the vigor she had in the first half.