I instantly fell in love with Nora’s character! What a formidable woman, friend, family matriarch and Holocaust survivor. At 122 plus years old, Nora makes party planning difficult for her great-granddaughter, Deborah, and it leads to family tension and an unsanctioned adventure.

It wasn’t too long after ‘meeting’ her Syrian refugee care aid, Arifa, that I concluded we all need an Arifa in our lives. Not only for the obvious reasons but also for the opportunity to be chaperoned on a trip down memory lane.

In the introduction, author Cate Green informs us that this “is a novel about survivors of war and injustice and their lives as ordinary people with an extraordinary past” and as I closed the final page, I noted that Green, a debut author, has definitely honoured the legacy of both groups with this fantastic novel. This story is a wonderful balance of humour, love, and trauma and highlights the Jewish family of both yesterday and today. War, like age, has lasting ripples and how we deal with those ripples determines the journey; do we ride against them or with them? Let Nora show you how it’s done!

I was gifted this copy by HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. This was a novel I wanted to love but didn't finish. I could not get into the characters, the setting, Yiddish words, etc. I thought the premise of the oldest woman on earth, Holocaust survivor at that, kidnapping herself would be a delightful read. Just not for me.

I loved this book, I live in the bit of North London that Nora's family do and I come from proper East End Cockney stock so I felt a connection to Nora. I loved her bond with her carer, and the parallel between the two women - both refugees, both mothers who have lost their daughters and struggled. Moving and timely. I cried a bit too.

I received a free copy of, The Curious Kidnapping of Nora W, by Cate Green, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Nora Wojnawski is going to be the oldest woman in the world. Nora's family is planning a party for her, but Nora has other plans. This was a good read, I enjoyed it.

I am sorry to say I didn't really enjoy this book ,I found it very slow to get into and the Yiddish peppered throughout annoying as I didn't understand it's meaning.Nora is a survivor of the Holocost and Arifa her carer is also a survivor of her war torn country.Nora is about to become the oldest person in the world ! It is a story of love and loss ,bravery and most of all Family .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley. I have to say that I don't think the title fits this book at all. No kidnapping takes place. It's an attention-getting title, but not representative of the book. The story itself is great and very much has a human interest piece. Nora is about to turn 122 and doesn't want to have the party that her family wants to celebrate her being the oldest person in the world. She gets her carer, Arifa in the nursing home to take her to her own home and then goes down memory lane. This book show that no matter who we are, we shouldn't judge a person by their face or their current circumstances, that we may indeed have more in common as humans than you think.

the cover doesn't show what your actually going to enjoy or expect. This debut book by Cate Green is an excellent read. it's based on the story of Nora, who's set to be the oldest person in the world. in this book is humorous and touching and very thought provoking all at the same time. what a good read

Family matriarch and Holocaust survivor Nora Wojnawski is about to become the oldest person in the world, ever, and her family are determined to celebrate in style. But Nora isn’t your average centenarian and she has other ideas. When she disappears with her carer Arifa on a trip down memory lane in the East End of London, a wartime secret, buried deep for over 70 years, will finally be revealed.

This is an amazing first novel by the author dealing with relationships, family, and growing old in style. I loved Nora and how she dealt with all of her family throughout the story. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for introducing me to a new author who I hope to see more of in the future.

This was a heartwarming story of a woman, Nora, who is about to be the oldest woman in the world. I enjoyed the relationship between Nora and her caretaker, and the multiple perspectives. This is perfect for anyone that likes a sweet story with characters that all have a story to tell. Highly recommend.

The Curious Kipnapping of Nora W by Cate Green

A very unusal and unique book with strong female characters . We have Nora a holocaust survivors , Arifa her carer & Deborah. There stories are linked by family and also some shared experiences.
The story is poignant , heartbraking and life affirming and the author captured the emotions and feelings of her characters perfectly.

Nora, will be the oldest person in the world in 18 days time. Her Great granddaughter Deborah has been tasked with organising Nora’s celebration to be held in the aged care facility Nora lives in. Nora however is not happy and with the help of her carer Arifa, she escapes the facility and returns to the East end of London where she and her husband had a shop.
Nora is a Holocaust survivor and the return to the East End of London is a walk down memory lane as it brings out secrets from her wartime experience.
The books chapters are structured as a countdown to the big day when Nora will have beaten the previous record holder of the oldest person in the world and it is written from the outlook of Nora, Deborah and Arifa.
It did take me little while to get into this book but I did enjoy the story.
Nora’s extended family is a complicated one so there are themes of family, love and survival but above all the book delves into how the war continues to affect those who have survived its horrors..
I loved Nora she was a feisty, determined and resilient woman.
A great weekend read

Nora, weeks off becoming the oldest woman in the world, trapped in a decaying body, alive with an active mind and acute recollection of a life torn apart by war, ghettos and concentration camps. Arifa a daughter, wife, mother and established doctor, now a Syrian refugee living in an alien country, working in a care home doing the most basic of tasks, focused on surviving each day to keep her son safe from their dreams and memories of war and carnage. An unlikely friendship of survivors, generations apart in age but a unique unspoken bond , living each day to their own drum beat. An epic voyage to revisit the same paths travelled in a far distant past in what time is left with the ever faithful companion safeguarding the journey. A mind that can turn a modern landscape, synagogue, street and shop back to 1946 when sounds, smells, family and friends were as real today as yesteryear. A heartbreakingly beautiful story that brings three dimensional characters to life; a modern multi generational family drawn into the history of their past bringing back to life the numerous family members lost to the tragedy of the holocaust. A storyline that will linger long after the last page recognising the indomitable invincible spirit of a lost generation to the atrocities of war. A five star read based on a unique premise that cannot fail to move. Many thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

I had a hard time getting into this story, which the author wrote as a tribute to her mother-in-law. Deborah’s great-grandmother is about to become the oldest living person in history and Deborah is supposed to plan a party. Nora doesn’t want a party though. Thrown into a tailspin, Deborah has to endure her mother’s sniping at everyone. Not exactly what I want to spend my time reading about. Nora is a Holocaust survivor and her caregiver is a survivor of wartorn Syria, and they share a special friendship.

“The Curious Kidnapping of Nora W” is a debut novel by Cate Green. This was not an easy book for me to read. Currently I am dealing with a parent requiring additional medical care (how I wish we had a person like Arifa in our lives!) but also the loss of a child. I, too, would call my child a Yiddish term of endearment, so reading that word caused heartache. Ms. Green has a line about childbirth being the hardest pain, but losing a child being even harder pain - and believe me when I say from experience, that is so true. But, I’m sure in this review, you care more about the actual book - not the reader’s current emotional state. Nora is a spry and sharp woman - and on the cusp of becoming the oldest person in the world [Hello Guinness Book of World Records!], while Nora wants one thing to mark this occasion (do we need a party?), her family wants something else (of course there’s going to be a party!). This book is so layered that it’s easy to forget that this book is mainly about families - they come in all shapes, forms, and structures - but there’s also love, heartache, joys, war experiences, hope, guilt, and memories. The characters were pretty easy to keep separate (may I say my heart was stolen by Arifa and her son - teenage boys, gotta love ‘em) and Ms. Green I think very nicely covered prejudice and how it really clouds our opinions of people [including a bit about how Nora herself was prejudiced against during WWII as a nice counter story]. This book was obviously written as a tribute to Ms. Green’s mother-in-law and I liked how Ms. Green also included a section on the names and why she chose them. Overall, a very strong debut novel.

Cate Green intrigued me when she wrote in the Prologue, “The Curious Kidnapping of Nora W is not a historical novel. It is not a novel about victims of war and injustice. It is a novel about the survivors of war and injustice and their lives as ordinary people with an extraordinary past…”

The Curious Kidnapping of Nora W is, indeed, just as described. It is multi-layered with nuances that the reader might miss, at first, but realize as they keep reading. It is the story of families, of histories too painful to remember, of the resilience of very strong women. It is the story of friendships, of trust, mistrust and love. It is the story of Jewish traditions, favorite foods and memori, Yiddish words (usually translated) and a long life, well lived.

The story, told by Nora’s granddaughter Deborah, started out a bit slow for me. The pace picked up as the reader is introduced to Nora Wojnawski, the centenarian soon to become the oldest living person in history, her caregiver Arifa, a Syrian immigrant and Nora’s family.

I was raised in a Jewish home, surrounded by maternal and paternal family, many Russian immigrants and Holocaust survivors. As such, I identified with so much of this story. For example, I only learned about my paternal grandparents experience during WWII in an article I found doing genealogy research a few months ago. Like Nora and Arifa they never talked about the “old country” or the people left behind. Jewish guilt is a “real” thing and I often felt Deborah’s angst as she juggled her emotions dealing with Bubby (Nora) and her parents.

The synopsis of The Curious Kidnapping of Nora W! adequately sets the scene of the novel so I don’t feel the need to retell the story. I will add that characters, such as Afria’s son Nasir and Deborah’s mother-in-law Sylvia, play important roles in helping Nora share her story.

As I continued reading, this novel grabbed me and held me close. I cried through most of the last chapter - tears of happiness as the ending warmed my heart. I cannot imagine anyone not enjoying The Curious Kidnapping of Nora W!

Thank you to One More Chapter and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this eARC.

It took me quite a while to get into this book and get used to the authors writing style here. I liked that the story is told through the characters of Deborah, Arifa and Nora and found this to be a poignant, engaging read which I think will stay with me for a while. Nora is a survivor of the Holocaust and Arifa is a survivor who has left her war torn country. There are many threads in the story - love, friendships, war and it's aftermath and how it affects those who have gone through it. I think the author portrayed her characters well and captured their thoughts, feelings and emotions eloquently. A book I enjoyed although it wasn't the page turner I was perhaps expecting and didn't wow me.

3.5 stars

I loved this multi layered, complex but ultimately very simple story of family, love, friendship, connections and joy. Based on Cate’s late Holocaust survivor mother in law, Nora W is soon to become the oldest ever person in the world at the age of 122. Her family want to celebrate this momentous milestone by throwing a lavish party. Nora wants nothing to do with it and puts obstacles in their path at their every effort to persuade her. Pushed to her limit, Nora makes a decision which has lasting effects for her biological and logical families.

I am the oldest person ever to have lived in this world. I am the one who lived through their monster camps and brought the ones left of my family to London to make more family. I am the one to laugh at those angry, evil people and tell them, you see, I made it through. We made it through. This is enough. It is my world's record.

Nora is not the only strong woman in this book. Her story is intertwined with Deborah, her granddaughter, and Arifa, her carer. It’s through these characters that the themes of the novel are explored; among them, family, tolerance, inter generational trauma, prejudice, immigration, aging, and of course love.

Cate tackles these themes head on with warmth and loads of humour. There’s history too as Nora tries to make sense of her jumbled, faded memories by revisiting the East End of London of her youth.

If you’re looking for a witty and poignant read with lashings of compassion, you just have to get to know Nora W.

I loved Nora. I loved that this was a inspired by the authors mother and showed the lasting effects wat can have on people. It was very well written and crafted.

"The Curious Kidnapping of Nora W" was an engaging and emotional read. Even though this is not a genre I usually read, I still found it interesting and enjoyable.
The story focuses on Nora W, who is on the cusp of becoming the oldest person in the world. Along with her caretaker, Arifa, Nora embarks on a journey down memory lane, revisiting her past. Her memories get jumbled up, but she is still quite sharp especially considering she is almost 122 ½.
The book touches on the after-effects of war on people, with Arifa being a Syrian refugee still grappling with the traumatic experiences she faced and Nora still struggling from her experiences in the Holocaust. It highlights that war trauma remains prevalent in today's world, and the book does an excellent job of exploring this theme in an approachable way. Additionally, the book reminds us of the importance of treasuring the people of our past and present. The characters are well written and developed, but I did struggle a bit to determine the perspective in the first few chapters. However, as I read further, I discovered that the book was written from the perspectives of three characters - Nora, Arifa, and Deborah, who is Nora's great-granddaughter and the family party planner. Although this caused some initial confusion, later on, it really could see how different the characters were.
The family tree and notes provided at the beginning of the book were helpful in keeping track of the characters and giving context behind the novel.
Overall, I highly recommend this touching and thought-provoking book to anyone looking for a good read.

Thank you, Harpercollins, One More Chapter, for this lovely arc!

'I am the oldest person ever to have lived in this world. I am the one who lived through their monster camps and brought the ones left of my family to London to make more family. I am the one to laugh at those angry, evil people and tell them, you see, I made it through. We made it through. This is enough. It is my world's record.'

This story was inspired by the author’s late mother-in-law, who was born in 1925 in Łódź up to the Nazi invasion of Poland. Along with thousands of other Polish Jews, her family lived inside the ghetto there, her father died there - of starvation. A year later, along with her mother, they were deported to Auschwitz. When they arrived there, her mother was shot and killed as she stepped off the train. One of Norma’s brothers was also killed, but her other brother and sister survived.

This is less about the Holocaust than it is about the effect it had on those that survived, as well as those who love them. The memories that haunt, but also the gratitude to have lived, despite those memories they can never forget. But there are other memories, ones filled with happy moments, as well.

’My great-grandmother has only eighteen days to go. There’s no need for alarm though. The doctors have not predicted her precise date of death, nor has she threatened hyper-geriatric suicide on that specific date. No, in eighteen days’ time she will become the world’s oldest person. Ever.’

The problem is that her great-grandmother wants nothing to do with this celebration of her 122nd birthday. The person who currently holds the record is a woman who ’was the last living person to have knowingly met Vincent van Gogh.’ But the family wants to celebrate her life, even if she doesn’t want to - at least not surrounded by people, and especially not with a camera crew.

Despite the hardships she has lived through, she does have money, although the amount is never mentioned, but enough to live on until those days come to an end. She isn’t rushing toward death, but at 121 and counting, she’s not in any hurry to go anywhere.

This is a story of family, and while it revolves around the woman who has lived more years than most, this is, essentially, a story of the mistakes and regrets, the memories - those of loss and horror, but also the happier ones, the ones of love.


Pub Date: 20 Jul 2023

Many thanks for the ARC provided by HarperCollinsUK, One More Chapter