I didn't want this book to end. A young couple in love have so much potential and so many more stories to tell.
"Caravans in the Dark" by B. K. Oldre takes us to a little known theatre of WWII. There is a large gypsy population in Czechoslovakia, many still living a nomadic life in caravans. One of these is Jana. Her family settle for the winter in Prague, thinking the'll be one step ahead of the Nazi invasion. Jana is young and idealist. She gets a job in the Prague castle, where important Nazis meet. She becomes a freedom fighter (well, in a small way)....doing all she can to help stop the Nazi invasion. Bearing in mind this is 1938, we now know there are many horrors to follow. But there is a large student uprising and she meets Otto and Albert who are willing to take huge risks to stem the inevitable tide.
I loved hearing the ingenious tricks for hiding intelligence....inside clocks and in carved out legs of furniture. And truely can imagine this book as a television series.....there is gentle romance and the scrapes and near misses could be extended on.
And wonder if a series of books could be in the scope, further extending on the family members and ensemble cast of characters....I for one would be keen to know more on the Roma experience.
Thanks to NetGalley, B K older and She Writes Press for my fascinating read.

I thought this could be so much more. Caravans In the Dark delves into the Roma experience of nazism in the early days of WWII. That in and of itself makes this book deserving of consideration. However, there could have been more to it. The story abruptly ends without much resolution to the characters' story. The reader has no idea the fate that awaited Otto and Janas families or if they ever are reunited. The story is set in the early days of the Nazi rise to power and says little about the Holocaust and persecution of the Roma people.

The story of the Roma in the Holocaust is one that deserves to be told. I understand that for a largely nomadic and illiterate people, few survived to share their stories. Unfortunately, this book had the promise of doing so but fell flat.

This book provided me with a perspective on the treatment of the Gypsy treatment during WWII. I had been unaware of the Romani culture and people. The persecution of the Romani people by the Nazis is little known. The main character demonstrates grit and spunk in her efforts to support the resistance movement.

This historical fiction novel takes place at the first of the actions that lead to WWII, in the late 30s. It is a story about the Roma people at the start of World War II, from Czechoslovakia. Jana, a Romani girl, joins a secret group called the Freedom Fighters when the Nazi regime expands its brutality into Czechoslovakia in the early 1940s. For the sake of Romani and Chechen freedom and survival, it is essential to drive Hitler's murderous Nazi army back to Germany. Jana keeps going despite opposition from many members of her family. While many WWII novels center on the concentration camps and the extinction of 6 million Jews, it is a little known fact that other groups were also annihilated by the Nazi regime. An interesting read, well researched, well written.

Initially, I was super excited to be granted this book by Netgalley for my honest review as I love WW2 hf books and I always appreciate when I have the chance to read it from a different perspective/angle/country etc. Jana's family and their Gypsy lifestyle has allure but then the reader is introduced to several storylines with different characters, some of which eventually overlap but it is done in such a bumpy disjointed way that the story seems to drag on way longer that it should in reality. There was little depth to the characters for me and I just couldn't connect with any of them like I usually do. Also, since it was unedited there were random numbers throughout the text that got increasingly eratic and frustrating as it did not coincide with chaptr or page breaks.

Jana's Romani family travels and trades horses throughout Czechoslovakia and eastern Europe. When rumblings of Hitler begin to surface, her family moves to Prague. Determined to help out, Jana joins the resistance, smuggling and passing messages.

Not a lot actually happened throughout this book. It moved slowly and just felt like one big build-up. The book left the plot line hanging, setting itself up for a sequel. I wish the book had covered a greater time period, or that more actually happened throughout the story. Due to these criticisms, this is not a book I would re-read or recommend.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was the ending. I need a second installment to continue the story so I can find out what happens.

Caravans in the Dark follows Jana, a young Romani girl, just as the Nazi regime expanded into Czechoslovakia in 1939. The book is told through multiple points of view iThey are all members of the resistance, attempting to thwart the Nazis in various ways and putting themselves in danger as a result.

Jana is courageous and intelligent and through her family we learn of Romani culture and the prejudice they faced. There are few WWII novels told through the perspective of the Romani community and this one is meticulously presented.

It is so well written, and compelling. The ending for me was a bit is abrupt and it is why I don't give a 5.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy to review.

#CaravansintheDark, #BKOldre, #netgalley

Caravans in the Dark by B.K. Oldre is a good read for anyone interested in gypsy life during WWII. Everyone seems to know about the Jewish people,but the gypsies were also on Hitler's list of people to be eliminated. Jana is a 15 year old girl who lives a nomadic life selling horses with her gypsy family. They live in Czechoslovakia until the heat from the Nazi's becomes too much. The family then moves to Prague where they live in a castle of an old friend. Jana is a very curious young lady who wants very much to get involved in the secrets going on all around her. Sometimes I wondered why she was working so hard to get into trouble. So in 1939, she becomes a member of the freedom fighters and delivers messages for the resistance
Also is the love story. Jana meets a young man named Otto and instantly wants to find love. Did Otto love Jana? Sometimes I thought so and sometimes I wasn't sure. It kept me confused and interested.
The ending to me was a little disappointing but then again I think during this time period it is appropriate.
An interesting story of fighting and love.
I liked this story but I didn't love it. I wasn't that invested in the characters and the suspense didn't build enough in my opinion.. It's still a worthwhile read because you learn about the gypsies during WWII. Actually 1939 The war started earlier in Czechoslovakia.
Thank you Netgalley for a chance to read this book in return for an honest review.

I liked the story line revolving around Czechoslovakia and the gypsies but the writing was not great, clunky and disjointed, with the dialogue being completely unnatural. Jana came across as obnoxious and childish and the relationship between Jana and Otto was also super weird and forced.

While there was constant changing of character focus and perspectives without any clear break that made it feel all over the place, I liked the overlap of events and circumstances. I have not heard much on the invasion and occupation into Czechoslovakia, so I enjoyed learning about it.

Honestly the ending was bizarre and an awful way to wrap up the book. It felt like the last few chapters just got lopped off. I might have given it 2.5-3 stars if not for that.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

Great ww2 book that shows a real hero. This is a seldom told story about bravery and heroes that resisted evil. Heros all.

Gipsies were the targets of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime, but Jana chooses to fight back by becoming a freedom fighter in Prague. Well written historical fiction from the viewpoint of the Romani culture.

Jana, a Romani girl, joins a secret group called the Freedom Fighters when the Nazi regime expands its brutality into Czechoslovakia in the early 1940s. For the sake of Romani and Chechen freedom and survival, it is essential to drive Hitler's murderous Nazi army back to Germany. Jana keeps going despite opposition from many members of her family.

Due to the author's meticulous attention to historical detail, I found the book's first part to be both fascinating and slow. However, after I felt like I had a handle on the political and social climate, I grew increasingly invested.

Author B.K. Oldre is a former librarian with a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Minnesota and an M.L.I.S. degree. While researching her Czech ancestry, she became fascinated with the history of that country, particularly during WWII. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, She Writes Press, for the eARC of this book. The opinions are my own, and the review is voluntary.

"Caravans in the Dark" is a great read for anyone interested in women's history, suspenseful action novels, coming-of-age stories, WWII, or the Nazis. It is about the Romani people and their struggle to maintain their culture in the face of Nazi persecution. Both solitary and communal mass murders are depicted. Those who are particularly sensitive to these should look elsewhere for reading material.

Jana is a young Romani girl travelling through Czechoslovakia in 1939. Her family has noticed the increasing presence of the German Army and their treatment of the people around them. Jana's family decides to stay in Prague with their extended family, just ahead of the Nazi invasion. Jana finds a job at a castle where she notices secret messages being passed. Jana realises that she can help and becomes part of the Resistance. Jana's cousins and his friend, Otto, Max and Albert are also trying to help other families and the Resistance, but soon their efforts will cause problems too close to home.

Caravans in the Dark is a World War II novel written from the Romani point of view, a group who was equally abused by Hitler's policies and was meant to be eradicated under his regime. Through Jana's family, we see a bit into the Romani lifestyle and the abuses and stereotypes they suffered. I enjoyed Jana's character, her willful and courageous spirit and willingness to help despite the danger was amazing for a fifteen year old. The story also reveals the pride of the Czech people as they resist the pending Nazi occupation of their land. Told from multiple points of view, there is a full breadth of the Resistance efforts happening; Jana, Otto, Max are Romani helping to smuggle messages and people, Albert a friend of the Romani and a Czech helping Otto and Max and Franz, a sympathetic Nazi soldier. While I was invested in Jana's story and their efforts to help families and get messages out, I didn't feel a strong sense of suspense or association between all of the events, they just happened. The ending was also strong, but abrupt and I really wanted to know what happened with the family through the war since the story is set in the very beginning.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. Why?
#a romani Main character. She is spunky , strong , steongwilled with a heart of gold.
#the other Main characters arenalso strong, and they stand up to fight tje Nazi regime
#it was historical correct , the Nazi regime tried to destroy the romani culture
I.would highly recommend this.book
Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

An amazing and heartbreaking look at the lives of the Romani during the beginning of WWII. Few people realize how the Roma lived and that they were as much a target as the Jews

I was happy to see a book focused on a Romani protagonist at the onset of the Second World War. There are many books on the Jewish Holocaust because those who survived were literate and passed on their stories, so the world wouldn’t forget. Many gypsy survivors were illiterate and wanted to put the events behind them, victimization of the Roma and Sinto people sadly continue to this day.
Our protagonist is Jana, a 15 year old girl, her family move to Prague shortly before the Nazi invasion. “The old travelling ways are dying out. We need to become part of the society we live in.” As a girl Jana is expected to help her stepmother with household chores and looking after the younger children, she is excluded from the men’s hushed talk about concerning political developments.
Though excluded from the men’s conversations, Jana does manage to connect to the Czech resistance and is involved in smuggling messages to and from Prague Castle where she works in the kitchen. She also daydreams about Otto, the first in his family to attend college but expelled because of his ethnicity. Otto gets involved in compiling a Resistance newsletter. There is an air of dread as the German presence becomes more prevalent, but I would have expected more visceral dread. Not all the German occupiers are bad, Franz who came from a vineyard had fond memories of his childhood playing with Gypsy kids during the grape harvest and even knew a few words of Romani.
The historical details seem true to life, the increasing brutality of the Nazi regime, the privations of the local people and copious amounts of beer and cigarettes. I would have liked to have seen more of the Romany life and culture and its clash with the Nazi war machine. The concentration camp of Buchenwald is touched upon, as some of the Gypsy men are sent there but little is told about life there except for the slave work on meagre rations.
The story is more focused on what is happening in Prague and the early Czech resistance and how it affects the lives of Jana, her family and close friends. I am wondering if this book will be part of a series because it only takes us to 1939 and the beginning of the war.