I listened to this on audiobook.

Given that I love historical fiction stories set around the time of World War, I thought I might enjoy this, despite it being slightly different in that it was set right before the War happened, and it wasn’t a dual timeline, which is what I usually go for.

However, this was one very moving story, although I wish I hadn’t concentrated so much on trying to figure out how the story related to the baby twins at the beginning. But once I gave up trying to figure it out, and just lose myself into the story, I was captivated and riveted right to the very end. It was pretty emotional in places but also very insightful, as I had no idea as to those sorts of things going on, happening. How Jews were affected and what they went through, just frightful and horrific. It was an eye opener that’s for sure.

The story was very well written and the author did an outstanding job in telling this story, she clearly did her research.

I was impressed with the narrator, Antonia Whillans of this story too, she did a great job of narrating the story, making each voice unique and easy to follow.

** spoiler alert ** 3.5 stars.

What makes this WWII book different from the hundreds/thousands of ones like it is that it takes place before WWII officially begins in 1939. The story begins in the early 1930's. Dora lives in England with her husband. She learns of the Jews in Berlin, Germany being discriminated and treated poorly. She wants to help any way she can. Dora works with the Quakers as they help with the Kindertransport in 1938-1939 to bring refugee children (many of them Jewish) to Great Britain through Holland from Berlin, Germany.

The part of Dora's story that was hard for me was her relationship with her cousin, Verity. She was so selfish. She moves to Germany to get married to a Nazi soldier. She cuts almost all communication with her family and friends in England. In the end, you soften to Verity. Her husband is murdered. She is severely questioned by the Nazi's but Dora finds a way to get her out of Germany. No matter how nasty/rude/selfish Verity is, Dora can't seem to let her be. It took until the last 10% of the book for me to like Verity.

Rosa Goldberg and her husband, Josef, are Jewish and own a successful business as a taylor and seamstress. Their business seems to be looked over by the Germans and the new guidelines, but not for long. Josef is arrested in the middle of the night. Rosa and her five year old daughter, Theresa, must survive on their own. Rosa finds out that she is pregnant (with twins) as their rations become smaller and smaller. Rosa is no longer able to work. She moves into the ghetto. She learns of the Kindertransport. She brings Theresa there one day, but can't seem to send off her only daughter to the unknown. The twins arrive, but Rosa knows there is not enough food for all four of them. She puts the twins in a basket and shoves the basket into Dora's hands at the Kindertransport. I find it really hard to imagine Rosa not wanting to also leave Theresa at the Kindertransport, but she can't seem to do it. She is willing to give up her 2 week old twins, but not send off her older daughter?

The book starts off very slow. The last half of the book definitely picks up; I just hope people continue to read.

Josef and Esther Goldberg (the twins) story is based on true events. They never found their mother after the war, but believe she died as they know she would have tried to find them if she lived through the horror of WWII.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of The Twins on the Train by Suzanne Goldring.

What a fascinating story of heartbreaking real life events. I have never heard of Kindertransport but what an amazing thing for Quakers to do.
Heartbreaking stories of parents sending their children away from Nazi Germany and the people who took in 3 of those children.

This year, I've chosen to take a more focused approach to my reading, particularly in historical fiction about WWII. I was excited to discover "The Twins on the Train," a novel that intertwines narratives from the English perspective in the pre-war period with the experiences of German Jewish individuals.

The book is a poignant mix of hope and tragedy, exploring the efforts of an organization that rescued young Jewish children during difficult times. While it saved many lives, it also led to heartbreaking separations from parents who had no choice but to send their children away for safety. As a mother of two, I found this particularly difficult to read, reflecting on the immense courage required to make such a heart-wrenching decision—one that no parent should ever have to face.

Featuring dual timelines, the story follows two women whose lives briefly intersect, forming a lasting bond amid the tension of the pre-war years. Rich in historical detail, "The Twins on the Train" is engaging and thought-provoking, filled with revelations that captivated me from start to finish. I highly recommend it to fans of historical fiction, and I appreciate NetGalley for providing me with this insightful novel in exchange for my honest review.

The Twins on the Train is a World War II story, inspired by true events, that follows the story of Dora and Rosa, two women navigating the reality of WWII Europe between 1933 and 1943. Dora is an English Quaker who worked with her community and organized countless Kindertransport trains that carried Jewish children out of Berlin and to England. Rosa, a Jewish mother of 3 and seamstress living in Berlin, made the decision to send her youngest twins on the train by thrusting the 2-week-old babies in Dora's arms on one of the final trains out of Germany.

Chronically, the story begins and ends in 2023, with Esther Goldberg - one of Rosa's twins - opening the novel by sharing the story of the women who saved her and her brother all those years ago. Esther then closes the novel back in 2023 by sharing the reality of her biological family, which she was not made aware of until much later in her life. Besides Esther's couple of chapters at the beginning and end of the book, the novel transitions between Dora's and Rosa's perspectives as they their lives move closer and closer to the inevitable Second World War.

My favorite aspect of the book is how Dora and Rosa's storylines were, though the only words spoken to one another were Rosa's "Please, Take them" as the pushed her twins into Dora's arms. Prior to starting the Kindertransport, Dora had frequently travelled to Germany and Berlin on personal and professional errands. On one of her many journey's, Dora comes across the Goldberg's tailoring business, where Rosa and her husband Yousef made clothes for Aryan and Jewish Germans alike. Further along in the story, Rosa and Dora cross paths again as Rosa prepares to send her oldest daughter - Therese - on an earlier Kindertransport, but decides at the last minute to keep her daughter in Germany before Dora can convince her otherwise. It was beautiful to see the lives of these two women meeting and intersecting without ever speaking more than three words to each other.

While I could not get enough of Dora and Rosa unknowingly crossing paths, I looked forward to hearing more about Dora's cousin Verity. At the beginning of the novel, Verity is portrayed as a carefree young lady, who seeks passion and adventure, regardless of the setting. Without giving too much of the story away, the relationship between the cousins is one of unconditional love, and proves that all it takes is one person who knows your most authentic self and is willing to stand in your corner for you to be able to push through your darkest times.

The Twins on the Train is a story of unconditional love among biological and adopted families. While the story focuses on Dora and Rosa, the novel speaks for all the families who made the decision to send their children away in hopes they would be speared from the suffering that blanketed Germany and the surround nations. Author Suzanne Goldring did a remarkable job of sharing the stories of millions of people who worked tirelessly to survive and keep children safe throughout WWII, and narrator Antonia Whillans wonderfully portrayed the emotional turmoil of each character through her narrations.

I would like to thank the NetGalley and the publishing company for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I struggled with this one but over all it was an interesting read about Jewish children being safely removed from Nazi Germany pre-war. Although beautifully written, I felt there was too much scene setting but do understand why the autor felt this important. The Twins seemed to be only a tiny part of this story and I was hoping for more of their personal journey and search.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion/review.

Really loved this book. There isn’t anything I can say bad towards it.
The characters were very well thought out. Just loved Dora. The story itself was well written and explained. The back and forth was very well executed and I had no confusion as to who which chapters were about.
Reading anything that takes place during WW2 is just heartbreaking. It never gets any easier.
This story explores various people from different places during this time and what they are going through to help those Jews in Germany.
I don’t remember hearing about children being trained out of Germany into England and I didn’t see how factual this book is.

Overall wonderful story.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy.

This was a touching story about the Kindertransport occurring during the beginning of the World War II. I liked the storytelling and the characters. The book was deep, felt informed and well researched, was entertaining and made me feel for the ones in the story. I had heard about the Kindertransport but had never read or researched about it, so this book peaked my interest in the subject. I am grateful for having read this book and for living the life I’ve had.

A heroic story of Dora, a Quaker woman who works on the Kindertransport moving as many children as possible out of Germany into England at the beginning of WWII. Rosa, a new mother of baby twins and a 7-year-old daughter, thrusts her twins to Dora in a basket on one of these journeys. It is heartbreaking thinking of how these parents gave up their children for safety and put their children in the hands of other people in hopes for a better life and future. This story was beautifully written, and I connected easily to the characters. Told from both Dora and Rosa’s POV, the story showed both sides of Kindertransport. Both women, who risked everything in the middle of Nazi Germany and the horrific events that were happening and were to come.

An emotional read, this story highlights some of the atrocities of WWII through the eyes of Dora, an English woman working for the Quakers and helping to bring refugee children to the UK and to safety. We also see things through the eyes of Rosa, a Jewish mother forced to trust her twins with a stranger. This is a very moving book and the narration is excellent. Thank you to Net Galley for an audio arc in exchange for an honest review.

Truly enjoyed this novel by Suzanne Goldring! One thing I look for in Historical Fiction novels is great detail on daily life; what they ate, what they wore, make-up, hobbies, etc. The Twins on the Train did a fantastic job about painting a clear picture of the times in the late 1930's-early 1940's in England and Germany. The narrator was fantastic and made clear voice distinctions for different characters without becoming cheesy as they can sometimes be. This book took me through all of the emotions - it was both beautiful to hear about the humanity of Dora, Brenda, and others especially during rising tensions, and absolutely heart shattering when considering the abuse suffered, and sacrifices that Rosa (and so many others) had to make during the Nazi regime. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a WWII era book that will really make you feel something!

The Twins on the Train is both a heartbreaking and at times a heartwarming read. What these women did to help these poor children was truly amazing. I found this book to be a very emotional read at times and it gripped me from the very beginning. The author really brought the characters to life in her writing and I felt like I was then sharing their journey with them. The emotional turmoil that these women must have been going through to give their children to complete strangers in order to ensure their safety. I’ve read many historical fiction books based around WW2 but this was the first one I’ve read where the Quakers played a role in helping bring these young children to safety on the Kinder Transport.. I loved listening to this on audible and found the narrator to be excellent .

The Twins on the Train by Suzanne Goldring is a gripping tale following the journey of a pair of twins after their mother made the painstaking decision to put them on a train traveling from Germany to England as infants at the beginning of WWII in hopes of protecting them from what was to come. We get to know two very courageous women named Rosa (mother of the twins) and Dora (dedicates herself to saving as many children as possible from Nazi Germany). Both women want what’s best for the innocent children affected during this devastating time. I listened to the audiobook version of this novel and thoroughly enjoyed following this emotional tale. I highly recommend checking this book out. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for providing me with an ALC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Another WWII book I really enjoyed. I always wait for the moment when I say, I don’t want to read another WWII book anytime soon but I haven’t made it there yet. Reading stories about what Jewish people experience during the war is usually something I try to avoid. Concentration camps and the abuse that the Jewish population suffered through is always hard for me to read. I can’t imagine what it was like back then, or even now for Jewish people and I wish that more people had learned from German behavior.

This book begins with Dora being handed a basket with twin babies in it. As the story unfolds we see both Dora’s POV through the events that lead up the basket, and then after. And we also get the POV of Rosa, the twin’s mother, and what possesses her to hand of her babies and what she suffers through as a Jewish woman in Germany.

I enjoyed listening to the audio copy of this book. Antonio did a great job differentiating between the two women and I really felt connected with both characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for my ALC of this book.

It has been a while since I have read books centered in WWII Germany or surrounding the events of the Holocaust.

This is an inspired story of how the Quakers set up the Kindertransport in an effort to help Jewish families under Nazi persecution. I really liked her ability to take us through the timeline of how it began and how propaganda can be such a powerful tool to directing hate in a nation and beyond.

The story of Esther and Joseph Goldberg, twins who were brought to the train station at only 2 weeks old, was harrowing. As a mother, I cannot fathom having to make the decisions that parents in 1930s Germany had to face.

Narration is wonderfully delivered by Antonia Whillans

A powerfully WW2 story. Rosa thrust a basket in Dora's hands as Dora gets on the train taking children from Berlin to safety in England, thae basket contains new born twins (that are not allowed to travel). The story then goes back to the rise of the Nazi party and the plight of the Jews in Germany. A well written book with excellent narration by Antonia Whillans. Thanks to Bookoutre audio and Netgalley for this review audiobook

Thank you to NetGalley and Suzanne Goldring for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

As a passionate fan of historical fiction, I was drawn to this audiobook from the moment I saw it available for review. The story is both gut-wrenching and heart-breaking, reflecting the difficult choices faced by parents in a tumultuous time. It made me think about how much we want our children to live in a safer world and what we’ll give up to make that happen.

It powerfully captures the terror of the era and the profound love and bravery of parents who made the heartbreaking decision to let go of their children in hopes of a better future for them. The audio narration was paced well, and enjoyable to listen to - the narrator kept me engaged with the story.

Thank you again for sharing this incredibly moving story with me.

Book Title: The Twins on the Train
Author: Suzanne Goldring
Format: 🎧
Narrator: Antonia Whillians
Publisher: Bookouture Audio
Genre: Historical Fiction
Audiobook Pub Date: October 30, 2024
My Rating: 4 + Stars
Pages: 400

Story covers the time between 1939 and 1940 when children deemed ‘Imperfect” most were Jewish were taken from their parent and faced death.
During this time the Quakers helped with Kindertransport (Children’s Transport), by transporting refugee children -the so called imperfect children to Great Britain through Holland from Nazi Germany for their safety.
Story features two main characters Rosa and Dora.
Dora an English woman, worked with the Quakers.
Rosa a Jewish mother, who was devoted to her children, but had to, made the decision to give up her twins.

There is no doubt that this emotional story will have me thinking about this long after I am finished. Thinking about the sacrifices made for children made by adults with no hope of saving themselves as well as knowing they may never see the children again brings tears to my eyes.

Antonia Whillans audiobook narrator was wonderful in performing the characters as well as narrating author, Suzanne Goldring’s story. Her soft pleasant voice made the danger real without dwelling on the horror.

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture Audio this early audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for October 30, 2024.

A well researched WW2 story with some harrowing parts but also some to cheer you again. There was nothing new as this sad tale has been told in many ways but a decent listen.

The Twins On the Train
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wow What a beautiful written book. It grabbed me right from the very start. It was heartbreaking & so compelling. It was a fantastic Historical fiction that I really enjoyed.
Thank you NetGalley!!