This is the story of Eva and Sofie, prisoners in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. While there, they both discover they are pregnant and vow to ensure the safety of their children. As with most WWII stories, there is a dual story line. Normally it’s past and present but this one spans only 4 years, which seems unnecessary. For that alone, the dual times don’t work for me personally. That being said, the story was slow to start but most of the story was more positive and hopeful than dark and horrific, given the setting. This was a new twist on a much-written about time in history.

'...despite all the horror in this world, all its darkness that tried so desperately to wipe us out, my life has been one full of joy, light, and love because no matter how hard someone tried to vanquish the day, what I have learnt in my long years in this life, is that dawn breaks even the longest night'

It is 1942, and Eva and Sofie are living with the consequences of their heartbreaking and impossible to decision to volunteer to be transported to hell on earth: Auschwitz. Both women are driven by desperation: Eva, to find her missing husband Michal; and Sofie, to find the woman who took, and hid, her son. But life in Auschwitz is almost impossible, and when Eva realises she is pregnant, both women are faced with unimaginable danger. How far will they go, and what they will give up, to ensure that hope survives?

This for me was a very quick read - I started it on Monday night, and had finished it by Tuesday lunchtime. It's not so much that it's a short book, more that it's one that lures you in and refuses to let you go: it's definitely one that isn't easy to put down!

Eva was such a well-written character, with none of the forced formality that can sometimes be found in historical fiction. Her voice is very much that of the average woman, which made her far easier to connect with, and also made her situation all the more poignant, as it really hits home the message that those who were imprisoned at these camps really were just like me or you. There was also a very strong sense of age - you could see a clear divide between the flashback scenes from her youth, and those written whilst she was at Auschwitz. This helped her feel more real, and to me showed a very high level of ability in terms of the authors writing. 

While the focus of the story is on Eva and her search for her husband, Sofie also plays a significant role, and her search for the truth of what happened to her son is heartbreaking. To not know where your child is, not even to have the most basic information about whether they are safe, that pain is something I cannot even imagine, and it makes her decision to volunteer for life in Auschwitz even more understandable. The decisions she makes whilst at Auschwitz were incredibly brave, and everything she did was done to protect her friends, making her an incredibly strong and admirable character. 

Now for the star of the show if you will - the child of Auschwitz, although baby is more like it. The accuracy with which these sections were written - Eva's pregnancy, her decision of what to do about it, the options presented to her, the difficulties of pregnancy, and the state of the child at birth - all of these sections were just spellbinding in their heartbreak. I was almost prepared for an overly cheery miracle child, but the baby instead was a true representation of the reality of her situation, and for that I applaud Lily Graham. 

All in all, I was incredibly impressed, and very moved. 'The Child of Auschwitz' is at its heart, a story of hope. A wife hoping to see her husband, a mother hoping to find her child, and an entire community of women hoping for the survival of an impossible child, and all that she represents. It is moving, heartbreaking, and ultimately, in a very strange way, uplifting - an inspirational tale of survival against even the most unendurable odds.

Thanks to NetGalley I was able to read this untold horrifying story about Auschwitz, before it was published.

Journalist Lilly Graham seven books with totaly different perspectives. While writing The Child of Auschwitz she was inspired by the stories of survivors of Auschwitz. Most people propably will understand that there were baby's born in Auschwitz (for example because woman came there while they where pregnant or because of rape) but what you might not expect is that there where babies who where born there and survived the horrible sircumstanses of Auschwitz. This because of the strenght and loyality of there mothers and some of the other prisoners.

Vera Bein was one of these woman, she gave birth to a baby in december 1944. The little baby just was 1 kilo and was so weak it wasn't able to cry. This probably saved her life during the time in the concentrationkamps. With this story in her mind, just as the other stories of survivers Graham wrote a beautiful heartbreaking story about hope and love in a terrible time with terrible sircumstances.

"She realised that it was possible to be happy, in even the darkest of times."

Eva and Sofie met eachother in Terezin, where they decided - each by there own motives - to vollunteer to go on transport to Auschwitz. Sofie with the hope of finding her niece, who braught her son to a safe place and wasn't able to tell her where that place was. Eva to follow the love of her live, who was sended to Auschwitz to help build the camp. Both of them not knowing what horrible place and circumstances they would end up in. In Auschwitz they find a constant horrifying situation with just two causes, finding the persons they are searching for and surviving. To make this happen, they take horrible risks wich might cost them there lives. Sofie doesn't find herself any other choice than to be the pretend love of one of the SS nazi's, just to get the things she needs to survive. 

Thanks to her friend Sofie, Eva finds her love in teribble circumstances. But she has to pay big time, for seeing him. And than, all of a sudden, Eva is pregnant. There's no doubt in her mind, she's gonna keep the baby, even if this will cost her her own life. On the night Eva gets the bad news her husband has died, she gives birth to a babygirl in Birkenau. The girl is real small and doesn't have the strength to cry. But Eva and Sofie have decided. The three of them have to make it out alive.

"Eva tried to sit up to see her child, and Helga held her back, her eyes worried as they all peered down at the tiny baby between her legs. They were all waiting for the cry. Which did not come."

In a beautiful way in wich Graham honers the characters of Eva and Sofie, Graham describes there lives. The dreamy, artistic character Eva is, you will find in the way she and her experiences are written. The same with Sofie, who's character is filled with strength. It's special how Graham managed to keep her readers caught up in the story and make them feel with the characters at the same time. This is why - as a reader - I found tears in my eyes while turning some of the pages. Pages that are filled with hope, love and friendship.

A horrible and at the same time beautiful story that every reader who loves world war II stories has to read. It's unique, not only because of the story, but also because of it's strenght, beauty and the way Graham moves her readers. This book is impressive and deserves a little space in your heart!

A heartbreaking read about how a baby was born in Auschwitz and survived. There is a lot of pain in this story but there is also hope, friendship, and love. This is a story that is definitely worth reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

The Child of Auschwitz follows the struggles of Eva and Sofie while they are prisoners in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.  While I have read many WWII stories, this was a new story line for me.  The narrative is told in duel timelines, one in the "present" which is 1942 and the "past" in 1938.  While I normally love duel time lines, it felt a little irrelevant in this novel.  For me the story started out slow, with most of the action described in the synopsis on starting at about 60%.  I loved how the author brought hope to a story line that would have easily been weighed down by the horrors of concentration camps.  If you love WWII novels you should definitely go out and get this one when it comes out on November 8th!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for providing me with an advanced readers copy.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC. 

I loved this book, felt it was written really well and moved from past to present times easily.   Set during World War II and based in a concentration camp it was a story of love, loss, friendship, hope and survival.  For me it was a haunting read as you know these events happened.  The characters were very likeable and I had so much empathy for them and what they went through.  It is a book that plays with your emotions, sad and poignant in parts and a book I just couldn’t put down.   A compelling, haunting story.   Read it in one day.  I’ve not read any of Lily Graham’s books before and would read other books by her.

This stunning historical fiction in the setting of Auschwitz will haunt me for a long time to come. It’s a story of love, hope and told through a combination of the present and the past flashbacks. It completely captivated me that I read it in a day because I just couldn’t stop

A Haunting Yet Hopeful Story About Survival and Love

The Child of Auschwitz by Lily Graham began in Prague just prior to the invasion of the Nazis. The Jewish families were skeptical about all the rumors they had heard about the cruelties the Nazis were inflicting upon the Jews.. Most Jewish families felt that none of those things could happen to them. Their government would not allow it. How wrong they were. When they realized their errors it was too late to escape or do anything about their circumstances. The Nazis became a constant presence in their country. There was fear and dread among the many Jewish families living in the countries the Nazis had taken over. 

During that time, Eva Adami, a young Jewish girl met the love her life. Before too long, Eva and Michal, a Jewish symphony violin player, married after a beautiful and loving courtship. They were not married more than six months when the Nazis rounded them up and sent Michal first followed shortly by Eva to the Terezin family camp. Not long after, Eva found out that Michal had been sent to Auschwitz. At Terezin, Eva befriended Sofie and the two young woman became best friends. When Eva found out that Michal had been sent East she became determined to follow him. She could not live without knowing if he was alive. Eva nor Sofie could have ever imagined what a HELL their life was about to become. As they were pushed into the already crowded train they found that they had to endure standing up in the dirty, filthy, not fit for any human conditions of the cattle car that carried them to Auschwitz in 1942. Both Eva and Sofie had lost someone that they loved very much. That common bond that they shared helped them pledge to each other that they would do anything they had to do to survive Auschwitz so they could find their love ones when the war was over. For Eva it was her husband Michal and for Sofie it was her son Tomas.

Eva and Sofie found themselves working many jobs as they made the best of their circumstances. They were constantly hungry, cold, terrified and in constant fear of the mean Nazi guards. One day both women were assigned to work at the Kanada, the place the Nazis stored all the possessions taken from the new arrivals at Auschwitz. Eva and Sofie and the others were ordered to look for valuables that were often sewed into linings or hidden in garments. During that time. Eva started to find photographs that had been confiscated. Eva was good at hiding things in her clothing, a trick her uncle had taught her well. She hifd the photographs and hid them beneath her thin mattress. One day, Eva saw a man, Herman, that was in one of the photos she had taken. When she gave Herman the photo of him and his family he began to sob uncontrollably. His whole family had been sent to their deaths when they arrived at Auschwitz. The photo was the only memory he had left of them. He was eternally grateful to Eva and became her friend and helped her look for Michal on the men's side of Auschwitz. During Eva and Sofie's time working at the Kanada, Sofie found that one of the young Nazi guards, Meier, had taken a liking to her. Sofie used this to her advantage but she paid a very high price in return. With the help of Eva's friend, Herman, who she gave the photo to and Sofie's guard friend, Meier, Eva found Michal. He had been beaten to inches of his death. Eva was allowed to visit Michal and she watched him get better. During one of her later visits Michal and Eva slept together and Eva soon learned that she was pregnant. Several weeks later, Herman, brought more news of Michal to Eva. Michal had been transferred to a factory and was killed when a bomb exploded on it. Eva was distraught and the news sent her into premature labor. How could she go on without Michal? She fought to survive to be able to be with him again. She had to go on though for her unborn child. Eva miraculously delivered a baby girl, Nadeje, weighing less that two and a half pounds. Eva was told that Nadeje's lungs were very small  and that she might not survive and even if she did her bones were so weak she could have even more problems. Knowing that she and Sofie had to survive, Eva whispered to her fragile daughter that she would survive too and that she would make sure she did. 

At the end of The Child of Auschwitz it was revealed that Nadeje finally told her mother's story and therefore her own as well. Nadeje wrote, "I was never meant to live, but I have, because of her. Because of them, and despite all the horror in this world, all its darkness that tried so desperately to wipe us out, my life has been one full of joy, light, and love because no matter how hard someone tries to vanquish the day, what I have learnt in my long years in this life, is that dawn breaks even the longest night." Lily Graham did and excellent job researching The Child of Auschwitz. The story was based on the true story of Vera Bein who gave birth to a daughter in the top bunk of camp C at Auschwitz/Birkenau in December of 1944. Survivors like Eva Schloss ,who was the step-sister of Anne Frank, contributed her story and helped make this book so believable.  Lily Graham got  a better sense of what life was like in Prague and the ghetto of Terezin during that time from a diary that was given to her from a survivor, Helga Weiss.. Lily Graham researched and made the reader aware of the fact that babies that were born to Jewish mothers were put to death until November 1944. Sadly, even though seven hundred babies were born in Auschwitz, only a few survived. 

Although I have read many books about the Holocaust, The Child of Auschwitz, although haunting left me with a touch of hope. I did not know that newborn babies were gassed. What monsters the Nazi guards were. It was hard to read in parts but also a bit uplifting to witness the friendships that took shape and how some took dangerous risks to help others and to give some prisoners a bit of joy. I would give The Child of Auschwitz a strong 4.5 stars. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookoture and Lily Graham for my digital copy of The Child of Auschwitz. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishing house, Bookouture, for providing an advanced copy for review.  All thoughts and opinions written in this review are my own.

Eva is a young woman who finds herself pregnant while living in the horrible conditions of Auschwitz.  She must do what she can to survive and give her child a chance at what she knows will be a better life.

I quickly fell in love with the characters in this book and especially the main character Eva. I have read many World War II Historical Fiction novels and I don’t recall a character with as much strength and resilience as Eva. I have read books with strong leads, but the difference with Lily Graham’s book was that I never felt Eva’s strength waver throughout the book.  No matter what was thrown in her way, she had a very strong desire to survive and “we will survive this” was a statement made by Eva in the book during different situations that were before her.  She was a source of strength for those closest to her as well.  Her friendships with Sofie and Helga and her love for her husband, Michal, was heartwarming and I found myself moved to tears by reading about the things they had to do to survive the devastation of the Holocaust. I appreciated that the author wrote about a love interest, a friend that was around her age, and another friend that could have been her grandmother.  

The story is mostly told in a present (1942) and past (1938) type of timeline.  Ms. Graham shapes the back story of Eva and her friend Sofie which is necessary to the telling of the events that lead them to be in Auschwitz. I enjoyed the layout of the book and didn’t mind the back and forth as it was not difficult to keep up with.  

If World War II Historical Fiction is your favorite genre, “The Child of Auschwitz” needs to make it on your list to read.

My review can be found on Goodreads.

A wonderful book that takes readers on a painful journey following friends and family through the horrors of the Holocaust. Sadness, hope and pain affect the characters as they strive for a resolution. Definitely recommended to those readers who wish to read this book.

I loved this book because it was a different look into Auschwitz and the plight of women who may fall pregnant while inside the metal cage that they were forced to reside in. Eva was such a lovely character who you just fall in love with, as well as the other characters with whom Eva is close to. The only thing I didn't love was the flashbacks. I truthfully felt myself skipping past them and never actually feeling like I needed it when I got back Eva's current time and then the future (aka now). I will definitely be recommending this book and can't wait to purchase this when it comes out!

The Child of Auschwitz by Lily Graham.  Such a beautifully written, incredible story of love, loss, friendship, family, and so much more between two women imprisoned in Auschwitz.  The story splits between two amazing and strong characters, and tells their story in past and present tense.  I’m a huge fan of historical fiction (my favorite period in history to read about is WW2), and this book was very, very good.

Surviving the horrors of Auschwitz as an adult is unimaginable but as an infant almost unbelievable. This novel gives an up close look into the daily lives of Eva and Sofie as they struggle to overcome the horrors of Auschwitz. I felt that the flashbacks of their lives distracted from the main story. Also, the story was a little too stilted for me. Was an interesting read.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This story goes right to the heart of the reader and I read through the last few chapters with the tears freely flowing. Ms. Graham brought to life the stories of the women that lived in Auschwitz and despite everything, survived. She shared the story of an incredibly strong woman named Eva, who with her friend Sofie decided that they would live no matter what. It was this determination that led Eva to find her beloved Michal, when others would have given up. That helped her stand up to guards to protect her bunk mates. Eva and Sofie pledged to survive but also to raise each other's children should the need arise. 

That is how you build a family from a group of strangers. The story is woven from the past, before the Terezin ghetto became their home and before they knew a place like Auschwitz ever existed. The bulk of the story takes place in Auschwitz but also in the memories of Eva and what happened after the liberation of Auschwitz by the Soviets. 

Ms. Graham wrote such a descriptive story that you were there with Eva - through bits of joy and immense heartbreak. This beautiful story needs to be read and cherished.

It is 1942 and having been in a Jewish concentration camp and ghetto in Terezin for nearly a year Eva Adami, desperate to find her husband Michal, and having no knowledge that such a hell hole and a place of death and degradation existed, she volunteers to transfer to the camp of Auschwitz in the hope of finding him.

Combining historical fact with fiction, The Child of Auschwitz is a powerful story of resilience, courage, survival , love and the incredible strength of the human spirit.

I found this such an emotional and evocative read and it kept me gripped and turning those pages well into the night. 

Great characterization and rich descriptive prose that made you feel the cold and their everyday hunger and agony made this a 5 stars highly recommended read from me.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC for my honest review.

I’ve read quite a lot of WWII fiction and non-fiction. This is definitely one of the best. I liked the different time perspectives and the last chapter written from a different POV. There were some really likeable (and obviously some very unlikeable) characters. I’ve not read anything else by this author, so will definitely be looking for more of her work. 
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for an e-arc of this book.

Lily Graham has delivered a book that is not only a very moving story and you will cry,you will be addicted from the start and will find it hard to put down.This book ranks high on my favourite books list a BRILLIANT book and worth far more than 5* in my opinion EXCELLENT.

This is a very emotional story of life in a concentration camp and The Holocaust. Written with great sensitivity and an understanding of terrible historical events. A vivid recounting of the atrocities inflicted in 1942 and a heartbreaking tale of survival. Well written and a powerful work of historical fiction which is very compelling to read. My thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Eva Adami was a woman of fixed ideas, when she got something in her head there was nothing to change her mind. One day she decided she had enough that life in the ghetto away from her husband was insufferable. She couldn’t take it anymore without hearing from him, how he was and if he was still alive. So she got on a train to Auschwitz and went to look for him.

Sofie’s story was as terrible as that of thousands of Jews. She came to Auschwitz in search of his son Thomas which he left in the care of a cousin and the last news she had of her was that she would also be in this concentration camp.

From before arriving Auschwitz both women form a very strong friendship based first on the need to survive and support each other in such a hostile environment. But eventually this evolves and becomes something much stronger, big and beautiful. A friendship that makes them strong and unshakable and helps them overcome all kinds of obstacles and that it is capable of surviving time and even life.

Eva had the soul of an artist and a dreamy spirit. She was a cheerful, dreamy woman that transmitted her energy to others. Optimistic by nature she believed above all in the goodness of people that’s why she didn’t understand that another human being were doing something so terrible to them.

Sofie on the contrary, was pragmatic. She was used to overcoming obstacles from a young age, this place was the most terrible she’d ever been to, But that wasn’t gonna get her nor make her give up her goal. She was sure that by finding her son she would do the impossible.

In between as much horror as they were living in Auschwitz, encouraged by her peers, Eva decides to remember happy times and narrate them aloud. What begins as a simple entertainment, something to help them from time to time escape the harsh reality they are living soon it becomes a daily habit and even necessary.

The Child of Auschwitz develops into two different storylines between 1938 when Eva meets Michal who then becomes her husband and 1942 when they sent her to Terezín.

This is an issue that always moves me a lot regardless of everything I have read, seen or heard. However, and perhaps because I didn’t expect it, The Child of Auschwit, The Child of Auschwitz has moved me even more.
Knowing what the protagonist’s life was like before Auschwitz and in the circumstances that he met Michal was the part I enjoyed the most and liked about the story which also has a lot to do with style and the previous novels of this author.

Eva and Michal’s love story is as special and beautiful as few and stands out even more by the context in which it is told. In addition, is written with such sensitivity and heart that even after having read it continues to excite me by remembering it.

The Child of Auschwitz is a very tough novel but at the same time beautiful and that speaks to us of the power so great that it has keeping hope alive, but also friendship and love. It shows us how the strength of these women and of millions like them came from the heart. Of the great need they had to survive this horror to see their loved ones again, even if it was one last time.

A beautiful story of survival of a mother and her baby amid the horrors and brutality of Auschwitz.  Eva and Sophie meet and become friends in the work camp they are sent to by the Nazis.  They are determined to survive in this unbelievably terrible environment where they are deprived of everything including food and medical care, and made to work tirelessly for the Nazis.  Eva is looking desperately for her husband whom she was separated from when he was sent to the camps before her.  Sophia gave up her son to her cousin so he would not be killed in the camps.  Their story one of bravery and survival throughout WWII in the worst concentration camp there was.  Highly recommended.  Beautifully written.  An amazing story.