Ashes is a book which I'd been seeing around for a while, and which I was intrigued by. So I was very happy to be sent a copy of the manuscript to review, and I wasn't disappointed.
Simone is the daughter of a Belgian General, and Hava the opera-loving daughter of a devout Jewish family. The two girls meet at the Red Cross in Brussels and become inseparable, but rumours of war are building. When the Nazis invade in early 1940, Simone and Hava are caught up in the crowds of terrified people trying to escape as tanks shell the city and aircraft strafe the streets. The girls stick together though despair and hope. Helped by some and rejected by others they manage to stay ahead of the Nazi invaders – until they make a fateful decision in Dunkirk.
This is a book borne out of the author’s own family experiences, and this depth of personal connection shows in the writing which is vivid and powerful. Both girls and their families feel ‘real’, but it’s the sparkling, vivacious, blonde-haired Hava, who loves dancing, daffodils, stars and John Charles Tillman, who comes across most powerfully. She is the character whom the author wanted to represent, as does Anne Frank, ALL those sent to their deaths by the Nazis, and reduced to ashes. He has succeeded. This is an excellent novel and I hope it reaches a very wide readership indeed.
9780310111986, Harper Inspire, Published August 2020 (UK).
For transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.
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