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Misfit's Reviews > Lilac Girls
Lilac Girls (Lilac Girls, #1)
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This story is about three different women, two of whom were real-life characters according to the author's notes, the third (a prisoner at the all female prison camp Ravensbrück). Caroline Ferriday is the first narrator, Kasia (a young Polish girl) and finally the notorious Herta Oberheuser (don't read up on her experiments at meal time). The setting is mainly during the years of WWII, but the later third or so take place some years afterward.
Typically such a subject matter would have me gripped to the book and bawling my eyes out at the gross inhumanity of the experiments the women at the camp were forced to endure, but this just didn't grab me. I can't understand why a fascinating, albeit graphic, bit of history can be put into a novel that in the end became increasingly tedious. I don't know if it was the alternating third person narratives (admittedly not a method I'm terribly fond of), or just flat characters/characterization, but I just didn't care about any of them, not even Kasia and her fellow prisoners. Caroline's narrative went on and on about her pretty dresses, charities parties and all that name dropping, and then there's the romantic element with no chemistry. In the end, I just didn't care and began to skim, and it went on too long for before tying things up and moving on.
Sorry, but apparently I am in the minority and see this getting a lot of favorable reviews, but due to the slowness of the story reaching it's resolution, unlikeable characters (and really, Herta should have been a lot more unlikeable), and one too many social party and pretty dress for Caroline, I just can't rate this higher. YMMV.
Typically such a subject matter would have me gripped to the book and bawling my eyes out at the gross inhumanity of the experiments the women at the camp were forced to endure, but this just didn't grab me. I can't understand why a fascinating, albeit graphic, bit of history can be put into a novel that in the end became increasingly tedious. I don't know if it was the alternating third person narratives (admittedly not a method I'm terribly fond of), or just flat characters/characterization, but I just didn't care about any of them, not even Kasia and her fellow prisoners. Caroline's narrative went on and on about her pretty dresses, charities parties and all that name dropping, and then there's the romantic element with no chemistry. In the end, I just didn't care and began to skim, and it went on too long for before tying things up and moving on.
Sorry, but apparently I am in the minority and see this getting a lot of favorable reviews, but due to the slowness of the story reaching it's resolution, unlikeable characters (and really, Herta should have been a lot more unlikeable), and one too many social party and pretty dress for Caroline, I just can't rate this higher. YMMV.
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Reading Progress
January 15, 2016
– Shelved
January 15, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read-amazon-vine
January 15, 2016
– Shelved as:
wwii
January 24, 2016
–
Started Reading
January 24, 2016
–
0.21%
"The only ominous sign from the direction of Europe was the scent of slack water wafting off the East River."
page
1
January 24, 2016
–
3.29%
"Manhattan society is like a solar system with its own order. A single woman dining with a married man is enough to throw planets out of alignment."
page
16
January 26, 2016
–
28.54%
"Our new home, Block 32, was much larger than the quarantine block."
page
139
January 30, 2016
–
43.53%
"If we stop operating on them, they'll stop suffering. Gebhardt just uses us to do his dirty work."
page
212
January 30, 2016
–
48.25%
"What is that smell outside?
page
235
They've built a crematorium. Furnaces.
"
February 6, 2016
–
62.22%
"The war in Europe was over.
page
303
Now if I could say the same for the book :/
"
February 7, 2016
–
84.19%
"Really, that was overkill on the name dropping fancy New York party."
page
410
February 7, 2016
–
89.73%
"Hard to believe that such a horrific footnote in history and the abuses these women suffered at the hands of the Nazis can be made so boring..."
page
437
February 7, 2016
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Finished Reading
September 11, 2022
–
59.55%
"I hereby place you under arrest for war crimes against humanity."
page
290
Comments Showing 151-200 of 269 (269 new)
message 151:
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Carolyn
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Sep 09, 2018 11:06AM
I agree.
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I'm sorry I read the first 100+ pages with a grotesque description of women's exam at a concentration camp. I don't need that type of detail lodged in my memory, & just wish I could scrub it clean! Ugh. I read the Nightingale & was engaged by the suspenseful plot, & glad it had few grisly details. After the sickening part of this book, I skipped all chapters except for Caroline's. What a disappointing women character she was. I expected more considering the hoopla over this novel, but I just wasted my time on this.
Misfit wrote: "Laurel wrote: "So far on page one and the ridiculous overuse of literary devices already has me wanting to put it down - are there any redeeming qualities or should I give up now?"IMO, no. Hopefu..."
LOL, so true Misfit! Waste of time, truly.
I couldn’t wait for this book to be over, but had to finish it for book club. This could have been a truly compelling story in the hands of a different writer. I felt the same way about The Nightengale.
I started this that was not drawn in my the three women's stories. I gave up at the point where Caroline thinks that Paul's wife is standing between them.
I just finished this book and I couldn't agree more. I read The Nightingale and I loved it. I generally really enjoyed World War II stories but wow.... Not this one. Just fell VERY short for me.
I just finished this book and I couldn't agree more. I read The Nightingale and I loved it. I generally really enjoyed World War II stories but wow.... Not this one. Just fell VERY short for me.
I’m only 10 chapters in and I’m really struggling! I really despise Caroline haha not sure if I can make it through. There are so many other better stories! This year I read the Lost Wife and Letters to the Lost which were 20x better
Totally disagree. This book is so much more than this.
Nope. Totally agree with you. Caroline’s character felt pointless, and many of the characters fell flat.
I couldn't have read it without the Caroline interludes and enjoyed her chapters as well, and the dresses etc. Interestingly she was a real person who really did great work for these women and I hope to visit her home in Bethlehem, Conn. when the lilacs are in bloom!
I'm about fifty pages in and finding the same. It's my Book Club book this month, so I'll stick with it.
Mimi wrote: "I'm about fifty pages in and finding the same. It's my Book Club book this month, so I'll stick with it."Good luck.
Maybe I’m reading people’s reviews incorrectly.... Kasia is also a real character. Kasia happens to be the nickname of Stanislawa Sledziejewska-Osiczko, one of the surviving rabbits that was able to tell her story of the horrific experiments. If you google, there is plenty of information about her. Below is a excerpt from Marthahallkelly.com“I’m still pinching myself since I was lucky enough to spend time with with one of my heroes, Stanislawa Sledziejewska-Osiczko, at the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. Known as Stasia to her friends (and everyone who meets her instantly becomes her friend) she’s a woman I’d only read about while researching my novel Lilac Girls. Stasia and seventy other young Polish women were used as experimental subjects by Nazi doctors and became known as the “rabbits” or “guinea pigs.” Just 14 years old when she was chosen to undergo the experiments, she was one of the youngest to be operated on at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp, her leg surgically opened and infected with tetanus and gangrene, broken glass and dirt in order to test the efficacy of sulfa drugs. There are only five survivors of the experiments alive today.”
I totally agree with this review!! I am about 3/4 of the way into this book and I am so tired of reading the back and forth episodes of each character! I had the impression that at some point they would all merge together and have some sort of relationship with each other but they never really do. The character of Caroline is so flat and superficial. She is the most boring to read about with her materialistic life style and dull, pathetic romance that goes no where but constantly down hill. I also find myself skimming thru the chapters about her in this book. Furthermore, the character changing chapters are very tedious to read because it takes away from the flow of the story which once again did not even connect any of the women together in any concrete way. It would have been good to focus on just one character and develop the story from there. Just a big disappointment for me and I am sure when I get to the end of the book I will be even more let down. Wish I could see why many have considered this a great read to deserve more than 3 stars.
Oh I totally agree! It bothered me that the “heroine” was unlikable!
Carolyn’s character is critical to the story as she is the one that ultimately connects with the other two. And what an a very interesting life she led.
Marilynn wrote: "Carolyn’s character is critical to the story as she is the one that ultimately connects with the other two. And what an a very interesting life she led."While Carolyn's character was critical to connect the other two women, it was just so tedious to read about her and her life. It took forever to finally have the connection made in the book! There was really no substance to her character and her life. It just rambled on about nonsensical things in her life that really did not connect to the other characters until the last 1/4 of the book. In fact it was sort of insulting to be reading all the details about her privileged lifestyle and then have to read about the horrible conditions and realities of the other women. I guess that was the authors way of showing the contrasts, but it really was mostly irrelevant and trivial until the end of the book.
I was mercifully unaware of this book's existence until three days ago, so I was spared the disappointment felt by people who waited for weeks to get their hands on a copy. I initially gave it one more star than you did, largely out of sympathy for the people who loved, loved, loved it and because I thought writing a book on this subject was theoretically a good idea, but otherwise I think your review is spot on. What a pity that a beneficent woman like Caroline could be so badly treated by an author attempting to celebrate her. That stupid romance was a huge mistake. Lucky for the author that Caroline didn't have any survivors to sue for defamation of character.
I found the Caroline/Paul romance ridiculous. For such a woman held in such high esteem for all her charity work, the fake romance made her into a selfish idiot. I listened to it on audio and more than once found myself yelling at her to get a grip. Kasia’s story was excellent and I’m still angry over Herta being let out of prison after 5 years because she should have rotted in jail forever. Overall I enjoyed the book, but I wish more of Caroline’s story stuck to the facts.
Have to agree with this review, though I wanted to like the book more.
Totally agree with your review.
Couldn’t have said it better myself! I’m glad I’m not the only one who felt that way.
100% agree! 3/4 through and am finding it super tedious ! Very unfortunate :(
I agree. It didn't grip me either. The story was interesting, but the presentation needs more work.
I’m reading it now and not enjoying it like I thought I would.
I did not read this novel but am reading her next one The Lost Roses which is a prequel of sorts as it features Caroline’s mother as one of the three narrators. I am finding all your same problems in this book and I am in the minority in that too.
Totally agree with this review. I too listened to audiobook. I HATED Caroline and the narrator made it more real. Insufferably egocentric. Really...people are dying and all she can think is “I wonder if Paul is thinking of me...” ugh!
I totally agree with this review. I thought I was the only one who felt that way,
Totally agree with you.
Could not agree more.
I am half way through the reading, and Caroline is a blight to this story...
I agree with your assessment - for writing style and character assessment. Difficult read. But the story itself, as you extract it from the more tedious bits is important to understand. Regarding Herta, I am not sure. We humans are vulnerable people. Allowing her uncle to molest her to achieve what she perceived was a greater goal; devoid of love yet seeing the kindness in “Mahta”; retrieving the diamond ring - would she have returned the ring is Mahta hadn’t been killed? It is unfortunate that we (humans) can be swayed by “for the betterment of Germany” rhetoric - what was missing in her moral compass to make these trade offs throughout her life??
Does anyone understand the back ground of the title?? Why Lilac Girls. I saw the references to the beautiful lilacs at “The Hay”, and the “you need a harsh winter to bring out the beauty”; but apparently I totally missed the connection to the overall story
Jean, the question about the title is a good one. In the last few pages of the book Kasia mentions planting Caroline’s lilacs in Poland. I wondered if that was the reason for the title and wondered how the heck did the lilacs get there? I listened to the audiobook. I couldn’t stand Caroline’s voice/character and as the book went on I couldn’t stand Kasia.
Just finished and 100% agree with your review.
I agree. I liked the third part of the book best. I felt that Caroline’s love story in the first two parts was largely irrelevant to the central message of the novel.
Struggling to even get half way. I was hoping I wasn’t the only one!
Uggh. Agree. I gave it 200 pages and gave up the slog.
You nailed it on the head. I have it 4 stars because I couldn’t quite put my finger on the tension I was feeling, but you did it for me!
I am at page 100 and I gave it up. I agree with your assessment. I had a hard time getting into and caring about the characters.
Gretchen wrote: "I am at page 100 and I gave it up. I agree with your assessment. I had a hard time getting into and caring about the characters."Life is too short, move on.
I completely agree. I love this genre and while I finished the book rather quickly, just did not feel like the author made me care about any of the characters enough. While I appreciate what Caroline did in the end (and what apparently inspired the whole book) I could not comprehend why I was supposed to care about anything that happened to her before she discovered the Rabbits.
Agree! It’s a remarkable story based on a true story but the writing was so flat and superficial, I found myself not caring. Reading the actual history of these characters was much more interesting.
