Yona has grown up in the forest on the Polish/Belarusian border with the old Jewish woman who abducted her. She was 2 years old when she was stolen from her wealthy German parents’ home in Berlin. After her abductor dies, she’s all alone in the forest until Jews flee the ghettos to hide from the Nazis. Yona teaches the group of refugees about survival in the forest.
She falls in love with charismatic Aleksander, the leader of the group. After another group of Jewish refugees arrives in the forest Aleksander doesn’t appear to be the man Yona thought he was. She flees from the forest and when she meets a few nuns she does her best to save their lives too.
Kristin Harmel writes the most beautiful stories about the Second World War and this one is really good. I chose this for the Set in a landlocked country because it is set on the border of Poland and Belarus. Most of the characters speak Belarusian, so that’s why I’m leaning towards it being set in Belarus… also this was the most difficult prompt of the reading challenge.
Read for the 52 Book Club Reading Challenge 2024.
Prompt 34: Set in a landlocked country.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
