Code Name Sapphire by Pam Jenoff

The author took the idea for this book from the true story of the mission to liberate prisoners from a train headed to Auschwitz. The central characters are a fictitious family, but they were created to represent the real prisoners who were a mix of men, women and children from all walks of life.

The mistreatment of Jews has been well documented in both fiction and non-fiction books, but Pam Jenoff's book highlights the extreme bravery of ordinary people who were trying to do all they could to help people who would almost certainly die if no-one did anything. The book tells of resistance fighters who help allied airman to escape and they are supported by a whole network of people who pass on covert messages or simply leave visual signals to indicate danger. Every action could mean imprisonment or death for those involved so everyone involved is risking their own life to help others.

The book gathers tension as it goes on, and by the closing chapters there is a real urgency to the writing as the mission to stop the train and help the Jewish prisoners escape seems doomed to failure. Even if the resistance fighters manage to stop the train, there is no guarantee that they will be able to open the carriages and any prisoner who escapes will have to take their chances alone.

This is one of those books that the reader can't expect to enjoy because of the subject matter, but it is well written and does a lot to highlight the bravery of women as they fight to keep their families alive.

Comments

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