Lettie has always felt different from and overshadowed by the women around her– this friend is richer, that friend is more beautiful, those friends are closer. Still, she doesn’t let this hold her back. She works hard to apply her mind, trying to compensate for her perceived lack of beauty with diligent academic work and a successful career as a doctor. She learns to treasure her friendships, but she still wonders if any man will ever return her interest. Marco’s experience in the second world war have robbed him of love and health. When winters in his native Italy prove dangerous to his health even after the war has ended, he moves to South Africa to be with his brother, husband to one of Lettie’s best friends. Marco is Lettie’s first patient, and their relationship grows as she aids him on the road back to restored health. In the company of beloved characters from The Child of the River, Marco and Lettie find a happiness that neither of them thought possible. With that joy comes pain and loss, but Lettie learns that life—while perhaps a crooked path—is always a journey worth taking. 

Amazon.com

As a child, Lettie Louw struggles with the beauty and success of so many women around her, close friends included, leaving her with a distinct feeling of being "less than". With her thick glasses and overweight frame working against her, Lettie can't seem to catch the eye of her secret crush, De Wet Fourier, who also happens to be the older brother of Lettie's good friend Klara. 

After having her heart crushed the night Lettie spots De Wet making out with another of Lettie's friends, Annabel, she makes the choice to just take her mind off men altogether. The rest of her high school years, she dedicates herself to her studies. As the years of WW2 approach, Lettie watches her circle of friends go off to jump into wartime experiences while she hangs back to follow in the footsteps of her father and attend medical school. During her time in college, Lettie occassionally tries going on dates, but often re-experiences the sensation of being passed over by guys who see the better opportunity girl down the lane. Once again, she finds comfort in burying herself in studies. 

Henceforth, she decided, men would be colleagues, maybe friends. Nothing more. Because men cause pain, intense pain -- especially handsome, friendly men.

From there the story breaks away from Lettie's world to introduce the reader to the story of Marco and Rachel. Marco Romanelli is an Italian Catholic who meets Russian Jew Rachel Rozenfeld when her family moves to his town in Italy. Despite their religious differences, Marco wins Rachel's heart only to face possibly being separated and imprisoned with the invasion of the Nazi Party. Marco survives the war years but takes with him a chronic lung condition that will plague him the rest of his life. Struggling to maintain his health in his native Italy, it's decided he would benefit from a move to the drier climate of South Africa, where one of his brothers has already settled into a relationship with one of Lettie's friends. This novel may have a rather circuitous feel to the reader, but consider the main theme of the novel: "Even a crooked path leads somewhere."  Joubert make take the long way 'round at times but I promise, it's all interconnected. 

By the time Marco arrives in South Africa, Lettie is a full-fledged doctor fresh out of school. Marco becomes her first official patient.

SIDE RANT: Can I have just a minute to say how AGGRAVATING it was how hung up this town was on her "awkward" period? The girl keeps her nose to the grindstone, pushes herself through med school, becomes the town's first female doctor. Once she starts making some money, she wants to treat herself a bit, get herself some nice dresses, get her hair done now and then.... and what happens whenever she goes into the shops? "Hey, remember when you used to be such a weird, ugly fat kid? Lookatcha now! But seriously, you were so awkward back in the day...." ALL THE TIME WITH THIS. I guess maybe this bugged me because I go through something similar whenever I visit my hometown lol... You just want to scream, hey thanks for bringing up one of the most painfully long periods of my life... repeatedly... get over it! People grow up! Okay, anyway.... 

A slow but deep bond grows between them. Marco realizes that while he thought he had found love before, there's a distinct difference between first rushed love and an honest soulmate who just truly "gets" you. When you find that person where you never have to explain or make excuses for anything about yourself, that's not something to be taken lightly! Lettie, though she doesn't disagree, takes a little more convincing to push past her concerns of the need of professional distance. But life eventually sorts itself out and we're carried through a number of years until the next big upset of Lettie's life. More tragedy, more heartbreak to navigate, before Lettie's own crooked path eventually leads her back to Marco's hometown in Italy. Though it only starts out as a vacation with friends, this trip will reveal a new life path to her she could've never anticipated. 

Following Lettie from girlhood to retirement years, it's  quite the whirlwind of relatable emotions the reader travels through with this one! Not only through Lettie, but also the stories of the other ladies as they grow up together --- Annabel, Klara, Christine --- through all of them combined it's a powerful reading experience, seeing how relationships develop, grow, even change as we age... sometimes forcing us to face the reality that the adult / older version of a friend may not live up to the warmth the memory of their childhood version instilled in us. How far does one take a friendship before one or both parties might have to admit defeat and say the relationship is irreparable? As Lettie comes to find out for herself, from time to time that process could include the lesson that what may feel like a dead-end or some other sort of stagnation in life might actually be just a preparatory pause for the next big thing! 

If you read and enjoyed Joubert's previous novel, Child of the River, showcasing the relationship development of Persomi and Boelie, more of their story is offered up (in the background plot) here in The Crooked Path. 

FTC Disclaimer: TNZ Fiction Guild kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own. 

____________

MY REVIEWS FOR THE PREVIOUS BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

*Note: Though some of the characters carry over between books, the connections are loose enough that these stories can be read as stand-alones. 

THE GIRL FROM THE TRAIN

CHILD OF THE RIVER

Jakób Kowalski is planting a bomb on the train tracks shortly before the train passes by, his only problem is that it was the wrong train. Fighting with the Polish resistance against Germany and Russia, their intent was to destroy a German troop transport, not destroy a train going to Auschwitz. On that train was six-year-old Gretl Schmidt. Although she is spared from the concentration camp, she is now an orphaned German Jew who finds herself lost in a country hostile to her people. Jakób's guilt and compassion allow Gretl to stay with him for three years and the pair form a strong bond. But Jakób believes Gretl will have better opportunities in South Africa where German war orphans are promised bright futures with adoptive Protestant families - so long as her Jewish roots, Catholic education and connections to communist Poland are never discovered.

Poor Gretl. She had been through a lot but she was determined and headstrong and I couldn't help but root for her to have some happiness. As time went on I began to get bored. I felt like I was reading forever and getting nowhere. I was sick of reading about the minutiae of her everyday life - what colour ribbons she was wearing in her hair, what she was eating, what language she had to speak that day or what religious beliefs she had to believe in that day. We had to be told every. little. thing. I skipped the second half of the book and went straight to the epilogue, which held no surprises for me. A very tedious read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for a copy of this book.

A compelling coming of age story with an unlikely and utterly memorable heroine, Child of the River is a timeless tale of heartbreak and triumph set in South Africa at the dawn of apartheid. Persomi is young, white, and poor, born the middle child of illiterate sharecroppers on the prosperous Fourie farm in the South African Bushveld. Persomi’s world is extraordinarily small. She has never been to the local village and spends her days absorbed in the rhythms of the natural world around her, escaping the brutality and squalor of her family home through the newspapers and books passed down to her from the main house and through her walks in the nearby mountains. Persomi’s close relationship with her older brother Gerbrand and her fragile friendship with Boelie Fourie—heir to the Fourie farm and fortune—are her lifeline and her only connection to the outside world. When Gerbrand leaves the farm to fight on the side of the Anglos in WWII and Boelie joins an underground network of Boer nationalists, Persomi’s isolated world is blown wide open. But as her very small world falls apart, bigger dreams become open to her—dreams of an education, a profession, a native country that values justice and equality, and of love. As Persomi navigates the changing world around her—the tragedies of war and the devastating racial strife of her homeland—she finally discovers who she truly is, where she belongs, and why her life—and every life—matters.

Amazon.com

**** Heads Up! There May Be Potential Spoilers In The Review Below!! ****

Persomi is the middle child of poor, white, illiterate sharecroppers in South Africa. Finding a love for stories early on in life, Persomi learns to read, losing herself in the books and newspapers she finds in the main house of the farm where her parents work. Persomi also begins to learn something of the rest of the world during tutoring sessions she shares with Irene and Boelie Fourie, the children of the farm owners. While Irene and Persomi have a bit of a grudging acceptance of each other, Irene's brother, Boelie, and Persomi become fast friends in no time. Persomi also has a strong bond with her older brother, Gerbrand. Gerbrand is very protective of his younger sister, especially around the fierce, sometimes explosively violent tempers of their father, Lewies, and their brother, Piet.

That evening Gerbrand said, "Don't slink after me like a sly jackal. If you want to come along, come. If you want to stay, stay. You're a human being with a head on your shoulders, Persomi. It's not just there to keep your ears apart."

Years pass, the children grow up and World War 2 comes to everyone's doorstep. Gerbrand decides to enlist, while Boelie finds himself pulled in the other direction, throwing his hat in with an underground group of Boer nationalists (who were against Africa's involvement in the war). This underground nationalist group participates in some dangerous, extreme methods of protesting, whether it be cutting telephone lines, de-railing trains carrying supplies for soldiers, or blowing up anything that would aid the war effort. Persomi uncomfortably finds herself caught in the middle of the two men she loves most in the world.

As her mind and body mature into that of a young woman, so do her dreams of a proper education, a yearning for a gripping romance that leads to deep love, and a desire to fight for peace, justice and equality for all races / tribes in her little corner of the world. Dedicating herself to her vision, Persomi finds a way to put herself through law school. Thanks in large part to her friendship with Indian merchant (later medical student) Yusuf, Persomi becomes acutely interested in equal rights activism. One college assignment requires her to write a paper on a law either in the works or newly established, so Persomi decides to write something on the Asiatic Land Tenure & Indian Representation Act. She is shocked to discover her professor chooses to grade her lowly for her opinion (which he disagrees with). He even goes so far as to comment that the thoughts she expresses "border on Communism"! Persomi starts to get the impression that lawmakers might be crafting these laws for selfish means, her suspicions fueled by the realization that any argument she makes against these laws gets her the labels of "communist" or "revolutionary".

The days and the weeks and the minutes dropped into a black hole. If she worked hard enough, ran far enough, showered quickly enough, and washed her clothes daily, she didn’t hear the desperate cries of the minutes and the seconds.

 

But the night became a menace. 

 

At the bottom of the darkness lay a pain that gripped her, a loneliness that kept her chained to the bottom. Because at night the memories came unbidden. And with the memories came the longing, harsher every time, and more painful.

She had never hurt so much, or been so alone....

 

She walked slowly to her mountain, to her cave. She knew the way, knew every stone and every tuft of grass and every crevice. 

 

She had known the cold would come. The cold night was more bearable than the cold fire burning her up from the inside, freezing her. 

 

She rolled into a ball. Nothing eased the black pain that was everywhere. The broken moon limped through the dark sky. 

Not only that, she also soon finds that the Land Tenure Act, along with the Group Areas Act will prove to be one of the biggest fights of her life. All this right before the idea of apartheid is gearing up to take off. But Persomi won't be silenced. She stands up for what she believes in. She continues to speak out against the utter wrongness of the Acts, which put restrictions on where South African's Asian citizens would be allowed to live or run businesses, regardless of whether they owned the land outright or not. In one instance, when one family protests the Acts (as they are being affected directly) Persomi is the only one willing to argue their case in court, all the while having to dodge Boelie's urgings that she drop the fight (as he's in favor of the segregation; in fact, even Persomi's very best friend, Renier, makes statements that even he would be in favor of black and Indian mine workers being placed in reservation camps!)... the one major hurtle to their friendship they constantly struggle to build a bridge across. This becomes even more the tug-o-war once Boelie is named leader of the National Party.

I do sometimes regret things I've said or done. But more often I've regretted things I didn't say or do."

Author Irma Joubert was a history teacher for 35 years before becoming a novelist and that clearly plays well into her historical fiction books (this being only the second to be released in English, though she is widely published in South Africa and the Netherlands). That said, the war element was more of a background feature in this particular story... at least when compared to The Girl From The Train (her first book released in English, also with a WW2 theme). Though maybe more of a background feature, the war still makes its presence known to these characters. Inspired by true events, the tale Joubert crafts here is one of grit, perseverance, resiliency, and an unshakeable belief in the power of faith and love in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Joubert's way of building her environments creates a lush reading experience, infused with the most tactile sights & sounds -- you can practically smell the grass and mud, feel the wind on your own skin! In this world we meet realistic characters doing their best to push through the most heartbreaking hardships.

When compared to Joubert's earlier release, The Girl From The Train, I noticed not only a similar time frame and a connection to South Africa as the one found in Child of the River, but I also saw some distinct similarities between the relationship seen in Train's two main characters, Gretl & Jacob and that felt between River's Persomi & Boelie. Hard to decide which story I preferred, they were both so good! While I think I savored the physical environment of Child of the River a bit more, I think I favored the relationship of Train's Gretl & Jacob over Persomi & Boelie.

POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNING: Persomi's father, Lewies, is an alcoholic who beats his wife and older children; it's also hinted that he may have sexually assaulted one of his daughters.

FTC Disclaimer: TNZ Fiction Guild kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book with a request that I might check it out and share my thoughts. The opinions above are entirely my own.

By Irma Joubert

ISBN:  9780529102379

Publisher:  Thomas Nelson-Fiction 

Publication Date:  11/3/2015 

Format: Paperback 

My Rating: 4 Stars

Six-year-old Gretl Schmidt is on a train bound for Aushwitz. Jakób Kowalski is planting a bomb on the tracks. As World War II draws to a close, Jakób fights with the Polish resistance against the crushing forces of Germany and Russia. They intend to destroy a German troop transport, but Gretl’s unscheduled train reaches the bomb first.

Gretl is the only survivor. Though spared from the concentration camp, the orphaned German Jew finds herself lost in a country hostile to her people. When Jakób discovers her, guilt and fatherly compassion prompt him to take her in. For three years, the young man and little girl form a bond over the secrets they must hide from his Catholic family.

But she can’t stay with him forever. Jakób sends Gretl to South Africa, where German war orphans are promised bright futures with adoptive Protestant families—so long as Gretl’s Jewish roots, Catholic education, and connections to communist Poland are never discovered. Separated by continents, politics, religion, language, and years, Jakób and Gretl will likely never see each other again. But the events they have both survived and their belief that the human spirit can triumph over the ravages of war have formed a bond of love that no circumstances can overcome.

Amazon.com

The story opens with 6 year old German-Jewish Gretl and her family on a train bound for Auschwitz, trying to find a way off the train. Outside, along the track, is 21 year old Polish resistance fighter Jakob planting bombs to derail an expected German supply train. Only too late does he realize that the train headed his way is actually full of innocent Jewish families. The bomb detonates, train explodes, the smoke clears to reveal the only two survivors from this train -- Gretl and her older sister. Jakob guiltily runs off, not seen by either of the girls. Hours later they are picked up by a local farmer when he sees how sick Gretl's sister is. Gretl's sister doesn't survive. In an strange twist of fate, the farmer's wife turns out to be an aquaintance of Jakob, contacting him to come get this orphaned girl she is unable to care for. Upon arrival, Jakob it is shocked to find it is Gretl, and perhaps largely to ease his guilty conscience, agrees to take Gretl to his family's farm.

Gretl ends up staying with them for a number of years until Jakob's mother decides it has become too expensive and too dangerous (as Gretl is looking more and more German during a very much anti-German time in Poland) to keep the child around. Stressing over the limited amount of alternatives, Jakob hears of a town in South Africa looking German war orphans to boost the population there. Feeling there's nothing better he can offer her, he gets on a train with Gretl to South Africa. Once there, he tells her they must cut off further communication with each other for her safety, that she must go on and have the best life possible from here on out. The story then divides between what happens to the two of them individually as the years pass. Will they ever have a chance to meet up again? You'll have to read to find out  :-) 

I struggled to get into this book at first, but that could possibly be due to reading it in October when my brain has been eating up all these paranormal and horror stories. It makes it tough to immediately flip over to standard historical fiction. But I was pretty curious about this one, learning that the author herself is a South African novelist -- 8 to her name -- yet this was her first book to ever be published in English. I also liked that the story goes to South Africa during WW2, as it's not a part of the history that is widely taught in school here in the States. I ended up liking this story a good bit, pulled in by a number of elements. Two of the main things I recall:

>> I really liked the way young Gretl kept finding strength in recalling the story Heidi by Johanna Spyri. Not only because I remember myself being enamored with that story when I was little, but the way it kept encouraging her to push through strange or painful experiences with this idea of "This is just like the story" or "Heidi did this, so I can too." I found Gretl's optimism incredibly warm and endearing. Also with Gretl, I found myself really feeling for her, how throughout her whole life she was forced to try to keep so many lies straight for the sake of staying alive! Just keeping all the names she uses throughout the story -- Gretl, Gretz, Gretchen, Grietjie -- was making my head spin!

1. >> I found Jakob's constant struggle with trying to be a good man but being forced into difficult positions pretty powerful. Particularly with his political stance. Many of Jakob's friends and neighbors believe that the only way for Poland can win against the German invasion is to join forces with Russia's Red Army. Though Jakob is a resistance fighter, he doesn't agree with joining Russia, he feels it's only potentially swapping one enemy with another. At least he maintains that belief until he gets to Warsaw and sees troops primarily made up of young teens... children, basically... to take on the German troops. After that, he has to reluctantly acknowledge that there might be some truth in the benefits of banding with Russia's army. 

The couple downsides to this story for me: a) the pace was a little slow for my liking, and something about the writing, while definitely good, lacked that extra something that kept me glued to the pages and b) I personally felt the back and forth between two of the characters near the end dragged on a bit too long. I thought it was cute in the beginning but by the end I was bored and burnt out of hearing about it, lost interest in how things would turn out. I called the ending within a few chapters of the novel's start, so that part wasn't really a surprise anyway. 

If you were a fan of The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, I would recommend trying this one on for size. I felt a number of commonalities between the relationships of Gretl / Jakob in The Girl From The Train and Liesel / Max from The Book Thief (at least in the first half of the book). The one similarity that especially stood out to me was when Jakob gets seriously injured and Gretl takes it upon herself to nurse him back to health, much like the way Liesl did for Max. Similar stories, though I personally enjoyed The Book Thief much more. 

FTC Disclaimer: TNZ Fiction Guild kindly provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.