Title: The Twins on the Train
Author: Suzanne Goldring
Publication: October 2, 2024
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 358

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SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)

As the smell of smoke drifts through the air, Jewish people lock their doors. They no longer feel welcome in their home city, and while some mothers hide their children, others take them, clad in dark threadbare coats, to the crowded train station and the hope of a new life.

Rosa has feared for her twins since they were born two weeks ago. As she huddles in her filthy house, crammed in with her neighbours, she sees children growing weaker. It may be too late for her and her seven-year-old daughter Therese. But can she find a way out for her precious babies?

Dora scans the desperate crowd on the platform, despairing as she knows there isn’t room for all of them on the train to England. And when a woman thrusts a basket containing newborn twins into her arms, a shiver of dread slides down her spine. Babies aren’t authorised to travel – how can she keep them hidden from the cold-eyed soldiers?

She knows this mother wants the same thing she does – safety for these innocent children. But will she be able to help this brave woman before it is too late?

REVIEW:

When this book was chosen for our June book of the month, I knew that it would probably be a good read.  I love historical fiction books of any kind.  While my chosen time frame tends to be the Civil War, WW2 tends to be a close second for me.  It is also written by an author that I have honestly never heard of before, however, since reading this one, I’ll probably read anything else that she has or will write.  I did admittedly buy a physical copy of this book and then borrowed it from Kindle Unlimited to facilitate a faster read. 

The book opens with Esther and Josef in their golden era.  The book then falls into the past to the 1930’s in Britain.  The story then follows Dora, her cousin Verity and then Rosa, who turns out to be Esther and Josef’s mother.  Dora takes her job very seriously, saving Jewish children from Nazi Germany.  She does multiple trips transporting kids from Berlin to Holland and onward to England.  Verity is all about the Nazi’s; she is the complete opposite of her cousin.  Things will eventually come crashing down in the most horrific ways.  Rosa is a loving mother and wife.  She makes gorgeous clothes that everyone loves. The problem is she is Jewish so when things ramp up with the Nazi’s, she finds the life her and her family have built going up in flames.  This book as a mother was heart-wrenching.  The atrocities that the children face in this book is hard. I don’t know if I have read a WW2 book that was as heavy on the children as this one was.  I have read books with kids in it but not as the main focal point.  I also was not aware how involved the Quakers were to the cause of getting the kids out of the country.  I want to say just Jewish but some children were German who had disabilities that no longer fit the perfect race mindset Hitler had. 

I will say that I think that Verity really needs her own story almost.  The time between the beginning of the book and when she returns to the story mid-novel is a black space.  A space that is based on what happened to her needs to be elaborated on and discussed in detail.  I was not satisfied with what the author gave us, I wanted more. The book was well written and at times I had to really focus on the dates that were given to me, but I felt that it smoothly flowed from story to story and that each new tidbit added something else to almost all the characters’ story lines.  I think the main reason I rated it 4 is the fact that I was left wanting more at times.  To be a little honest, I also think it was because Verity really irritated me in the first half of the book till her narrative changed. I think she was kind of supposed to be like that at least in my mind.  I think that, after reading this book, I may just look into the Kindertransporten a little bit more now. I think I have a few books on my shelf that may have to read soon.  I will also have to read more books this author may write in the future.