My Never Ending List

This was a different type of novel dealing with Hitler, his regime and the affect he had on individuals. It wasn’t the heart-torn stories of concentration camps or hiding from the soldiers, this story dealt with a family adapting to life on the other side of the fence. Leaving the security of their home in Germany, Anna and her family moved around several times before they were finally liberated, in order to survive. The interesting focus in this story is that Anna’s father is a writer. As a writer, he has a few strong supporters that follow him, who end up being his eyes and ears and basically watching his back. As father writes down his words, he knows they anger the new forces, he knows his life is in danger but father knows his words are important. Father needs his words to be spoken and heard and he also needs his followers, to keep his words alive but these followers can’t put the food on his table hence father must do what he thinks is right for his family. The family must move when father fears for his life. Anna and her brother are under the age of ten and this whole idea of Nazi’s, moving and the hatred of others is inconceivable to them. As they try to adapt to their new surroundings at each address, the struggles are not the same, their insecurities are always there.

It was an interesting read as it didn’t have the intensity or the emotions that books of this period usually contain that I have read. Father, being a writer, brought another topic to that era that I had never addressed before and it was inspiring how his supporters assisted him. I would have liked to know what father wrote or what he addressed in his writings. Anna was concerned about the family’s possessions as they moved around but her feelings about these belongings dissipated as she matured. This was a good change of pace.