Genre: Historical Fiction
Length: 398 pages
Audiobook Length: 11 hours and 57 minutes
First Published: 2007
View in Goodreads
Buy on Amazon
Publisher’s Description
As World War II draws to a close, Jakób fights with the Polish resistance against the crushing forces of Germany and Russia. They mean 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.
Quotes from The girl from the train
Life is like a silver coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you can spend it once.
About irma joubert
Irma Joubert is a South African author and recipient of the ATKV Prize for Romance Novels. Her novel Anderkant Pontenilo has been recognised in South Africa as one of the 20 best books published in the country since the advent of democracy in 1994.
Featured In
