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1 Local Warehouse Literature- A to Z

My Enemy's Cradle

by Sara Young

My Enemy's Cradle Cover

ISBN13: 9780151015375
ISBN10: 0151015376
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
All Product Details

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Cyrla's neighbors have begun to whisper. Her cousin, Annika, is pregnant and has passed the rigorous exams for admission to the Lebensborn, a maternity home for Aryan girls carrying German babies. But Annika's soldier has disappeared, and the Nazis confiscate fatherless children. Cyrla, sent from Poland to hide with her Dutch relatives, has been warned that her neighbors know she is half Jewish. She won't be safe with them for long. A cruel twist of fate places Cyrla with the terrible choice between certain discovery in her cousin's home and taking Annika's place in the Lebensborn — Cyrla and Annika are nearly identical. If she takes refuge in the enemy's lair, can Cyrla fool the doctors, nurses, guards, and other mothers-to-be? How will she escape before they discover she is not who she claims?

Sara Young offers a story rich in the power of love and family. My Enemy's Cradle is a page-turning work of fiction that mines a tragic, lost piece of history.

Review:

"My Enemy's Cradle has everything: It is a page turner full of twists and turns. It is a love story. It is a war story. It reveals a dark piece of history. There is only one caveat to this novel: you will want to read it straight through. So put aside absolutely everything, and begin." Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Circle

Review:

"Tenderly and fiercely felt, Young's tale of a young Jewish woman trapped in the sinister web of the Nazi Lebensborn program is that true find, a story truly never before told. And yet, through emotions we know — that a mother must cherish her child, that hope will refuse despair, that passion will deny even mortal danger — it immediately becomes our own." Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean

Review:

"As her spirited heroine Cyrla navigates the treacherous labyrinth of the SS breeding nurseries, Sara Young shines a powerful flashlight on one of the lesser-known Nazi atrocities: the thievery of children from their mothers. Young's research is so scrupulous that when devouring this novel, you'll swear you're reading a genuine survivor account, and you'll hold your breath as Cyrla attempts to find and found her own family." Jenna Blum, author of Those Who Save Us

Review:

"By populating her book with complex and vibrant characters, Sara Young succeeds in bringing this previously little known aspect of World War II history to life. Young explores with an unwavering voice the timeless, universal and yet intensely personal themes of love, loss, morality and the choices that shape our lives." Pam Jenoff, author of The Kommandant's Girl

Review:

"In this compelling first novel set against the little known Nazi Lebensborn program, Sara Young creates a heroine the reader will not easily forget — Cyrla, a young woman trying to keep her infant safe while hiding a dangerous secret. My Enemy's Cradle goes to the very heart of hope and how it can survive in even the darkest and most dangerous of times." Anne Leclaire, author of Entering Normal

Review:

"Secrets of betrayal, love, and honor drive the plot in this riveting historical novel about a young woman caught up in the Nazi Lebensborn program....Cyrla's intimate, first-person narrative reveals the horrific history through unforgettable individual experience of guilt and sacrifice. Readers will be haunted by the intricacies of friends and enemies in a story that has been seldom told." Booklist

Synopsis:

Cyrla's neighbors have begun to whisper. Her cousin, Anneke, is pregnant and has passed the rigorous exams for admission to the Lebensborn, a maternity home for girls carrying German babies. But Anneke's soldier has disappeared, and Lebensborn babies are only ever released to their father's custody-- or taken away.

A note is left under the mat. Someone knows that Cyrla, sent from Poland years before for safekeeping with her Dutch relatives, is Jewish. The Nazis are imposing more and more restrictions; she won't be safe there for long.

And then in the space of an afternoon, life falls apart. Cyrla must choose between certain discovery in her cousin's home and taking Anneke's place in the Lebensborn--Cyrla and Anneke are nearly identical. If she takes refuge in the enemy's lair, can Cyrla fool the doctors, nurses, guards, and other mothers-to-be? Can she escape before they discover she is not who she claims?

Mining a lost piece of history, Sara Young takes us deep into the lives of women living in the worst of times. Part love story and part elegy for the terrible choices we must often make to survive, MY ENEMY'S CRADLE keens for what we lose in war and sings for the hope we sometimes find.

About the Author

Under the name Sara Pennypacker, Sara Young has written seven books for children, including the acclaimed Stuart series (Stuart's Cape) and Clementine. She lives on Cape Cod.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Karl L, March 26, 2008 (view all comments by Karl L)
This book sheds light on an aspect of Nazi Germany that is not very well known, the "Lebensborn." The novel is suspenseful as well as moving. The historical background is well presented and made alive through the fate of the protagonist.
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(4 of 6 readers found this comment helpful)

Product Details

ISBN:
9780151015375
Author:
Young, Sara
Publisher:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Historical - General
Subject:
Military - World War II
Subject:
World war, 1939-1945
Subject:
Children
Subject:
Historical fiction
Subject:
War stories
Edition Description:
Trade Cloth
Publication Date:
January 2008
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
365
Dimensions:
9.00 x 6.00 in

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