A powerful novel of friendship set in a traveling circus during World War II, The Orphan’s Tale introduces two extraordinary women and their harrowing stories of sacrifice and survival. by Pam Jenoff (Epub)

Description

A powerful novel of friendship set in a traveling circus during World War II, The Orphan’s Tale introduces two extraordinary women and their harrowing stories of sacrifice and survival.

Sixteen-year-old Noa has been cast out in disgrace after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier and being forced to give up her baby. She lives above a small rail station, which she cleans in order to earn her keep… When Noa discovers a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, she is reminded of the child that was taken from her. And in a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night.

Noa finds refuge with a German circus, but she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. But as the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another—or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything.

Don’t Miss Pam Jenoff’s new novel, The Woman with the Blue Star, a riveting tale of unfathomable sacrifice and unlikely friendship during World War II.

Read these other sweeping epics from New York Times bestselling author Pam Jenoff.

The Lost Girls of Paris

The Ambassador’s Daughter

The Diplomat’s Wife

The Kommandant’s Girl

The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach

The Winter Guest

User’s Reviews

Pam Jenoff is the author of several books of historical fiction, including the NYT bestseller The Orphan’s Tale. She holds a degree in international affairs from George Washington University and a degree in history from Cambridge, and she received her JD from UPenn. Her novels are inspired by her experiences working at the Pentagon and as a diplomat for the State Department handling Holocaust issues in Poland. She lives with her husband and 3 children near Philadelphia, where she teaches law. –This text refers to the paperback edition. Review “Secrets, lies, treachery, and passion… I read this novel in a headlong rush.” —Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train“[A] heartbreaking and breathtaking story…. Jenoff’s prose is evocative and compelling.” —The Globe and Mail“Christina Baker Kline’s Orphan Train has collided with the circus caravan from Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants…. Jenoff has written a tribute to the human spirit that soars in the midst of epic despair.” —NPR“Readers who enjoyed Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale and Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants will embrace this novel.” —Library Journal“Beautiful, ethereal, and poignant, The Orphan’s Tale is a novel you won’t be able to put down.” —Bustle“A compelling and beautifully told story about the power of female friendship, with all its complications.” —PopSugar“The Orphan’s Tale is not one person’s story of abandonment but that of a generation lost to history. With a detailed command of circus life, unexpected twists and parallel narratives, Pam Jenoff uses the circus’s mystique to symbolize each character’s secrets.” —Shelf Awareness“A gripping story about the power of friendship to save and redeem even in the darkest of circumstances. This is a book not to be missed.” —Melanie Benjamin,New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator’s Wife“Jenoff expertly performs a pirouetting tale worthy of a standing ovation…. The Orphan’s Tale proves that the human spirit defies hate, fear, and gravity with a triumphant ta-da!” —Sarah McCoy, New York Times bestselling author of The Mapmaker’s Children“Riveting…. With deftness and emotion, Jenoff sets in motion a compelling story of friendship and courage.” —Charles Belfoure, author of The Paris Architect and House of Thieves –This text refers to the paperback edition. Review A gripping story about the power of friendship to save and redeem even in the darkest of circumstances…sheds light on one of the most colorful and inspiring stories of heroism in Nazi Germany.– “Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author”Against the backdrop of circus life during the war, the author captures the very real terrors faced by both women as they navigate their working and personal relationships and their complicated love lives while striving for normalcy and keeping their secrets safe.– “Publishers Weekly”Blending the finest elements of a circus novel with the tension of a WWII thriller, Jenoff has crafted a non-stop read where fact and fiction merge. Jenoff’s descriptions of the circus life and the harrowing, terrifying dangers of the war are realistic and compelling. The tension feels authentic and the characters genuine, turning this gripping story into one not easily forgotten.– “RT Book Reviews (4 stars)”Deftly juggling secrets, lies, treachery, and passion, Pam Jenoff vividly brings to life the agonizing choices and life-or-death consequences for a hardy band of travelers under Nazi occupation.– “Christina Baker Kline, New York Times bestselling author”In prose that is beautiful, ethereal, and poignant, The Orphan’s Tale is a novel you won’t be able to put down.– “Bustle”Jenoff expertly performs a pirouetting tale worthy of a standing ovation…The Orphan’s Tale proves that the human spirit defies hate, fear, and gravity with a triumphant ta-da!– “Sarah McCoy, New York Times bestselling author”The busy plot with its combination of circus life and wartime peril will keep Jenoff’s fans intrigued.– “Booklist” –This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ I don’t have enough words to express how much I dislike this book and the author’s writing style. I forced myself to finish the book and interesting enough the only part I enjoyed was the author’s note at the end, where she describes her inspiration after visiting Yad Vashem. Given the subject matter, this could have been such a moving book, exemplifying acts of courage, friendship and sacrifice during the darkest times in our human history. Instead the author made the characters bratty and childish with very little depth. It was difficult to connect with the characters and every time I was about to feel a connection she would make them do something super bratty, annoying and unrealistic. There were very few historical facts incorporated. It felt like a silly romance novel at times. It does not belong in the same category as other amazing WWII books such as “nightingale” and “All the light we cannot see”. Don’t waste your time reading it. There are so many better books on this topic.

⭐ The main character’s behaviour is so far fetched as to be unbelievable. What person would get thrown out of her home for being pregnant (but a German soldier), give up the baby to the Nazi, live in abject poverty, steal a jewish baby from a death train, join a circus, sleep with a Nazi sympathizer, jeopardize the many Jewish circus performers and…that is where I stopped and deleted the book from my kindle. Sorry if that is too many spoilers but now you are saved from actually having to read this drivel!

⭐ Based on the glowing reviews, I read this novel as I am a fan of WW II historical fiction. The story managed to capture me but by no means would I call it riveting or written with deep emotion. It’s all fairly tenable how the relations come about, how Noa meets Astrid, the circus being the catalyst. Other charcters (Luc, Herr Neuhoff, Gerda, Emmet) play roles that help the story and the conclusion (no spoilers) does account for the fate of all the characters. That all said, I found the writing choppy, lacking a deep felt emotion of the characters (even the main ones) and thought the second half was a bit over-romanticized. Would I recommend it? Yes. Many may find a stronger emotional connection. I did not. So 3 stars for what I thought might be a 4.5 – 5 star going in.

⭐ When you think about WW II you think of all the people that were taken by the Nazi’s because of their different believes, like Gypsies and a lot more. Never thought too much about what happened to the circus people. This book is giving you an inside of what happened during the war with the circus performers and that a lot of Jews were saved by performing at the circus. This was the case of Noa, a 16th year old girl from the Netherlands who was raped by a German soldier and got pregnant by him. As soon as the baby was born the Nazi’s took the child away from her. She was thrown out of her parent’s home and ended up at the circus where she found a little Jewish boy laying in a box car still alive. She took it with her and while living in the circus train she met Astrid who taught her how to be a aerialist (trapeze worker). First the women do not get along but over time a friendship starts to form and they help each other any way they can and take care of the little Jewish boy named Theo. Noa becomes friends with the circus people and many things happen during the time that she is with the circus. Unfortunately the head of the circus dies and there is hardly any money left to keep all the performers with the circus -which was kept a secret from the performers-. Towards the end of the book dramatic things are starting to happen and all you can do is hope and pray for a good outcome. I could not put this book down because it was for me very interesting and I felt so sorry for Noa that I shed several tears for her. This is a very good book to read and I recommend it to anyone.

⭐ I just finished this book, and as I wipe away my tears I have to tell you that this is an original, riveting story about courage, love, friendship, and family. A while back, someone asked if there were too many books written about WWII, and my answer was no….there are millions of stories to tell. The Orphan’s Tale is a great example of this, telling a story about events and acts of bravery that I knew nothing about. In this masterful tale, Astrid is an aerialist whose family had owned a circus in Germany; but her family was Jewish, and had disappeared when she returned home after being cast aside by her husband, a German officer. Noa is a young girl whose single act of bravery leads her to the circus, an uncommon but welcome refuge for her. This story is told with such passion and enormous heart, with pulse-pounding suspense as Astrid, Noa, and the rest of their circus friends are under constant threat of the Nazis. I highly recommend this book to all book lovers; it is sure to enthrall everyone.

⭐ The Orphan’s Tale is one of the worst books I have ever read. It is the author’s first attempt at writing HISTORICAL fiction and I suggest that she not try again. Pam Jenoff did not do her homework on World War 2 and the novel is rife with inaccuracies. The Netherlands were fully occupied by the Germans by December 1940 and travel throughout Europe was severely restricted within and between all countries. Despite this the author has populated her novel with 3 main characters who travel around German and between countries as if there are no borders, no enemies and no travel visas required. It was not feasible for a German Jew, a Russian and a 17 year old pregnant Dutch girl to travel around either independently or as part of a Circus group in the period between 1942 and 1944. Moreover, the idea that the 17 year old protagonist can become an aerialist/trapeze artist in 6 weeks because some 10 years previously, she as young child, took gymnastics lessons is a joke. And then the idea that this same pregnant Dutch girl who had been impregnated by a common soldier would be welcomed into the elite German Lebensborn Program, whose stated goal was to “breed” a Master Race of pure-bred Aryan children utilizing patriotic young German women and SS Officers, is laughable despite her blond hair and blue eyes. These are only a few of the factual inaccuracies. As Margaret Atwood and Rachel Barenbaum both state: When an author is not diligent about historical facts, even in a novel, the author risks losing the trust of the reader. Between the rampant historical inaccuracies and the implausible plot, I will never trust Pam Jenoff enough to read another book she writes.

⭐ A well researched story of survival during the last years of WW2. The characters are ablaze with pain, fear, love and grief. The stories of how families were torn apart and created without a genetic connection are bittersweet. The power of the instantaneous friendship between two very strong women, who could very well have been broken by the sadness of lost love, lost families and betrayals, overcomes even more grief and weaves a gripping, sometimes terrifying, but tender story. The settings are brought vividly to life. The lifeline the circus created is both fascinating and emotionally potent given it is rooted in historical facts. This is the story of war on a very gut wrenching personal level. The story questions how much pain any one person can endure and how powerful family is to our desire to survive.

⭐ I go through several books a week. As soon as I finish one, I am ready with the next. The Orphan’s Tale made me stop, wait, think and want to absorb it before I went on to the next book. I’ll admit I am interested in books about WWII and oddly, about historic circus life. This was a fascinating blend of the two, so I was in heaven! This is a book I wish I’d written…the writing, the plot, the characters…I didn’t want it to end. Do yourself a favor and read this one.

⭐ ***Spoiler****I usually really enjoy Pam Jenoff’s books, but not this one. I didn’t really care for the characters, but the most annoying part for me is what Noa was asked to do when she was taken in by the circus. She wanted to clean/do chores, to pay her way, but, for some reason that isn’t ever properly explained, they insist that she has to be an acrobat/aerialist, with absolutely zero experience or training. I’m supposed to believe that someone who was admittedly a good gymnast when younger, but with zero experience or training as an aerialist, was able to get comfortable with swinging across a big top, letting go and being caught by the other aerialists. Or was it that she caught them? It doesn’t matter, because it’s all so unbelievable no matter what way around it is! Oh, and, within a few weeks, she was ready for show-time.That storyline really ruined an ok book for me. The two main characters needed to became close, so the author obviously needed some reason to have them spend time together; but of all the reasons she could have come up with, the one she chose was so unbelievable that it was just plain annoying, and I couldn’t get past it.

⭐ I have this a 3 star review because it took too long for the story to pick. Slow start. I almost quit. Researched the subject of WW II era Circus Families hiding Jews in occupied Europe.After reading about the Althoff Circus, I was motivated to finish this book. A fictional German circus family takes in a Jewish trapeze artist from a former rival Jewish circus family. This Jewish trapeze artist left her family to marry a German solider. Obviously this marriage is doomed, so after the breakup of the marriage the Jewish trapeze lady goes back to her hometown and joins the rival German circus.Meanwhile another younger lady kicked out of her Dutch family ends up seeking shelter after a drama in her young life. Where does she end up? Yep…in that same German circus in Darmstadt.The two women struggle with personal losses while becoming unlikely friends. The end is a bit of a surprise.The German people are so often criticized for the holocaust. This book shows there were Germans who risked their lives to help Jewish countrymen, uplifting story in that sense. Just super slow start….

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