The Kommandant's Girl

The Kommandant's Girl by Pam Jenoff
Fiction

Emma, a Jewess, marries Jacob on the brink of Germany's invasion into Poland. Jacob goes immediately to join the Resistance leaving Emma to join her parents in the ghetto. Emma is saved from the ghetto by the Resistance and sent to live with Jacob's Catholic aunt. She is then given the chance to work for the German Kommandant of Krakow. Jenoff describes the nervousness of spying and the conflicts of Emma's leading a double life very well. Emma soon finds herself the Kommandant's mistress. Will she be caught? Is she falling in love with the Nazi?

Emma is depicted as such a frail and fragile woman. In order to do what she has to do she must be a very strong woman. I found the story with regards to Jacob a bit unbelieveable. Why wouldn't he have taken Emma with him? Especially if he loves her as much as he proclaims. Or was this what he had planned for her. The Kommandant is a flawed, weak man. One wants to pity him but that is hard to do when he is a committed Nazi. Jenoff has written a story that you get caught up in very quickly. It is an easy read but definitely not a simple read.

Rating:

(4.0/5)