Publishers Weekly
06/10/2024
Manning (The Jade Lily) offers an immersive narrative of a Holocaust survivor, his daughter, and his granddaughter. In 1987 Australia, 13-year-old Hannah Campbell becomes obsessed with a book of photos brought by her grandfather Nico from Yugoslavia for her mother, Roza. Before Roza hides the book from Hannah, she briefly glimpses images of prisoners at Mauthausen, the Austrian concentration camp Nico survived. Years later, after Hannah delivers her undergraduate honors thesis on Holocaust museums, she asks Roza to let her see the book, and is devastated when Roza says she destroyed it because she found the photos “ugly.” A parallel narrative set in 1945 follows Mauthausen prisoner Mateo, who secretly makes extra copies of the photos he’s ordered to take. He gives the copies to Nico to smuggle out of the camp, hoping to preserve evidence of the Nazis’ crimes. Hannah’s narrative then jumps to the present day, after she’s weathered a divorce and resumed her PhD studies on European war history , with a focus on Mauthausen. Though Hannah and Roza don’t always see eye to eye, Hannah learns to accept her mother’s way of coping with their family’s painful history. Manning nimbly interweaves the dramatic Mauthausen chapters with her nuanced family portrait and captures Hannah’s sense of resolve to honor those who risked their lives during WWII. Readers will be riveted. Agent: Stacy Testa, Writers House. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
[A] twisty WWII yarn about two imprisoned French women forced into slave labor at a German rayon factory…Manning’s multilayered story is both terrifying and triumphant. Her talent for a surprising twist makes this story a must for her fans.” — Publishers Weekly on The French Gift
“Kirsty Manning weaves together little-known threads of World War II history, family secrets, the past and the present into a page-turning, beautiful novel.” — Heather Morris, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, on The Song of the Jade Lily
“Detailed and evocative, a beautiful multi-layered story of friendship and love, family and loyalty. The smells, sounds and tastes of wartime Shanghai are richly re-imagined but it’s the courage of the young women—past and present—which makes this book unforgettable.” — Sally Hepworth, international bestselling author of The Secrets of Midwives, on The Song of the Jade Lily
“Manning renders Shanghai as a riot of flavors, sights, and sounds, its elegance clashing against gritty poverty in this exquisite window into the past.” — Booklist (starred review) on The Song of the Jade Lily
“[A] superb take on a lesser known aspect of WWII: some European Jews, fleeing from the Nazis, received asylum in Japanese-occupied Shanghai after being denied it elsewhere....With breadth and intelligence, this exquisite novel portrays a resilient community and a secret kept to protect another.” — Publishers Weekly on The Song of the Jade Lily
Library Journal
07/01/2024
Based on a true story of a secret World War II-era book, Manning's dual-timeline historical novel highlights the courageous actions of a group of prisoners at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. Spanish political prisoner and photographer Mateo Baca is ordered to document the prisoners and activities at the camp and collate his photographic records into books for top Nazi officials. He secretly makes an extra copy of the photobook that, with the help of Yugoslavian prisoner Nico Antonov and others, is smuggled out of the camp. When a chance encounter with local woman Lena Lang leads to a tentative friendship, Nico trusts her to hide the book. In 1980s Australia, Nico's granddaughter Hannah Campbell sees the book for the first time. Haunted by the photographs for years, Hannah goes on to pursue a PhD in history in hopes of uncovering the truth about her grandfather's time in Mauthausen. As Hannah experiences trials in her own life, she comes to understand the significance of the prisoners' risking their lives so that their history would not be forgotten. VERDICT A crucial reminder of past injustices, this poignant novel from Manning (The Paris Mystery) successfully fictionalizes the history of a forgotten yet profoundly significant photobook.—Lucinda Ward
