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Paperback Book Details
  • 01/2015
  • 9780993166303 B00SIA1UBM
  • 281 pages
  • $13.49
Interrogating Ellie
Julian Gray, author
On the eve of World War II a naïve young woman makes a fateful decision: she will abandon her British citizenship and go to live in Nazi Austria. When her marriage breaks down and she finds herself alone in an enemy land, her passionate, restless nature drives her in a struggle for survival against the odds. Who can she trust? And ultimately, who can she love? Interrogating Ellie is based on a true story. See http://www.interrogating-ellie.com for more details
Reviews
Amazon

Wow what a story! I think this is the book’s greatest feature, a woman’s struggle to survive and thrive in a country foreign to her and that only gets more so for her as time goes on. Knowing that it’s based on true events made the narrative even more engrossing. I found myself gripped by the different hardships Ellie encountered and seeing how she rose to meet each challenge to emerge stronger on the other side.

Ellie’s grit and tact for survival is something to behold. I don’t think I’ve come across a character as deft at changing with her environment as she. She’s able to adapt to whoever is in power (German, Russian, or British) and create situations which help her in survival. She’s portrayed as a flawed human who does what she needs to and isn’t sorry for it. While at times, these flaws almost went to the extreme of making her unlikable; overall, I found her very relatable to myself. I got to wondering what I would have done in her place.

I liked the format in which the story was told. For the most part, it’s a straightforward fictional narrative telling Ellie’s tale. Yet, interspersed within that narrative are snatches of her interrogation report in her struggle to re-apply for British citizenship, letters written by various parties detailing the events in the story, and various memos that also relate her overall story. These different formats give the story a depth and foundation in the events that inspired the story, making it richer and the reader more engaged.

I do, however, wish the book could have ended better. Not in the content, but with how it was written. The ending seems very choppy and sudden. Everything is wrapped up in an epilogue that contains phrases like “this happened”, “they went here”, and “she did that”. A bund of “told” scenes in the very end give this book an almost unfinished atmosphere as it closes on Ellie’s rich story and WWII life.

With a rich story and a narrator that seems very real, this book is a gripping portrayal of one woman’s struggle to survive the war years in what could be considered enemy territory despite her marriage. She shows her resourcefulness and sheer will to create a life for herself despite incredible odds. I was spellbound by her journey. The ending, however, leaves something to be desired. The reader is dropped out of the conclusion with an epilogue that just tells you what happens, not showing anything. So a great book all around until you get to the end.

Book: Book received for free from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Formats
Paperback Book Details
  • 01/2015
  • 9780993166303 B00SIA1UBM
  • 281 pages
  • $13.49
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