“But it’s fitting in a way—Father loved the fact that a lilac only blossoms after a harsh winter.”
The Lilac Girls Series is a family saga that starts during WW2 and then goes back in time.
The first book, Lilac Girls, focuses on Caroline Ferriday who works at the French consulate in New York City. When war breaks out, she works hard to find a way to help French refugees. The book also follows women in Ravensbruck – a young Polish teenager and a German doctor assigned to the camp. Their lives intertwine as the teenager is one of the girls the doctor decides to do medical experiments on at the camp. The book is not easy to read, but important to read for history’s sake.
The second book, Lost Roses, focuses on Caroline’s mother, Eliza. Eliza is friends with Sofya, a cousin of the Romanovs. The book is set during the fall of the tsars in Russia and shows the absolute anarchy that was taking place in Russia during that time. Another main character, Varinka, shows the plight of the lower class during those times. Again, all three women’s lives intersect as Sofya tries to search for freedom – and for her son, who has been kidnapped by Varinka. There are dark-themes in this book, but it is true to the historical time period.
The third book, Sunflower Sisters, goes back in time to the Civil War, to cover the Woolsey family. They are abolitionists living in New York. Within the seven sisters and two who train to be nurses in the Civil War. The story also follows the life of a young slave girl, Jemma, and how she strives to figure out a way to freedom from Anne-May, her owner. Anne-May’s husband goes to fight for the Union, but her brother joins the Confederate Army. When her brother is killed in action, she has no qualms helping spy for the Confederacy. This book also deals with the hard themes of its day and doesn’t shy away from the horrors of war surgery and slavery.
Fans of historical fiction will enjoy the Lilac Girls series and how all the books are tied together with one family. The author did base the book on actual people, but elaborated on their stories. Once the books are finished, I was amazed to stand back and see how one family could see history through what the people in the family tree experienced – Civil War, Russian Revolution and WW2.
What is your favorite historical fiction series? Share in the comments!
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