My Enemy’s Cradle - Hardcover

Young, Sara

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007266790 ISBN 13: 9780007266791

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2008

Synopsis

Sara Young takes us into the very heart of the Nazis’ cradle with a powerful story of love set against the true events of one of the most secret and terrifying of Heinrich Himmler’s wartime projects – the Lebensborn Nazi breeding programme.

Cyrla’s neighbours have begun to whisper. Her cousin, Annika, is pregnant and has passed the rigorous exams for admission to the Lebensborn, a maternity home for Aryan girls carrying German babies. Annika’s soldier has disappeared; the Nazis confiscate fatherless children. Cyrla, sent from Poland to hide with her Dutch relatives, has been warned that her neighbours know she is half Jewish. She won’t be safe for long.

A cruel twist of fate places Cyrla with the terrible choice between certain discovery in her cousin’s home and taking Annika’s place in the Lebensborn. If she takes refuge in the enemy’s lair, can Cyrla fool the doctors, nurses, guards and other mothers-to-be? How will she escape before they discover she is not who she claims?

About this title

Review:

Praise for ‘My Enemy's Cradle’

‘Tense and gripping...Young’s novel is meticulously researched and the facts are unobtrusive, wrought into the story with intelligence and precision’
Observer

‘Sara Young’s research has been so thorough, it’s hard to believe you’re not reading a genuine survivor’s account – this is a truly remarkable story’
She

‘A scary evocation of a time history would rather forget’
Eve

‘Gripping’
Choice

‘a beautifully written tale of love fear, hope and the fight for survival.’
My Weekly

‘Sara Young has woven a fascinating true story into a gripping work of fiction.’
Aberdeen Press and Journal

‘A thought provoking and well carfted novel.’
Newcastle Upon Tyne Evening Chronicle

'That love can find purchase in the most hostile soil has rarely been so heroically proven. Tenderly and fiercely felt, Young's tale of a young Jewish woman trapped in the sinister web of the Nazi Lebensborn program is that true find, a story truly never before told'

Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of ‘Cage of Stars’

More praise for ‘My Enemy’s Cradle’:

‘The historical research that Sara Young has put into this book is as compelling as the plot.’
Bookseller

‘This is a touching,gripping story and so realistic it is like reading a survivior’s account.’
Shropshire Star

‘Thought provoking and greatly moving, this well crafted novel is a must-read.’
Belfast Sunday Life

'Young's research is so scrupulous that when devouring this novel, you'll swear you're reading a genuine survivor account, and you'll hold your breath as Cyrla attempts to find and found her own family'
Jenna Blum, author of ‘Those Who Save Us’

'Young explores with an unwavering voice the timeless, universal and yet intensely personal themes of love, loss, morality and the choices that shape our lives'
Pam Jenoff, author of ‘The Kommandant's Girl’

'My Enemy's Cradle goes to the very heart of hope and how it can survive in even the darkest and most dangerous of times.' Anne Leclaire, author of ‘Entering Normal’

‘My Enemy’s Cradle has everything - it is a page turner full of twists and turns. It is a love story, it is a war story. It reveals a dark piece of history. There is only one caveat to this novel: you’ll want to read it straight through. So put aside everything and begin.’
Ann Hood, author of ‘The Knitting Circle’

From the Back Cover:

"[A] brave work . . . [Young's] passion and her desire to give voice to innumerable silent victims shine through." --The Dallas Morning News

"I am grateful you are not here, Cyrla'sJewish father last wrote from Poland. He had sent her to Holland for safekeeping with relatives, but now that country too has been overrun by the Nazis. In a rush, she takes refuge in one of the Lebensborn--maternity homes for girls carrying German babies. But can she escape before her real identity is discovered? And will her love keep her safe when danger surrounds her? In My Enemy's Cradle, Cyrla travels to the other side of war, love, and the heartbreak of survival. It is a love song to kinship, an elegy for the women we have lost, and a lullaby for the children we must save.

"Young shines a powerful flashlight on one of the lesser-known Nazi atrocities: the thievery of children from their mothers. When devouring this novel, you'll swear you're reading a genuine survivor account." --Jenna Blum, author of Those Who Save Us

"What a story! My Enemy's Cradle offers intrigue, suspense, compassion, heartbreak and joy. I was hooked from page one." --Elizabeth Berg, author of Dream When You're Feeling Blue

SARA YOUNG graduated with a BA from Marietta College in Ohio. Under the name Sara Pennypacker she has written seven books for children, including the acclaimed Stuart series (Stuart's Cape) and Clementine. She lives on Cape Cod.

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About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0007266790
• ISBN 13: 9780007266791
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400