4.0
The Plum Tree
ByPublisher Description
"A touching story of heroism and loss, a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of love to transcend the most unthinkable circumstances."
—Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris
From the internationally bestselling author of The Orphan Collector comes a haunting and lyrical tale of love and humanity in a time of unthinkable horror. The debut novel from a powerful voice in historical fiction, this resonant and courageous saga of a young German woman during World War II and the Holocaust is a must-read for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Alice Network.
“Bloom where you're planted," is the advice Christine Bölz receives from her beloved Oma. But seventeen-year-old domestic Christine knows there is a whole world waiting beyond her small German village. It's a world she's begun to glimpse through music, books—and through Isaac Bauerman, the cultured son of the wealthy Jewish family she works for.
Yet the future she and Isaac dream of sharing faces greater challenges than their difference in stations. In the fall of 1938, Germany is changing rapidly under Hitler's regime. Anti-Jewish posters are everywhere, dissenting talk is silenced, and a new law forbids Christine from returning to her job—and from having any relationship with Isaac. In the months and years that follow, Christine will confront the Gestapo's wrath and the horrors of Dachau, desperate to be with the man she loves, to survive—and finally, to speak out.
Set against the backdrop of the German homefront, this is an unforgettable novel of courage and resolve, of the inhumanity of war, and the heartbreak and hope left in its wake.
"A haunting and beautiful debut novel."
—Anna Jean Mayhew, author of The Dry Grass of August
"Ellen Marie Wiseman boldly explores the complexities of the Holocaust. This novel is at times painful, but it is also a satisfying love story set against the backdrop of one of the most difficult times in human history."
—T. Greenwood, author of Keeping Lucy
—Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris
From the internationally bestselling author of The Orphan Collector comes a haunting and lyrical tale of love and humanity in a time of unthinkable horror. The debut novel from a powerful voice in historical fiction, this resonant and courageous saga of a young German woman during World War II and the Holocaust is a must-read for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Alice Network.
“Bloom where you're planted," is the advice Christine Bölz receives from her beloved Oma. But seventeen-year-old domestic Christine knows there is a whole world waiting beyond her small German village. It's a world she's begun to glimpse through music, books—and through Isaac Bauerman, the cultured son of the wealthy Jewish family she works for.
Yet the future she and Isaac dream of sharing faces greater challenges than their difference in stations. In the fall of 1938, Germany is changing rapidly under Hitler's regime. Anti-Jewish posters are everywhere, dissenting talk is silenced, and a new law forbids Christine from returning to her job—and from having any relationship with Isaac. In the months and years that follow, Christine will confront the Gestapo's wrath and the horrors of Dachau, desperate to be with the man she loves, to survive—and finally, to speak out.
Set against the backdrop of the German homefront, this is an unforgettable novel of courage and resolve, of the inhumanity of war, and the heartbreak and hope left in its wake.
"A haunting and beautiful debut novel."
—Anna Jean Mayhew, author of The Dry Grass of August
"Ellen Marie Wiseman boldly explores the complexities of the Holocaust. This novel is at times painful, but it is also a satisfying love story set against the backdrop of one of the most difficult times in human history."
—T. Greenwood, author of Keeping Lucy
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Plum Tree Reviews
4.0
“This book left me thinking “did I even like this book?” The setting of the scene was better than the “execution” of the overall story. The ending felt very rushed and predictable.”
“gonna be honest here and say this book was such a drag. there’s such a thing as too descriptive, it felt more like filler to pad out the book and make it longer. like giant paragraphs of nothing. most of the emotional beats didn’t quite hit and weren’t as impactful as it should have been. i didn’t really like christine. she was giving white savior tbhhhh. very woe is me type shit. and i hated kate even more but i guess that’s the point. also not christine being anti-abortion to her sister who was r**** and pr****nt as a result. probably would’ve saved her life tbh. like she seriously said all the wrong things but maybe that was the point idk.”
BelievableChange and growDiverse representationLikeableMemorableMinor characters stand outMultilayeredOriginalRelatableStrong relationshipsUnforgettable protagonistAction-packedAddictiveClever plottingGripping/excitingSlow-pacedSteady pacingSuspensefulUnsatisfying conclusionDarkEerieGrittyHistoricalMysteriousRealisticRusticSetting fits the storyBeautifully-writtenDescriptiveEasy to readFlowery/lushWhimsical toneAbuseChild abuseChild lossDeathEating disordersGriefMisogynyMurderSexual assaultViolenceWar violence
About Ellen Marie Wiseman
Ellen Marie Wiseman is the New York Times bestselling author of the highly acclaimed historical fiction novels The Orphan Collector, What She Left Behind, The Plum Tree, Coal River and The Life She Was Given. Born and raised in Three Mile Bay, a tiny hamlet in northern New York, she’s a first-generation German American who discovered her love of reading and writing while attending first grade in one of the last one-room schoolhouses in New York State. Since then, her novels have been published worldwide, translated into twenty languages, and named to “Best Of” lists by Reading Group Choices, Good Housekeeping, Goodreads, The Historical Novel Society, Great Group Reads, and more. A mother of two, Ellen lives on the shores of Lake Ontario with her husband and dog. Visit her online at EllenMarieWiseman.com.
Other books by Ellen Marie Wiseman
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