annethology
  • Home
    • About Annethology
    • About me >
      • A little more about me
    • About my books
    • Author talks
    • Contact me
    • Forthcoming events
    • World Mental Health Day
    • Privacy
    • Sign up for my newsletter
  • First two novels
    • Sugar and Snails >
      • Acknowledgements
      • Blog tour, Q&A's and feature articles >
        • Birthday blog tour
        • S&S on tour 2022
      • Early endorsements
      • Events >
        • Launch photos
        • Launch party videos
      • in pictures
      • Media
      • If you've read the book
      • Polari
      • Reading group questions
      • Reviews
      • In the media
    • Underneath >
      • Endorsements and reviews
      • Launch party and events
      • Pictures
      • Questions for book groups
      • The stories underneath the novel
  • Matilda Windsor series
    • The accidental series
    • Matilda Windsor >
      • What readers say
      • For book groups
      • Interviews, articles and features
      • Matty on the move
      • Who were you in 1990?
      • Asylum lit
      • Matilda Windsor media
    • Stolen Summers >
      • Stolen Summers reviews
    • Lyrics for the Loved Ones
  • Short stories
    • Somebody’s Daughter
    • Becoming Someone (anthology) >
      • Becoming Someone (video readings)
      • Becoming Someone reviews
      • Becoming Someone online book chat
    • Print and downloads
    • Read it online
    • Quick reads
  • Free ebook
  • Annecdotal
    • Annecdotal blog
    • Annecdotal Press
    • Articles >
      • Print journalism
      • Where psychology meets fiction
    • Fictional therapists
    • Reading and reviews >
      • Reviews A to H
      • Reviews I to M
      • Reviews N to Z
      • Nonfiction
      • Themed quotes
      • Reading around the world
  • Shop
    • Inspired Quill (my publisher)
    • Bookshop.org (affiliate link)
    • Amazon UK
    • Amazon US
    • books2read
  • Main site

Welcome

I started this blog in 2013 to share my reflections on reading, writing and psychology, along with my journey to become a published novelist.​  I soon graduated to about twenty book reviews a month and a weekly 99-word story. Ten years later, I've transferred my writing / publication updates to my new website but will continue here with occasional reviews and flash fiction pieces, and maybe the odd personal post.

ANNE GOODWIN'S WRITING NEWS

Two novel perspectives on humanitarian responses to wartime atrocities

25/8/2017

10 Comments

 
Much as we like to think we’d be willing to risk our own safety to come to the aid of a fellow human being, history shows that many of us aren’t brave enough to go against the grain. But even if we do find the courage to stand apart and make a difference, is the act that feels right necessarily the right thing to do? The conundrum of humanitarian responses to wartime atrocities seems to be the central question of these two historical novels, both set in a European winter, the first during the Second World War and the second in the civil war that broke up Yugoslavia, this latter by one of the founders of the humanitarian organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Picture
Picture

A Boy in Winter by Rachel Seiffert

German engineer, Otto Pohl, is not keen on his country’s ruling party, nor the war they’ve perpetrated across Europe. But he hopes to keep his hands clean (metaphorically, if not literally) by avoiding conscription and continuing to pursue his profession by overseeing the building of a new road in recently occupied Ukraine. The conditions of the labourers concern him, but that’s nothing to his horror when awoken one morning in the small town where he is lodging to witness the rounding up of the Jews.

Ephraim is one such unfortunate, made to stand in cold crowded conditions for a day and a night in an abandoned brickworks. As his co-religionists contemplate a three-day journey to the ghetto, Ephraim frets about his two sons, missing since daybreak, horrified that his wife, who stands beside him with their daughter, might have encouraged them to hide.
 
The two boys, thirteen-year-old Yankel and his little brother, Monik are temporarily cared for by Yasia, a country girl who has come into town in search of her lover who is now working with the police. She feeds and shelters them  because they remind her of her brood of brothers back home, and is shaken to discover they are Jews.
 
With the town under curfew, the eventual fate of the people gathered in the factory comes as a shock to everyone, except the SS officers who have orchestrated it. Sickened and disgusted, most of the townsfolk are nevertheless primarily concerned with saving their own skins. Fear turns to rage, although not necessarily directed towards the authority that has made them all complicit in a crime against humanity. Otto is perhaps alone in actively avoiding doing harm, only to find his small act of bravery backfiring because of his failure to recognise the depths of depravity undertaken in his country’s name.
 
It’s a gripping, if heart-rending story, with a snip of hope for some at the end. Thanks to Virago for my review copy.

Checkpoint by Jean-Christophe Rufin

Five people and two truckloads of humanitarian aid set off from the offices of an NGO based in Lyon to Bosnia as winter approaches. None of them has been entirely honest with their companions about their reasons for joining the operation and only one member of the group is aware of the extra cargo under the tarpaulin of one of the trucks which will put all their lives in danger.
 
Translated from the French by Alison Anderson, Checkpoint is an intense adventure story set within one of the bloodiest civil wars of 20th-century Europe posing searching questions about whether or when politically neutral support for the victims should give way to military action. While I enjoyed exploring that territory with one of the founders of the deeply respected aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres, I can’t agree with the publisher’s positioning of this as a literary novel (specifically “a powerful psychological literary thriller”) on the basis of either use of language or psychological depth. In particular, the character of Maud, the only woman in the group, reads like a male fantasy of a woman who doesn’t want to be a male fantasy, with a rather abrupt sexual awakening and the dated cliché of becoming beautiful on removal of her glasses. Thanks to Europa editions for my review copy.

Picture

Charli’s request for 99-word stories about an escape artist sends my imagination leaping from A Boy in Winter to a novel about a boy at risk from the Nazis, not because he is Jewish, but because of his Romani background, Jakob’s Colours. Here’s where it led me:


Roll Call for the Jews


One bag only, said Mama. You’ll have to leave your paints behind. What hell were we heading to if colour had no place? Layer after layer of shirts, sweaters, coats; armour against the cold, perhaps, but not their hate. Mama pulled tubes of indigo and yellow ochre from the pockets, refilled them with mouldy apples, wheat-and-sawdust bread. Outside, truck engines rumbled. Beyond the town the forest beckoned. Could I survive without family, without friends? Could I live without art? I’d manage if I must. When our front door slammed, I ran. For my life.




Her grandmother’s escape from the Holocaust has shaped the character of Liesel in my second novel,
Underneath. See also my blog post Art’s capacity to disturb for how the novel features paint and paintings.

Picture
Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
10 Comments
Norah Colvin link
29/8/2017 10:37:06 am

I thought of Jakob's Colours as I read your review of A Boy in Winter, not that there are many similarities. I found your response to Check Point interesting, considering it was written by one of the founders of MSF. I thought those experiences would have added to the book's authenticity.
I dare say there are a few escapes for the characters in Underneath. I'd forgotten about Leisel's grandmother, but I remember the scene about art being disturbing. Perhaps to one already distrubed?
Your flash very skilfully ties all these thoughts together. What would life be for an artist without family, friends or colour. I hope he made a successful escape. He? She?

Reply
Annecdotist
29/8/2017 02:14:32 pm

Thanks, Norah, I’m glad you were reminded of Jakob’s Colours. I’m not saying that Checkpoint wasn’t authentic in its portrayal of the Bosnian conflict (although I understand it so inadequately I’m not much in a position to judge) but I wasn’t impressed with its depiction of a supposedly strong female character. (Although I did wonder about the harshness of my judgement after my previous post on writing negative reviews.)
Glad you liked the flash. I did think of the character as male, although probably just because I was influenced by those two novels.

Reply
Deborah Lee link
30/8/2017 01:58:17 pm

There is such an aching forboding in this flash. Nicely done.

Reply
Annecdotist
31/8/2017 05:34:30 pm

Thanks, Deborah

Reply
Charli Mills
31/8/2017 07:45:48 am

So often, in reading stories about war-torn places and times, I wonder why more people weren't utterly disturbed by what was happening. Your flash goes to a clearer idea of: "What hell were we heading to if colour had no place?" Those thoughts would have made more people run! Great flash.

Reply
Annecdotist
31/8/2017 05:33:58 pm

Thanks, Charli. I really think people couldn’t believe other people’s cruelty. Probably a healthy defence until it comes to crunch time and you really have to run.

Reply
Robbie Cheadle
31/8/2017 06:47:10 pm

I have read a significant number of books about the atrocities of WW2 but the never fail to impact me hugely. A very emotional piece of flash fiction.

Reply
Annecdotist
1/9/2017 12:46:38 pm

Thanks, Robbie, I think we all need to keep reading and feeling about these atrocities. I wonder if you have any favourite reads?

Reply
Jeanne Lombardo link
2/9/2017 01:22:42 am

The question of how we ourselves would act in times of danger is certainly a compelling one. And WWII remains a rich historical event to mine. So many unimaginable episodes of cruelty and inhumanity. From your review it seems A Boy in Winter skillfully explores the themes of just how far one might go to resist evil, as well as the futility of traveling some middle road between personal safety and doing what "common decency" demands.
As for Checkpoint, the setting and story piqued my interest, but like you, sorry, even without the glasses bit, I become suspicious of token characters....here the requisite female.
Your flash called to mind the scene in Inglorious Bastards where the Jewish daughter flees the French farmer's house while her parents and brother are shot to pieces in their hiding place under the floorboards. How many people fled in such a manner? Left their loved ones behind after last moments of fear and confusion? Your small protagonist, however, shielded by his innocence, is perhaps even more heart-breaking (though there can be no contest in this arena.) Beautiful evocation of the sacrifice of the small blessings of ordinary life with its color and art and love, sharply contrasted with the suggestion of the deprivation to come. And what an end...with its haunting image of the small boy fleeing into the dark forest...

Reply
Annecdotist
3/9/2017 04:47:23 pm

Thanks, Jeanne, and glad you liked the flash, which probably owes a lot to how well that was represented in A Boy In Winter. It seems that in such unusual and extreme conditions, the children have more wisdom that the adults who assume it’s best to comply.
Regarding Checkpoint, I didn’t mind so much that there was only the one woman in a convoy out of five, but now I’m thinking I need to fine tune my sexism radar.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Free ebook: click the image to claim yours.
    Picture
    Available now
    Picture
    The poignant prequel to Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home
    Picture
    Find a review
    Picture
    Fictional therapists
    Picture
    Picture
    About Anne Goodwin
    Picture
    My published books
    entertaining fiction about identity, mental health and social justice
    Picture
    My third novel, published May 2021
    Picture
    My debut novel shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize
    Picture
    Picture
    My second novel published May 2017.
    Picture
    Short stories on the theme of identity published 2018
    Anne Goodwin's books on Goodreads
    Sugar and Snails Sugar and Snails
    reviews: 32
    ratings: 52 (avg rating 4.21)

    Underneath Underneath
    reviews: 24
    ratings: 60 (avg rating 3.17)

    Becoming Someone Becoming Someone
    reviews: 8
    ratings: 9 (avg rating 4.56)

    GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 4 GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 4
    reviews: 4
    ratings: 9 (avg rating 4.44)

    The Best of Fiction on the Web The Best of Fiction on the Web
    reviews: 3
    ratings: 3 (avg rating 4.67)

    2022 Reading Challenge

    2022 Reading Challenge
    Anne has read 2 books toward their goal of 100 books.
    hide
    2 of 100 (2%)
    view books
    Picture
    Annecdotal is where real life brushes up against the fictional.  
    Picture
    Annecdotist is the blogging persona of Anne Goodwin: 
    reader, writer,

    slug-slayer, tramper of moors, 
    recovering psychologist, 
    struggling soprano, 
    author of three fiction books.

    LATEST POSTS HERE
    I don't post to a schedule, but average  around ten reviews a month (see here for an alphabetical list), 
    some linked to a weekly flash fiction, plus posts on my WIPs and published books.  

    Your comments are welcome any time any where.

    Get new posts direct to your inbox ...

    Enter your email address:

    or click here …

    RSS Feed


    Picture

    Tweets by @Annecdotist
    Picture
    New short story, “My Dirty Weekend”
    Picture
    Let’s keep in touch – subscribe to my newsletter
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Popular posts

    • Compassion: something we all need
    • Do spoilers spoil?
    • How to create a convincing fictional therapist
    • Instructions for a novel
    • Looking at difference, embracing diversity
    • Never let me go: the dilemma of lending books
    • On loving, hating and writers’ block
      On Pop, Pirates and Plagiarism
    • READIN' for HER reviews
    • Relishing the cuts
    • The fast first draft
    • The tragedy of obedience
    • Writers and therapy: a love-hate relationship?

    Categories/Tags

    All
    Animals
    Annecdotist Hosts
    Annecdotist On Tour
    Articles
    Attachment Theory
    Author Interviews
    Becoming Someone
    Being A Writer
    Blogging
    Bodies
    Body
    Bookbirthday
    Books For Writers
    Bookshops
    CB Book Group
    Character
    Childhood
    Christmas
    Classics
    Climate Crisis
    Coming Of Age
    Counsellors Cafe
    Creative Writing Industry
    Creativity
    Cumbria
    Debut Novels
    Disability
    Editing
    Emotion
    Ethics
    Ethis
    Family
    Feedback And Critiques
    Fictional Psychologists & Therapists
    Food
    Friendship
    Futuristic
    Gender
    Genre
    Getting Published
    Giveaways
    Good Enough
    Grammar
    Gratitude
    Group/organisational Dynamics
    Hero’s Journey
    History
    Humour
    Identity
    Illness
    Independent Presses
    Institutions
    International Commemorative Day
    Jane Eyre
    Kidney Disease
    Language
    LGBTQ
    Libraries
    Live Events
    Lyrics For The Loved Ones
    Marketing
    Matilda Windsor
    Memoir
    Memory
    Mental Health
    Microfiction
    Motivation
    Music
    MW Prequel
    Names
    Narrative Voice
    Nature / Gardening
    Networking
    Newcastle
    Nonfiction
    Nottingham
    Novels
    Pandemic
    Peak District
    Perfect Match
    Poetry
    Point Of View
    Politics
    Politics Current Affairs
    Presentation
    Privacy
    Prizes
    Psychoanalytic Theory
    Psychology
    Psycholoists Write
    Psychotherapy
    Race
    Racism
    Rants
    Reading
    Real Vs Imaginary
    Religion
    Repetitive Strain Injury
    Research
    Reviewing
    Romance
    Satire
    Second Novels
    Settings
    Sex
    Shakespeare
    Short Stories General
    Short Stories My Published
    Short Stories Others'
    Siblings
    Snowflake
    Somebody's Daughter
    Stolen Summers
    Storytelling
    Structure
    Sugar And Snails
    Technology
    The
    The Guestlist
    Therapy
    TikTok
    TNTB
    Toiletday
    Tourism
    Toxic Positivity
    Transfiction
    Translation
    Trauma
    Unconscious
    Unconscious, The
    Underneath
    Voice Recognition Software
    War
    WaSBihC
    Weather
    Work
    Writing Process
    Writing Technique

    Archives

    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Picture
    BLOGGING COMMUNITIES
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos from havens.michael34, romana klee, mrsdkrebs, Kyle Taylor, Dream It. Do It., adam & lucy, dluders, Joybot, Hammer51012, jorgempf, Sherif Salama, eyspahn, raniel diaz, E. E. Piphanies, scaredofbabies, Nomadic Lass, paulternate, Tony Fischer Photography, archer10 (Dennis), slightly everything, impbox, jonwick04, country_boy_shane, dok1, Out.of.Focus, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Elvert Barnes, guillenperez, Richard Perry, jamesnaruke, Juan Carlos Arniz Sanz, El Tuerto, kona99, maveric2003, !anaughty!, Patrick Denker, David Davies, hamilcar_south, idleformat, Dave Goodman, Sharon Mollerus, photosteve101, La Citta Vita, A Girl With Tea, striatic, carlosfpardo, Damork, Elvert Barnes, UNE Photos, jurvetson, quinn.anya, BChristensen93, Joelk75, ashesmonroe, albertogp123, >littleyiye<, mudgalbharat, Swami Stream, Dicemanic, lovelihood, anyjazz65, Tjeerd, albastrica mititica, jimmiehomeschoolmom, joshtasman, tedeytan, striatic, goforchris, torbakhopper, maggibautista, andreboeni, snigl3t, rainy city, frankieleon