Two Brothers by Ben Elton – simply fantastic

Two Brothers
Published: 08.11.2012
Two Brothers is a heartrending story of two boys growing up under the darkening shadow of the Nazis. Born in Berlin in 1920 and raised by the same parents, one boy is Jewish, his adopted brother is Aryan. At first, their origins are irrelevant. But as the political landscape changes they are forced to make decisions with horrifying consequences.

I read this book in just a few days – it’s difficult to put down. I don’t like reviews where the reader is told the entire plot of the book so I certainly don’t want to say too much. The book is extremely well written, with interesting characters who are easy to get invested in and a very believable story taking place during truly horrific times.

Although there are lots of books that have been written about the holocaust, I haven’t read many that spend most of their time discussing the years before the actual WWII and Ben Elton manages to describe growing up as a Jew during those times very well. It’s in many ways a story about relationships but no less a story about how such terrible experiences affect different people, and how it affects people differently.

I saw that someone had written that this book should be part of school curriculum and I tend to agree. It manages to give us a large amount of historical information without the reader ever feeling they’re sitting in a history lesson. It’s always about the characters.

In short, I recommend you buy this book today!

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