Customer Reviews

Sins of the Innocent

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sins of the Innocent is the wartime memoir of a French woman who married a German man in interwar Europe and then had to endure the Nazi years in Germany. In Spain when the Spanish civil war breaks out, boyfriend Abel is nearly executed as a spy. He manages to survive, they marry, go on vacations, and try to live a normal life as life in Germany is consumed by Nazism. Abel is an artist and an ardent anti-Nazi. Conscripted when war breaks out, he spends the war in various drawing-related jobs, and manages to stay alive in jobs that are sometimes near the front lines. Meanwhile Mireille endures the war in various locales, and in the telling we learn frankly about life in wartime Germany from the eyes of a foreigner in its midst. Because Mireille is a strong, sympathetic, and acutely observant person in frequently unsafe situations, we get a clear-sighted picture of life in Nazi Germany from a woman's experience and a woman's perspective. It's a book well worth the reading. Smoothly translated and engrossing in its open-eyed view of life in a bizarre world, it's a hard book to put down.

Maybe it's unfair of me to give it only 3 1/2 stars, but the writing in this book is nowhere near the quality of the first book of hers I read, "Immortelles". And the story isn't as interesting, either. I wish she had gone into more detail about her feelings and the way the situation impacted them, other than the fact that they were often geographically separated. From a reader's standpoint, it was very emotionally unsatisfying. The best part was when she lived in that little house near the woods. I would have been interested in hearing more about living as a weaver in northern Germany, and a better explanation of why she didn't choose to stay there, while her husband had to travel for work. Much is left unsaid. Her descriptions of flora and fauna are her strong suits; emotions and her rational for making certain decisions are her weakest suits. A book worth reading, but don't pay retail for it... better yet, get it from your library - but "Immortelles" was so sweet and lyrical!

98-year-old author Mireille Marokvia presents her second memoir, Sins of the Innocent, the story of her adult life when she followed the man she loved to Stuttgart in 1939... just as Germany became tightly ensconced under fascist control. At times dark, at times embodying the spirit of hope, Sins of the Innocent chronicles the years of World War II and beyond with a candid, soul-searching eye. An emotionally powerful and moving true story of being witness to a grim hour for all humanity. Also highly recommended is Marokvia's previous memoir, "Immortelles: Memoir of a Will-o'-the-Wisp".