The story of a twelve-year-old girl’s harrowing experience fleeing Nazi-occupied Germany with her family and best friend, only to discover that the overseas asylum they had been promised is an illusion.
In 1939 before everything changed, Hannah Rosenthal lived a charmed life. Her family moved in Berlin’s highest social circles, admired by friends and neighbours. Eleven-year-old Hannah was often taken by her mother for an afternoon treat at the tea room of the beautiful Adlon Hotel, both dressed in their finest clothes. She spent her afternoons at the park with her best friend Leo Martin. But, in an instant, that sunlit world vanished. Now the streets of Berlin are draped with red, white, and black flags; their fine possessions are hauled away, and they are no longer welcome in the places that once felt like home. The two friends make a pact: come what may, they promise to have a future together.
As Hannah and Leo’s families desperately begin to search for a means of escape, a glimmer of hope appears when they discover the Saint Louis, a transatlantic liner that can give Jews safe passage to Cuba. After a frantic search to obtain visas, the Rosenthals and the Martins depart from Hamburg on the luxurious passenger liner bound for Havana. Life aboard the ship is a welcome respite from the gloom of Berlin—filled with masquerade balls, dancing, and exquisite meals every night.
As the passengers gain renewed hope for a bright future ahead, love between Hannah and Leo blossoms. But soon reports from the outside world began to filter in, and dark news overshadows the celebratory atmosphere on the ship; the governments of Cuba, the United States, and Canada are denying the passengers of the St. Louis admittance to their countries, forcing them to return to Europe as it descends into the Second World War. The ship that had seemed their salvation seems likely to become their death sentence.
After four days anchored at bay, only a handful of passengers are allowed to disembark onto Cuban soil, and Hannah and Leo must face the grim reality that they could be torn apart. Their future is unknown, and their only choice will have an impact in generations to come.
Decades later in New York City on her eleventh birthday, Anna Rosen receives a mysterious envelope from Hannah, a great-aunt she has never met but who raised her deceased father. In an attempt to piece together her father’s mysterious past, Anna and her mother travel to Havana to meet Hannah, who is turning eighty-seven years old. Hannah reveals old family ties, recounts her journey aboard the Saint Louis and, for the first time, reveals what happened to her father and Leo. Bringing together the pain of the past with the mysteries of the present, Hannah gives young Anna a sense of their shared histories, forever intertwining their lives, honouring those they loved and cruelly lost.

Donated to the little free library in Narrabundah, ACT. Thank you.

This book goes backwards and forwards from the past to the 'present'; a technique I often don't like. It starts off in the past. I read that and then the first chapter set in the 'present', decided that ruined the flow for me, so from then on I only read the parts of the story set in the past. The story flowed well that way, and what I thought might be a story I wouldn't finish became a page turner. I did read the last chapter, but by then all the story had blended into the same time.
A tragic story based on a real sea voyage aboard the St. Louis. Hannah takes the journey with her parents. I did feel she was presented at times as more mature than her years. Only Hannah and her mother were allowed to land in Cuba; her father wasn't. I am surprised that none of the passengers, after being refused permission to land, didn't in desperation attempt to swim to shore, although in that era perhaps many couldn't swim. And they likely had hope of being allowed ashore at another port. The story continues to when Hannah is an old lady.

Released on the pool deck of Ovation of the Seas, with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background. We are off to Nouméa, Mystery Island and Auckland; then back to Sydney.
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