Author: Pam Jenoff
Started: May 5, 2021
Finished: May 6, 2021
Sadie Gault is an 18-year-old girl living in the Krakow ghetto with her parents, including her pregnant mother, when the Nazi liquidation of the ghetto begins, she and her parents disappear into the Krakow sewers for protection.
Ella Stepanek is a well-to-do Polish girl doing anything she can to spend time away from her stepmother. In search of cherries for a pie, Ella finds herself in a small city alley. She happens to look down at a sewer grate and sees Sadie staring back at her. The two become friends when Ella helps sneak food to Sadie and the others hiding in the sewer.
Due to Ella's stepmother collaborating with Nazi soldiers, Sadie's secret is discovered and they must find their way out of the sewer. When they escape the sewer, everyone's lives are changed.
This was a wonderfully researched story based on Polish Jews who escaped to the sewers in order to evade capture by the Nazis. Pam Jenoff always respectfully represents history while telling a story designed to grab the reader's attention. This is a beautifully told story of friendship and resilience and what happens when one person steps forward and does the right thing.