Cuckoo Clock – New York by Elisabeth Marrion
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I found this wonderfully written novel to be an emotional read but also a fascinating one. The novel tells the story of the first children to go to England on the Kindertransport from Doctor Esther Rosenthal’s point of view. Beginning in Kristallnacht on the 9th November in 1938, Doctor Esther Rosenthal’s husband has just enough time to whisper to her before the SA take him away, that Esther must leave Germany immediately. This is the start of her adventurous, dangerous and brave journey which saw her go through Holland, England, and then ultimately on to the USA. It is whilst Esther is in Holland that she meets a group of children that come from a Berlin orphanage and who are the first children to go to England on the Kindertransport. Esther and her father Mordechai join the children on their crossing and then accompany them to Harwich. At the outbreak of World War II the Kindertransport abruptly comes to an end, leaving many children still at Dovercourt Bay without a new permanent or foster home.
This was a heartbreaking story which concentrated on how normal people were affected by war, and how the innocent suffered but also how ‘ordinary’ people became hero’s and who in a time of violence and suffering really made a difference to other people’s lives. I found the story all the more powerful and poignant as it’s based on real people and events. The author obviously knows her history and this comes across in the narrative. Her descriptive writing really bought the settings and the era to life and I felt fully immersed and engaged in the story whilst I was reading it. The characters are remarkable and so realistic, relatable and likeable that I found myself thinking about them long after I had finished the book. Emotive and moving this was a page turner of a novel and one which I highly recommend.

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