Far to Go
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3.7 • 13 Ratings
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
For readers of THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ and SCHINDLER'S LIST, FAR TO GO is a powerful, mesmerising novel centring on one family's heartbreaking decision to save their son - by saying goodbye to him for ever.
Longlisted for the 2011 MAN BOOKER PRIZE for Fiction
'Extraordinary' Daily Mail
'A potential classic in the making' Financial Times
Pepik is only six when the German forces invade Czechoslovakia. Desperate to find freedom, his affluent Jewish parents try to escape with him to Paris, but are betrayed by Marta, the family's beloved nanny. Yet it is Marta who then secures a place for the Pepik on a Kindertransport, an act of determination that saves his life. But the child is never to see his parents or Marta again.
'Somewhere between a book and a miracle' Catherine Ryan Hyde
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In her second novel (after The Sweet Edge), Pick tackles the Holocaust with the story of a young Jewish family struggling to survive as the Nazis invade Czechoslovakia. Throughout 1938 and 1939, Pavel and Anneliese Bauer endure increasingly terrifying attacks on their dignity, freedom, and lives, clinging to a hope that the madness will soon end. Meanwhile, a present-day Holocaust historian (who remains awkwardly unidentified for some time), specializing in the Kindertransport and the many children it helped to escape from Czechoslovakia, takes a personal interest in the Bauers. Letters culled from the historian's files, written by people who were close to the Bauers, effectively punctuate the novel, but Pick's shuffling gamble with point-of-view produces mixed results. For instance, Marta, who both propels the tale and plays a significant role in it, is sometimes so na ve as to be unconvincing. But period details are authentic and well presented, as are the family's suffering and grief.
Customer Reviews
Gina Clarke
An amazing and compelling read, more especially for me, as my father came to England on a Kindertranport train from Czechoslovakia. My father is still alive and chose to return to live and work in Prague and gained recognition from both the Czech and German governments for his work in developing the relationships between the two countries.