The Plum Tree: An Emotional and Heartbreaking Novel of WW2 Germany and the Holocaust

It was interesting to read about the German civilians who had to live through Hitler's reign. We don't often hear about the allied bombings of German towns or about the civilians who were struggling under Hitler. But other than that it was a flimsy story that seemed to be written more for adolescents than adults - but that's not a bad thing if young people actually read it. I thought the main character, Christine, was quite naive and unbelievable. The romance was silly. Christine's friend Kate was ridiculous - but someone like her was needed for the story. As others have said, the ending seemed to be hastily thrown together. I didn't find any of the characters likeable and felt that Christine WAS responsible for many of the things that happened to the people around her. And why didn't she try to learn English? Her time in Dachau seemed too easy, especially because she was there for helping Isaac to escape. It would be a good book for teens or young adults - especially as there are those who believe that none of this ever happened.

I have become quite a fan of Ellen Marie Wiseman. She is a gifted writer. This book answered a question I have had for many years...why didn't the German civilians, especially the Christians, do more to help the Jews and stop Hitler. Ms. Wiseman adeptly shows that that did what they could at tremendous personal risk, loss, hardship and punishment. Ms. Wiseman's literary skills weave an amazing story with descriptions of people and places that make you feel you are experiencing it yourself. The emotions, tension and suspense are palpable. The ending is very satisfying and believable. I recently finished her book, "Coal River". It is just as excellent as this book.

Ellen Marie Wiseman captured the unwritten story of the German AND Jewish lives during WWII in a touching and accurate manner. My mother was born in 1933 in Germany. She came to the United States in the late fifties. Growing up, we quietly knew from my mother's stories how everyone suffered. She told us of threats that her Aunt received for vocalizing her distaste for the Nazis, living almost entirely on potatoes one winter, how her father was a prisoner of war for 3 years, handing bread through the fence when she could to prisoners and so many other similar events explained in the book. She told us of running off of a train for their lives while being shot at and then watching it burn from being hit. It was a humbling story that pulled you in and made you feel the perseverance of so many people during that time - German, Jewish, Polish and so on. It was successful in bringing the reader into these lives that were turned upside-down and feeling the depth of their sorrow, love, pride and will to believe in a life that appeared at times to be completely lost. I remember being called a Nazi by children that barely understood what they were saying. My mother would tell us that people just did not understand what it truly was like. I grew up knowing deep down that things in these historical events are not always as they are portrayed by the media. I have applied it to my view of other areas of conflict in order to remind me that there are wonderful people behind all the anger, fighting and hostility. It was refreshing to hear a portrayal that did not show a divided people...something we need these days especially!

This was a good, but VERY depressing book. Whew! I found the author's descriptions to be a bit over the top. It's good to describe surroundings and people, but this was overboard.If you've read one story about prisoners in a concentration camp, you've pretty much read them all. Just change the names and put a bit of a different spin on it. This wasn't my first rodeo. I've read a lot of books in this genre.All that said, I did find the story compelling. The main character, Christine, started out in the story as a 17-year-old girl in love with a Jewish boy who was the son of a wealthy family that she and her mother worked for. Just starting their secret romance, things took a very bad turn for the Jews, and the couple had to sneak to see each other until things became too dangerous to see each other at all.As time and years passed and Isaac was interned with his family in Dachau, Christine saw him and after a skirmish took him into hiding in their attic.Things turned bad. I won't put up any spoilers alerts, but suffice it to say, the "adventures" had just begun. I did need a tissue here and there as well. I did enjoy reading about different things in the German culture at that time period.It was a well-told story albeit depressing. Near the end of the story was a bit far fetched, but if you think about it, the entire story was made up of a lot of coincidences.

I'll be honest, I had mixed feelings about reading The Plum Tree. As the wife of a Jew and the mother of a teenager who would have been considered impure by the Nazis, I struggle with anything that circles the Holocaust. However, as a Brit, I grew up on firsthand stories of hardship during the Second World War. It was always the stories of everyday actions--some heroic, some not--that resonated with me. And this is what I loved most about The Plum Tree--the level of detail that allows readers to experience the lives of ordinary Germans during a moment in history that was anything but ordinary.And yet The Plum Tree is much more than just a glimpse into rural family life during the evils of the Nazi regime. It's also a thumping good read--a hopeful story of survival, courage, and resilience. Christine is a fabulous heroine, and once I hit the half-way mark, you could not have wrestled her from me with a crowbar.I hate spoilers, so I'll only say this: The novel is not over once the Allies liberate Germany. The plot twists and the shades of grey layered into Christine's story kept me engrossed until the last page. As her father says, "War makes victims all."I highly recommend this wonderful debut novel.

The Plum Tree by Ellen Marie Wiseman is a novel about the Holocaust told by the perspective of an Aryan girl, Christine. Although Christine embodies everything a German girl should be in Nazi Germany - blonde, fair-skinned, blue-eyed - she is deeply in love with a Jewish boy, Isaac.Although Christine's family is poor, they are happy and loving and tolerant people. Their lives change for the worst when Hitler gains power. Christine is torn from the love of her life, Isaac, and her family is too afraid to say or do anything that goes against the Third Reich and its Führer. Christine spends her days terrified for Isaac and his family, but when she is given the opportunity to help Isaac, she takes it, and must face dire consequences for her treachery against the Nazi government and Hitler.I really liked Christine as a heroine. She is very kind, loyal, and brave. Not many Holocaust stories are told by the perspective of the "Aryan" Germans, so this is a bit of a unique tale. We get to see sides of the Third Reich and its "proper" citizens that aren't normally explored in literature or history class. We learn about how the Russian soldiers brutally raped German women and what life was like in Germany when the Americans came. I enjoyed The Plum Tree, although it read more like a YA novel than a book for adults. There were also some mistakes in the book: German spelling errors, implying that they have a Santa Clause-like figure in Germany (their Christmas is much different so no parent would dress up as Santa,) and some geographical mistakes (edelweiss grows high on the edges of mountains and cliffs, not in forests.) But these errors are only annoying/noticeable to those who have a good grasp of the German language and culture. The Plum Tree has some very terrifying scenes, but as far as Holocaust stories go, it is not especially gruesome. The Plum Tree is a great novel for anyone interested in WW2 and the Third Reich. The ending is a little to neat and tidy but overall this is a very good book and I would recommend it.

A tedious book jam packed with endless descriptions rendered in purple prose.Characters are shallowly sketched in two dimensions, all is black or white; so the precious goody-two-shoes contingent comes out just as unlikeable as the evil bad guys.A note: While the author distinguishes Nazis, SS, and gestapo from the common German foot soldiers or citizens, it was a bit of a stretch to cast the German people as courageous angels of mercy filled with kind-hearted empathy for the Jews. Closer to the truth is that the WWII generation of Germans were virulent anti-Semites.Hitler was not a solo act.If you want to read something truly superb in this genre, read “The Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr. Doerr writes brilliantly.

Ellen Marie Wiseman has the tremendous ability to make her readers feel "they are there" or are living these moments as we read the lines. She also has researched so tremendously to be so accurate in portraying the situations. Never did I imagine it was as bad as it truly was. My eyes were opened. I once had a brass commemorate bullet from this war, that my late father had to make in a factory...when the war ended he was given a brass replica. To me as a young person it didn't mean a whole lot...it sat in a corner for much of my life til a German gal and her husband came to visit...She was in tears immediately, she asked me to remove it...I did...she said it reminded her of what she witnessed in a small town in Germany...as a kid....as it was nothing to be displayed. I put it away in fact I don't have it now. This book made me realize exactly how she felt...and how the memories were so drastic she couldn't hardly remain in our home. After reading The Plum Tree...I know better. Thank you Ellen Marie.... Sharon Kresak

This is a WWII story, but from the German perspective. It's about a poor family in a small town in Germany and how they have to live under Nazi rule. It gives new insight on how people had to cope with new rules and regulations that evolved seemly overnight. It's main character 'Christine' falls in love with a Jewish boy and that love brings her much heartache, it also affects her family. The author bases her book on actual events from her own mother's and grandparents history as well as further research. Very good book and an easy read.

The novel starts in pre-war Nazi Germany in a relatively small town. The principle players have probably lived near each other in harmony for many years. Obviously the hate propaganda spread by Hitler and the Nazi Party against Jews had not infiltrated everyday life. A romance springs up between the heroine Christine and her Jewish employers son Isaac. Before long the anti Jewish propaganda reaches them and WW2 breaks out. Life changes quickly and dramatically as regular German people decide whether they will try to keep a low profile and ride out the war as best they can or join the Nazi Party and become active participants in the terror.The novel gains momentum as the story unfolds with average German families trying to survive hard times and near starvation and bombing raids and the men are conscripted and sent to the front to fight. The roundup of Jews begins.Average German families also lived in terror of the Nazis and the SS. Being a Jewish sympathizer was punishable by imprisonment in the camps. Speaking out or attempting to help the Jews meant certain imprisonment and possibly death.The book effectively demonstrates why the average German citizens kept quiet and turned a blind eye to the horrors going on around them. To intervene would have been impossible under the circumstances.When the Nazis find Isaac hiding in the attic, he and Christine are arrested and the rest of the family are left alone. In reality, the entire family would probably have been arrested and imprisoned for the remainder of the war.