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  • Published: 2 April 2019
  • ISBN: 9781760892579
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 512
  • RRP: $26.00

Lilac Girls




This New York Times bestseller tells the remarkable story of three very different women brought together by the infamous Ravensbruck concentration camp. Will appeal to readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and All the Light We Cannot See.

OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD

Inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this runaway international bestseller reveals the power of unsung women to change history in their quest for love, freedom and second chances.

New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939 – and then sets its sights on France.

An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.

For the ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. Once hired, though, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.

The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbruck, the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women. Their stories cross continents – from New York to Paris, Germany, and Poland – as Caroline and Kasia strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.

‘This is a part of history—women’s history—that should never be forgotten’ Lisa See, author of China Dolls

  • Published: 2 April 2019
  • ISBN: 9781760892579
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 512
  • RRP: $26.00

About the author

Martha Hall Kelly

Martha Hall Kelly is the author of Lilac Girls, the runaway bestseller that spent over a year on the New York Times paperback chart. She lives in Connecticut, where she spends her days filling legal pads with stories and reading World War II books. Lost Roses, her second novel, was released in April 2019 and her third, Sunflower Sisters, will publish in early 2021.

Also by Martha Hall Kelly

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Praise for Lilac Girls

A powerful story for readers everywhere . . . Martha Hall Kelly has brought readers a firsthand glimpse into one of history’s most frightening memories. A novel that brings to life what these women and many others suffered . . . I was moved to tears.

San Francisco Book Review

Profound, unsettling and thoroughly… the best book I’ve read all year.

Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Extremely moving and memorable . . . This impressive debut should appeal strongly to historical fiction readers and to book clubs that adored Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale and Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See.

Library Journal (starred review)

Lilac Girls falls squarely into the groundbreaking category of fiction that re-examines history from a fresh, female point of view.

Star-Telegram