Germany, 1945. Klara Janowska and her daughter Alicja have walked for weeks to get to Graufeld Displaced Persons camp. In the cramped, dirty, dangerous conditions they, along with 3,200 others, are the lucky ones. They have survived and will do anything to find a way back home. But when Klara recognises a man in the camp from her past, a deadly game of cat and mouse begins. He knows exactly what she did during the war to save her daughter. She knows his real identity. What will be the price of silence? And will either make it out of the camp alive?

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Book Group Review

The Borrowers Book Group from Kesgrave Library share their thoughts on The Survivors by Kate Furnivall.

This is an engaging page turner which focuses on a time and place, both rarely written about in a novel. It is 1945 at the end of the Second World War and set in a Displaced Persons Camp.

We found the vivid descriptions of life in the camp particularly interesting and eye opening. Discussion included to whom is the title referring: those who do anything to survive, including stealing and bartering, specifically the main characters, collaborators, or those who have managed to endure the war to reach the camp.

The characters of the children are believable, tragically toughened and emotionally numbed by war. The main character Klara prompted mixed feelings as she was cold and rough, becoming tough and desperate through what she had endured. We liked Colonel Whitmore, a stereotypical polite Englishman, trying to do his best and be fair in extremely challenging circumstances.

Recommendation: The book is exciting with dramatic action and neat coincidences that move the story on. To fully enjoy the story, one has to suspend belief as there are some unrealistic elements between sadness, horror and dramatic twists.