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Anne C. Voorhoeve
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| Liverpool Street |
| Liverpool Street |
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136,096 words / 851,637 signs |
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•In 2008 the book was awarded the "Buxtehuder Bulle," a prestigious book prize awarded annually for the best juvenile fiction book of the German-speaking countries
•"Penetrating and deeply touching writing."
Nürnberger Nachrichten, January 27 2007
•"This author deserves high accolades for Liverpool Street." Berliner Zeitung, March 20 2007
•"A moving book about war and alienation, separation and new beginnings." Schweizer Familie, March 22 2007 |
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Content: |
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Ziska from Berlin is eleven years old on the February day when she arrives at the London train station called Liverpool Street. She is one of almost 10,000 Jewish children fleeing the Nazis, alone, without their parents, as part of an organized evacuation called the Kindertransport. Waiting for Ziska are an unknown foster family, a strange language, and years of uncertainty. What will happen to her family in Germany, to her best friend back home? She will only find out who has survived after the war is over. Raised as a Protestant, Ziska is the child of an assimilated family who has never seen the inside of a synagogue. In London, she ends up with the Sheppards, an orthodox family, and against all expectations, finds herself more and more attracted to the Jewish way of life.
In the beginning, Ziska's daily life in London is dominated by efforts to help her parents. The eleven-year old girl, who is now called Frances, doggedly tries to secure a job, and thereby an immigration visa, for her mother and father. But the Second World War breaks out, ending any chance for the Jews still in Germany to make it to safety in England. In London, the Sheppards and Ziska prepare themselves for the war. Mr. Sheppard, who owns a cinema, travels to France with a mobile movie theater to entertain the troops. Gary, the 18-year old son, joins the Royal Navy despite his parents' opposition. Ziska stays with Mrs. Sheppard in London. Together, they run the small cinema while enduring bombings, blackouts, food shortages and clothing rationing. They also develop a warm relationship, each appreciating the other's ability to get through the day with spirit and resourcefulness.
Ziska hears nothing of her mother for a very long time. It is only in 1944, after she has already been in London for many years, that she begins to get details about the Holocaust from radio reports and through her friend Walter, who she met during the Kindertransport and is now a soldier.
Finally, at the end of the war, the Red Cross sends word that some of her family has survived, including her mother, who was able to escape to Holland. They meet again after seven years of separation, and find each other strangers. Ziska now feels at home with the Sheppards, and her mother, once full of life, has become a suspicious, reproachful woman. Ziska will stay on, living her life in England and raising her own family, while keeping those who she loves, but had to leave behind, forever in her memories. |
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The Author: |
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Anne Charlotte Voorhoeve was born in 1963 in Germany. She studied Political Science, American Studies and Ancient History at the University of Mainz and Comparative Literature at the University of Maryland. She has worked as a newspaper and book editor, in public relations for a Lutheran monastery, and since 2000 as a freelance writer. Lilly unter den Linden ("Lilly under the Linden Trees"), her first screenplay, was nominated for the 2003 Prix Europa. The novel adaptation, enthusiastically received by reviewers and readers alike, was nominated for a number of young adult literature prizes in 2005. Her novel Liverpool Street has been sold to Belgium (Dutch), Canada, Denmark, France and French speaking countries, the Netherlands, Spain and Spanish speaking countries, the United Kingdom and the USA. |
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Rights Sold: |
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Belgium (Dutch), Canada, Denmark, France and French speaking countries, Netherlands, Spain and Spanish speaking countries, UK, USA |
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