Opening in the last days of World War II, when the Polish resistance was fighting the Nazis and the Red Army, The Girl from the Train by Irma Joubert mingles historical details with a delightful story of love, patriotism, religion and politics.
The story focuses on Jakób, a Pole who hates the Communists and fights with the Resistance, and Gretl, a six-year-old German Jew being transported to Auschwitz along with her sister, mother and grandmother. Determined to stop a German troop train, Jakób sets a bomb along the train tracks, but Gretl's train reaches the spot first. She is the only survivor of this unintended disaster, and Jakób is filled with guilt and the desire to look after Gretl. With the help of his family, he manages to care for her, but eventually realizes he must find her a new home. Shipping Gretl off to South Africa with other German orphans hoping to be adopted, Jakób believes he will never see her again, but fate has a way of twisting their experiences.
Joubert creates a believable world filled with the passion of disparate religions and clashing political beliefs, as seen through the eyes of two highly likable characters, both of whom grow in age and maturity as the story progresses. Interesting supporting characters and great visual details of the Polish and South African countryside embroider an exciting historical romance. --Lee E. Cart, freelance writer and book reviewer