Publisher's Weekly Review
Rosenberg's debut novel focuses on Rita Feuerstahl, a blond-haired Polish Jew who enters adulthood as the Nazis have secured their grip on Germany. The story follows her through World War II, struggling to hide her identity to avoid being deported to a death camp, all the while searching for her lost young son, Stefan. A subplot involves her lover, Tadeusz Sommermann, a doctor who escapes the Nazis by moving to Stalinist Russia. Adding to the intrigue is the fact that Rita knows that the British have broken the Nazis' secret communication code, not to mention the novel's philosophical digressions and sex. The book is a page-turner with a focus on how ordinary people cope when trapped in totalitarian systems. Rosenberg has done his homework on wartime Poland, Russia, and Germany, so that rather than using the period as window dressing, he vividly brings to life what it might have felt like, day to day, to navigate this distorted world. Combined with its strong characters, Rosenberg's novel is a winner. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
A sweeping novel encompassing 1930s Paris, the slums of Krakow, war-torn Spain, and Nazi Germany, The Girl from Krakow follows Rita Feuerstahl through good times and bad. From her first date with her future husband as a college girl in Poland to her terrifying trip through the Krakow ghetto to search through a decrepit orphanage in a vain attempt to find her son, Rosenberg immerses the reader in Rita's history. Guarding a vital secret, Rita must change her name and her attitude as she lives among the Germans while the world swirls around her. The novel doesn't shy away from the realities of wartime Europe, blending some of Rita's happiest moments with many of her saddest and scariest. Well researched and well imagined, the novel expands historical data into full, vivid scenes. Delicate issues and situations are faced head-on and unapologetically, a testament to Rosenberg's abilities. Fans of historical fiction or readers looking for something new after finishing Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See (2014) will enjoy Rosenberg's story of reinvention, self-discovery, the power of personal connections, and the kindness of strangers.--Turza, Stephanie Copyright 2015 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Swept into the chaos of World War II, Rita Feuserstahl, a beautiful young Polish Jew, struggles to survive amid escalating horrors. First-time novelist Rosenberg, a philosophy professor at Duke University, flexes his academic muscles by infusing his novel with scientific rumination. In unwieldy digressions, Rita-persecuted, starving, and walled into a ghetto-ponders Darwinian explanations of human behavior. Listeners who zone out during these homilies will snap back to attention at the resumption of the plot, replete with romance, adultery, intrigue, and heroism. Michael Page's genteel, formal delivery transports listeners back in time and vivifies characters of various nationalities. VERDICT Sometimes erroneously tagged as a "thriller," Rita's story of survival will appeal to aficionados of historical, Holocaust, and war fiction.-Judith Robinson, Dept. of Lib. & Information Studies, Univ. at Buffalo © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.