How is it different from other novels that address the issues surrounding the Holocaust?
Ordinarily, Holocaust stories are nonfiction. At least that has been my exposure and understanding. Because this story is a work of fiction, the reader's perspective of the Holocaust is broadened in that here, nothing is being held back for any reason. Fiction has this way of liberating the author to allow the unthinkable to exist.
The Holocaust, unthinkable in itself, becomes a part of this world of fiction. The horrible reality meshes into the author's work, intertwines with her imagination, with her perception of the war, the treatment of the Jews, and what it might have been like to be a civilian, a German civilian, caught in the crossfire - so to say.
From this blooms the complex relationship of a daughter being saved by a mother's love. This theme of saving runs throughout the novel and would be interesting to look into.
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