First published 2011
Silvana and her eight-year-old son Aurek board a ship bound for England, leaving Poland behind as World War II ends. A soldier asks if she's a housekeeper or housewife. "Survivor," she replies. Her husband Janusz waits for them at 22 Britannia Road, but the war has transformed them all beyond recognition. Silvana and Aurek survived by hiding in Polish forests. The boy has grown wild and feral, unable to tie his shoes or sleep in a proper bed. Janusz has remade himself as an Englishman, desperate to forget Poland and start fresh as a respectable English family. Silvana carries the weight of a devastating wartime act she cannot forget. These three damaged people must somehow rebuild their family bonds while wrestling with trauma, guilt, and the challenge of belonging in a new country.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, world-war-ii, family-drama
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Poland, England, Britannia Road
Period: World War II
323 pages · Hardcover · Pamela Dorman Books
Content warnings: violence, war