by Ian McEwan
First published 1985
Rose watches Nazi tanks rumble through her peaceful village streets. The familiar adults in her world begin vanishing one by one. She breaks the rules and explores the dangerous countryside beyond her home. There she discovers a Jewish boy hiding from the soldiers. The two children form an unlikely friendship as warfare tears apart everything they know. Rose sees the brutal reality of occupation through his eyes. Their connection becomes her only refuge from the violence surrounding them. She faces an impossible choice about protecting him. The Nazi forces grow closer to discovering their secret. Rose must weigh her own safety against loyalty to her friend. Her decision will test how much courage a young person can summon when everything familiar crumbles.
Genres: friendship, historical-fiction, coming-of-age, world-war-ii
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unlikely-friendship
Setting: Nazi Germany
Period: World War II
Hardcover · Jonathan Cape
Content warnings: violence, war