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    The Plum Tree
    The Plum Tree
    The Plum Tree
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Plum Tree

    Written by Ellen Marie Wiseman

    Narrated by Madeleine Lambert

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    "Bloom where you're planted," is the advice Christine Bolz receives from her beloved Oma. But seventeen-year-old domestic Christine knows there is a whole world waiting beyond her small German village. It's a world she's begun to glimpse through music, books-and through Isaac Bauerman, the cultured son of the wealthy Jewish family she works for.

    Yet the future she and Isaac dream of sharing faces greater challenges than their difference in stations. In the fall of 1938, Germany is changing rapidly under Hitler's regime. Anti-Jewish posters are everywhere, dissenting talk is silenced, and a new law forbids Christine from returning to her job-and from having any relationship with Isaac. In the months and years that follow, Christine will confront the Gestapo's wrath and the horrors of Dachau, desperate to be with the man she loves, to survive-and finally, to speak out.

    Set against the backdrop of the German homefront, this is an unforgettable novel of courage and resolve, of the inhumanity of war, and the heartbreak and hope left in its wake.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateApr 29, 2013
    ISBN9781452682921
    The Plum Tree
    Author

    Ellen Marie Wiseman

    Ellen Marie Wiseman is the New York Times bestselling author of the highly acclaimed historical fiction novels The Orphan Collector, What She Left Behind, The Plum Tree, Coal River and The Life She Was Given. Born and raised in Three Mile Bay, a tiny hamlet in northern New York, she’s a first-generation German American who discovered her love of reading and writing while attending first grade in one of the last one-room schoolhouses in New York State. Since then, her novels have been published worldwide, translated into twenty languages, and named to “Best Of” lists by Reading Group Choices, Good Housekeeping, Goodreads, The Historical Novel Society, Great Group Reads, and more. A mother of two, Ellen lives on the shores of Lake Ontario with her husband and dog. Visit her online at EllenMarieWiseman.com.

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    Reviews for The Plum Tree

    4.5/5

    35 ratings16 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Excellent novel with pictures that help the reader see the horrors of the war and concentration camps. The reader gets a picture of what life was like for innocent Germans who suffered during the war as well as those sent to the camps. It was an excellent novel, well researched.
    • 4/5
      The Plum Tree is a novel about WWII from a different perspective; one of the non-Jewish German woman who helped her family survive. It is hard to believe that the non-Jewish citizens of Germany were honestly unaware of what was happening to the Jews and other people in the camps is difficult to accept considering there must have been a horrific smell from the crematoriums that were burning innocent people non-stop. Nevertheless, the story keeps its pace from beginning to end. The book was awarded four stars in this review because it is a good story and well written.
    • 4/5
      Kindle for Ipad. Christine, German girl falls in love with Jewish boy. WWII begins. Hitler begins with posted signs depicting who is Jewish and forbids them entry into banks and PO's. Situations deteriorate for the German ciitzens and even more so for the Jews. This book through the love story illustrates the war through ordinary lives in a village...their extreme hardships and powerless hatred of Hitler. It follows Christine as an inmate into Dachau with her eventual release at the end of the war. Realistic snynopsis done by careful historical research makes this book a good overall view of that time period, even though the author is not a gifted writer.
    • 4/5
      A rich WWII love story. A caution for the would-be reader: this is a heavy book. Show up ready for characters to live through harsh times. (Hint: it's worth it.)
    • 4/5
      This author is very talented at dropping her readers right into the story. While she gets a bit verbose in the beginning setting her scene (I mean, every little thing gets described it seems like!), once the narrative gets flowing, the world just comes to life. You literally smell the smoke from the bombs, sense the eeriness in the air of a Nazi rally, feel the peace of the mountains in the few interludes of calm, and visualize this small hamlet in the German mountains about to experience the horrors of Nazi Germany. So even if the author does get verbose in description again once you get sucked in, trust me, you won't realize it!! You'll be too busy being enthralled by the story itself. Now the story in this book... Just top notch, in my humble option. To me, the meat of the story is the experience of the average German during and after WWII under the Nazis as seen through Christine and her family. The book was inspired by the author's own family history; that some of the things that happened in this book really occurred in real life is astounding. I was enthralled and captivated by this simple family's struggle for survival and human dignity.The characters were very vivid to me. And while there were times where Christine and the other members of her family did seem a bit too goody-goody, overall I felt enthralled by this family's struggle to maintain their identity in a world increasingly going mad under Nazism. Kate's blossoming under Nazism and her embracing of their doctrines, along with others in the town, offset the family's anti-Nazi stance to create a pretty balanced representation of the German populace.The romance-y stuff between Isaac and Christine was sweet and pretty all encompassing in some areas, especially when you get to the camps. It's the main focus and reason for Christine's struggle to survive, really. Yet, I never really saw any change or development there. They started out in love at the beginning of the novel and never really had any bumps in the relationship throughout the whole thing. Even with all the heaviness that came with the Nazis, camps, and Isaac being Jewish, they stayed just as in love from page 1 to the last page. I think I might have enjoyed at least a few hiccups. Might have seemed more realist that way...For the most part, the book was historically accurate. Some key facts of the Holocaust were changed to help along narrative flow; the author even details as such in her author's note and explains why. Where usually these would erk me, especially exaggerating a certain camp's role in the Final Solution, I actually didn't mind as much. I think it was because the spirit of the historical details was present. The reader gets a real sense of the horrors of the era, even if the setting wasn't exactly spot on. I really enjoyed this novel. Once I hit about 30% in, I devoured the rest of the book in one day. The author has a real gift for world building and pulling her readers into a family's struggle for survival. I got to know and care for the characters in a way not easily accomplished in all books. And while at times the romance was a little too sweet, the characters a bit too good, and the historical details weren't exactly correct, the enjoyment I got out of the reading experience makes up for all of this. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys WWII and Holocaust fiction.
    • 4/5
      Powerful view of German civilians in World War 2.

      Told through the eyes of Christine, a teenager at the start of the war the book grips you with its portrayal of the moving story of a family in southern Germany.

      Whilst honouring the suffering of the Jewish population it describes a relatively rare view of the life for non-nazi German civilians during WW2.
    • 3/5

      Seventeen-year-old Christine Bolz works as a servant for the Bauerman family where Christine and the Bauerman’s son, Isaac, have just revealed their love for one another. But, it's 1938 and soon Christine and her mother are banned from working for the Jewish family. They continue to meet secretly but it quickly becomes too dangerous for both of them. As the years pass and Christine’s family struggle to survive the hunger and cold that accompany the war, she has no idea what has befallen the Bauermans. Are the still in Germany , hiding, or captured by the Nazis? Everything is out of control and soon Christine is faced with life and death decisions on a daily basis. Christine knows she will always love Isaac, but now she has no choice but to get on with her life, helping her mother and grandparents take care of her brothers and sisters. Much later, she has the opportunity to help Isaac and she'll risk everything, her own life as well as the lives of her family, to help the man she loves.

       

      What I really liked about this story was that the author was able to paint a portrait of an ordinary non-Nazi German family during the war. The didn't approve of Hitler but faced imprisonment or even death if they weren't careful. We were able to see the hopelessness of their lives. I enjoyed the book but felt that I didn't learn anything new about this period of time. It also had a bit of a YA feel to it, probably due to love story angle.

       

      "
    • 4/5
      For someone who never went to college nor took a creative writing class, this work is superb. The story is believable from start to finish and heart wrenching throughout. Sobering to read. Today we are all so soft we would never survive a place like Dachau or a war like WW II. I hope this makes it to the big screen.
    • 5/5
      This is one of those stories that touches ones soul. Everything in this story was vivid and tangible. The prose gives one Goosebumps and has every character come to life while the author has us relive a dark time in history of Germany and the world.


      “The air was as crisp and sweet as the crimson apples hanging in the orchards that lined the gentle foothills of the Kocher River valley. The sun was shining in a blue September sky quilted with tall, cottony clouds that swept rolling shadows over the countryside.”

      What is touching through out the story, is how the author paints the picture that is so real, so true.


      “Christine, I want you to understand something. War makes perpetrators of some, criminals of others, and victims of everyone. Not all of the soldiers on the front are fighting for Hitler and his ideals. Just because a soldier is in the battle, doesn’t mean that he believes in the war.”

      *** *** ***

      “It came from the direction of the woods, unmistakable, uninterrupted, and unending. She fell to her knees, stomach twisting, thinking she’d go crazy before it stopped. She pressed her hands over her ears, but the sound of gunfire found its way through her trembling hands, ripping into her brain.”

      If you’re looking for a historical fiction set in WWII, a story that shows what one goes through to survive, to love and to hope, you’ve found it in ‘The Plum Tree’.

      Melanie for b2b

      Complimentary copy provided by the publisher
    • 3/5
      In 1938 Germany, it was rare for a Christian servant girl to fall in love with the son of the Jewish family who employed her and her mother and have him return the feeling. But so it is with Christine and Isaac. However, as Hitler rises to power and regulations proliferate regarding who is German, who is Jewish and what Jews are allowed to do, it becomes increasingly dangerous to meet. Their daily trysts decrease to weekly, then monthly, then not at all. When Isaac's family is finally 'relocated', Christine loses all hope of seeing him again. When Isaac returns as a prisoner to reconstruct a bombed out airfield, Christine sees him and, during a prisoner melee, convinces him to escape. Hiding in Christine's attic, unknown to her parents, Isaac is discovered by the SS and both he and Christine are transferred to Dachau.Couched in a readable love story, Ellen Marie Wiseman has recounted in The Plum Tree the sufferings of both German citizens and those interned in the death camps. Citizens deal with rationing, bombings, deportations and loss of loved ones. The heinous conditions of those in the death camps need not be reiterated here. Christine's father is drafted to the Russian front. Her younger sister is recruited for a Hitler girl's work group and raped. Much of the background of the story comes from the author's German grandmother. The Holocaust was a horrendous time in world history and Ms. Wiseman has put a personal touch on this era.
    • 4/5
      Christine Bolz is 17 in 1938 when Hitler's third Reich comes to power and her relationship with a young Jewish boy Isaac is starting to flourish. We see what life is like in a small German town for Christine and her family during war time, the lack of food, the air raid sirens, and the constant fears. Christine hids Isaac in the attic and they get caught and both sent to Dachau. The horrors of a concentration camp are painful to read. This novel also deals with the aftermath of war, dis placed people, what life is like once back home and how the German people were treated post WWII.The Plum Tree is a touching story.It is haunting, painful and beautiful.
    • 5/5
      At the age of seventeen Christine Bolz works as a domestic for a Jewish family in a small town in rural Germany. Her innocence and beauty - fair and blonde - capture the eye of her employer's son and as the story opens we find the two walking together through a nearby forest where Isaac Bauerman declares his love for her. Christine has been harboring a secret love for Isaac and when he claims her as his girlfriend she is on top of the world. As they make their way home, Christine's joy is unbridled but she begins to notice some flyers that have been put up in her neighborhood. They made the claim that associated with Jews or people of mixed lineage (one Jewish parent, one not) was strictly Verboten! Christine doesn't realize yet that her entire world will soon be torn asunder. What follows is the story of how Hitler and his War Machine insinuate themselves into even the tiniest crevasse of life for the German people and the spark of hope that burns in the young Christine's heart that she and her beloved Isaac will one day be together again. That spark is almost extinguished when she finds herself being shipped to the Dachau as a result of her trying to hide Isaac from the SS.The Plum Tree is a well-drawn view of what the peaceful German countryside once was and what it became thanks to the Third Reich. The gradual drying up of goods and services is in counterpoint to the verdant hillsides and nearby river where nature provides such beauty. When German troops arrive in Christine's small village, her father is drafted to serve his country thereby leaving Christine, her sister, two young brothers, her mother, and her grandparents to carry on. And when Hitler himself visits the village, Christine is one of a dozen girls brought on stage to meet him. He praises the girls for their Aryan looks and personally urges each of them to begin producing children in their own likeness. The touch of his hand does nothing more than repulse Christine.The characters we meet throughout the story are finely drawn and made me feel as though I knew them personally. The optimism that lives in Christine's heart is what carries the story along although there are several places where she almost gives up, sure that her beloved Isaac must have met his demise or that her father will not return from the Russian front where most German soldiers perished.I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope to read Ms. Wiseman's other works.
    • 4/5
      Wiseman spares the reader little in her descriptions of the Nazi's cruelty, the treatment and conditions of the prisoners in Dachau and the lack of food and the destruction of the bombs on the many villages in Germany. This novel, partly motivated by her family history, shows that there are really no victors in war, and that there are plenty of victims from both sides. This novel was very well written, easy to read though the subject matter was anything but. The descriptions of the villages, the bombs falling, the people themselves were so very real. I also liked that it showed pretty much all sides of the war, the German people whose husbands and sons were sent off to fight, leaving their wives and children with very little in the way of food, and had very little to say about their willingness to fight for something they did not believe in. The helplessness of the Jewish people who had no way out. Many of the German people were just afraid, they were killed as were their families for daring to speak out or attempt to help or hide any Jews. The supposed saviors, the Russians, the French and the Americans were not saviors to everyone and tended to believe that all Germans were guilty and treated them accordingly. The character Christine, a young German girl, in love with a Jewish boy, needs all her strength to survive Dachau. She is a very remarkable character, in that she never gives up, maintains hope in family and truth through it all. This war for Germany lasted much longer than the end of the camp liberations and war trials, the food shortages would last for 5 more years. All in all a very noteworthy book. ARC from NetGalley.
    • 5/5
      This was not an easy read, and certainly not for the faint of heart, but an incredible story about the Holocaust, that was just heart wrenching. WWII and the Holocaust was a horrible time in our history that brought great sadness to the Jewish people. But this is the story of survival, and the misery of six years, told from a German girl’s perspective.Details of WWII are woven together with a romance between a seventeen–year-old German girl, Christine, and a German Jew, Isaac, who were from two different worlds. Isaac was the son of a wealthy lawyer, and Christine was the daughter of a poor mason. As a result of their forbidden love, they found themselves in a boxcar, headed to Dachau, crushed like kindling, filling every square inch of space. It was dark and stifling hot, the stench unbearable – a harrowing and devastating experience. From the book – “War makes perpetrators of some, criminals of others, and victims of everyone. Not all of the soldiers on the front are fighting for Hitler and his ideals. Just because a soldier is in the battle, doesn’t mean that he believes in the war.”“They’re murdering thousands of people. Along with Jews, they’re killing Gypsies, the crippled, the feeble minded, the elderly. They’re gassing them and burning the corpses in giant ovens. Unless prisoners can be of some use, and then they’ll work them until they die.”The writing and plot are solid, the in-depth storyline intriguing, and the characters are captivating. I can’t imagine anything more horrific than WWII and the Holocaust. This is a story you’ll not soon forget. I highly recommend. 5+ stars.
    • 5/5
      Intense descriptive historical fiction story. Good story!! I enjoyed this vook!
    • 3/5
      This book was definitely ok...but I found it tedious at times. The characters were fairly well developed but I had a hard time feeling very close to them. The historical facts were described in some detail but were hard to believe at times knowing the true history behind the Holocaust. However, it is fiction so there are liberties taken.

      I also want to note here that I read this book in both paperback form and audible. The narration of the audible version is not good and very difficult to listen to. I would not recommend getting the audible version. German pronunciations were torture to hear and you felt yelled at during the rest of the narrations.