In 1942, Lale Sokolov arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau. He was given the job of tattooing the prisoners marked for survival - scratching numbers into his fellow victims' arms in indelible ink to create what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust.
Waiting in line to be tattooed, terrified and shaking, was a young girl. For Lale - a dandy, a jack-the-lad, a bit of a chancer - it was love at first sight. And he was determined not only to survive himself, but to ensure this woman, Gita, did, too.
So begins one of the most life-affirming, courageous, unforgettable and human stories of the Holocaust: the love story of the tattooist of Auschwitz.
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(@ZaffreBooks, 11 January 2018, 231 pages, ebook, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @OverDriveLibs for #TogetherWeRead)
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This mostly true story has been on my radar for ages because I've heard so many good things about it. I had high expectations for this book. It didn't live up to my expectations. I'm sorry but I really don't see what all the fuss is about. This isn't a terrible book but it doesn't deserve all the praise heaped upon it. I enjoyed the Auschwitz plotline with Lale giving a glimpse of what life was like at the concentration camp. Some of this was quite harrowing. The love story between Lale and Gita left me cold and just got in the way of the most interesting elements of the book. It's been a while since I felt so let down by a book.
