Book Review: Briar Rose

A retelling of a classic fairy tale. It starts out simple enough a grandmother “Gemma” telling her granddaughters a story; a princess, a castle, a prince, a kiss that wakes her. Only one grad daughter takes the story to heart. “Becca” and doesn’t mind the retelling of the tale, no matter how often. Becca is now 23 and works for a newspaper. Gemma is in a nursing home suffering from dementia. When Gemma dies, all that is left is a wooden box with several pictures and some paperwork.

What follows is a mystery unraveled, and a story not normally told. For Gemma was a Jew during the holocaust. Held in Chelmono an extermination camp.

No woman ever escaped from Chelmno.

This is a dark tale and worth reading.