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romatrashperla's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
lucyhbmort's review
dark
emotional
informative
sad
5.0
a beautiful story based on true events in Mauritius. Read most of it while holidaying on the island, so it was very vivid & moving.
karinlib's review
4.0
Appanah writes beautifully. Set in Mauritius, this book delves into a little known prison camp for immigrant Jews from Nazi occupied Austria and the Czech Republic whose ship had been turned away from Haifa which was then in Palestine. They were imprisoned for four years. The book, told from the point of few of a young boy is riveting.
donnaadouglas's review
3.0
In 1940, a ship full of Jewish-European refugees landed in Palestine seeking an escape from the Nazism which had engulfed Europe and caused them to flee their homes. The British foreign office, who controlled Palestine at that time, deported them as 'illegal immigrants' to Mauritius, detaining them in a political prison there. Of the 1,500 Jewish prisoners kept on the island, 127 died.
'The Last Brother' indirectly tells the story of one of these 127. Through the eyes of Raj, an Indian-Mauritian whose father is a jailer in the prison, we learn of David, an orphan boy who befriends Raj, who is aided in his escape by Raj, and his unfortunate death.
Whilst the story itself isn't the best of the genre, the locale and history certainly were interesting to me. I honestly never knew that the British contributed to the interment of Jews during WWII, and this information shocked me greatly.
The book can be likened a bit to 'The Boy with the Striped Pyjamas'. I wouldn't recommend you to go out of your way to buy it, but its a decent read if you were to come across it by chance, and short enough to read in a day.
'The Last Brother' indirectly tells the story of one of these 127. Through the eyes of Raj, an Indian-Mauritian whose father is a jailer in the prison, we learn of David, an orphan boy who befriends Raj, who is aided in his escape by Raj, and his unfortunate death.
Whilst the story itself isn't the best of the genre, the locale and history certainly were interesting to me. I honestly never knew that the British contributed to the interment of Jews during WWII, and this information shocked me greatly.
The book can be likened a bit to 'The Boy with the Striped Pyjamas'. I wouldn't recommend you to go out of your way to buy it, but its a decent read if you were to come across it by chance, and short enough to read in a day.
dc14's review
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
beth_diiorio's review
4.0
Two young boys discover a deep bond over their own experiences of great loss. It is 1944 Mauritius, an island nation east of Madagascar. Nine-year-old Raj participates in the daily struggle to survive against torrential rains, poor soil conditions, mudslides, illness, and lack of food while living in a small hut with his heinously abusive and ignorant father, his loving and hard-working mother, and two brothers whom he adores, one older and one younger. Nine-year-old David, a Jewish refugee from Prague, is experiencing his childhood in the same village of Mapou, being detained indefinitely in a prison camp. Their seperate lives come together after a brutal beating lands Raj in the hospital of the camp. Raj's determination to rescue David comes from a more profound motive than pure empathy. More info. can be found at my blog http://www.candlebeambooks.com
adam613's review
3.0
"Despite all we had lived through we were still innocent and naive enough - is that not the magic and drama of childhood? - to laugh at nothing at all."
susan_e's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0