Identify this novel about Jewish family during WWII

December 19, 2005 6:30 PM

Identify-a-novel-filter. My girlfriend remembers reading a novel about ten years ago recounting the experiences of a Jewish family before, during and after World War 2.

She remembers very little of the plot. She thinks it is set in Germany. It remembers it as bein mainly concerned with the father character, who at one point is either tortured by Nazis, or is hiding from the threat of torture; she remembers some kind of physical abuse/prolonged torture involving a wooden board. And finally, she thinks the family name or novel's title begins with "B". Unfortunately, she has no details about the author (might be German), original language (ditto) or indeed anything else other than that it's not Anne Frank or The Tin Drum.

posted by gentle to writing & language (8 comments total)

Corrie Ten Boom's story The Hiding Place? IIRC it's a young adult novel.
posted by jessamyn at 7:07 PM on December 19, 2005

Note: She's not Jewish, but was part of the Dutch Underground that gave aid to the Jews.
posted by jessamyn at 7:08 PM on December 19, 2005

Is it possibly not just one book, but actually this series of three young adult novels by Judith Kerr?

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit

The Other Way Round

A Small Person, Far Away

I believe they were all compiled into this compedium called Out of Hitler Time.
posted by elkerette at 7:31 PM on December 19, 2005

If you haven't figured it out by tomorrow morning, I should be able to get the answer for you at work. The details are a little vague, though; do you have any other information about it? Was it a novel written primarily for young adults?
posted by arco at 7:35 PM on December 19, 2005

Fairly sure it was not a young-adults novel. She read it in high school, and in this country (Norway) we have a tradition of reading unabridged adult works at that stage.
posted by gentle at 7:42 PM on December 19, 2005

Oh, and it's none of the suggestions so far. It's quite probable that the author is European, perhaps German. Probably male.
posted by gentle at 7:43 PM on December 19, 2005

It wasn't a graphic novel, was it? There's always Art Spiegelman's Maus. That's probably not it, though, I'm guessing.
posted by limeonaire at 7:49 PM on December 19, 2005

Was it in English?
posted by arco at 4:26 AM on December 20, 2005