Review: Ghostwritten by Isabel Wolff

I am very excited to bring to you today Ghostwritten by Isabel Wolff.  I have been a fan of hers since I read A Vintage Affair.  She is an engaging storyteller that takes hold of you and won’t let you go until you turn that final page.  Ghostwritten is no exception.  For my full review keep reading after the book blurb.

Book Blurb:

A childhood mistake. A lifetime of regrets.

Jenni is a ‘ghost’: she writes the lives of other people. It’s a job that suits her well: still haunted by a childhood tragedy, she finds it easier to take refuge in the memories of others rather than dwell on her own.

Jenni has an exciting new commission, and is delighted to start working on the memoirs of a Dutchwoman, Klara. As a child in the Second World War, Klara was interned in a camp on Java during the Japanese occupation – she has an extraordinary story of survival to tell.

But as Jenni and Klara begin to get to know each other, Jenni begins to do much more than shed light on a neglected part of history. She is being forced to examine her own devastating memories, too. But with Klara’s help, perhaps this is finally the moment where she will be able to lay the ghosts of her own past to rest?

Gripping, poignant and beautifully researched, Ghostwritten is a story of survival and love, of memory and hope

Review:

Jenni’s past has started to catch up with her.  The secret she has kept buried from everyone close to her is now effecting her life.  Though her personal life is being turned upside down, she is given an interesting opportunity to ghostwrite for a woman who’s story will echo close to Jenni’s.  In the beginning Jenni bulks at even doing this because it will take her to the heart of her past and keep her there until she is done with the story.  But, once Jenni meets Klara and her family she realizes that her decision to help Klara tell her story was the best thing to happen to both of them. 

This novel was one of the most poignant stories I’ve read in awhile.  It is emotionally ride that will leave you both happy and sad at the end.  Klara and Jenni’s stories are so realistic and relatable that you feel you are part of their stories.  Klara’s experiences on Java and the internment camps brought a whole new story of WWII that many people may not know.  I think this added a wonderful element of historical significance with a personal touch of someone’s experiences.  The intricate weaving of both Jenni’s and Klara’s stories are done with such ease that you flow between stories naturally.  Isabel Wolff does a phenomenal job going between past and present.  It takes a talent like hers to expertly move between years and not lose a reader.  Overall, this is a story that you want to pick up and never let go.  I know it will remain with me for quite sometime.  I can’t wait to read what Isabel Wolff comes up with next.