When The World Was Ours: A book about finding hope in the darkest of times
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By Liz Kessler
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14 reviews
ONE MOMENT CAN CHANGE A LIFE FOREVER.
‘An exceptional read’ The Sunday Times ‘Vital glimmers of hope enlighten this profoundly poignant book’ Guardian A powerful and heart-breaking novel about three childhood friends living during the Second World War whose fates are closely intertwined, even when their lives take very different courses. Inspired by a true story, this is the perfect read for fans of The Book Thief and Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl.Vienna, 1936.
Elsa, Leo and Max have always been best friends, a special team of three. Then the Nazis come.
As a growing darkness descends around them, Leo and Elsa run for their lives, taking two very different paths across Europe. And Max, once their closest friend, now becomes the enemy as he is drawn into the Hitler Youth. Will the friends ever find their way back to each other? Will they want to?
Inspired by a true story, WHEN THE WORLD WAS OURS is an extraordinary novel that is as powerful as it is heartbreaking, and shows how the bonds of love, family and friendship allow glimmers of hope to flourish, even in the most hopeless of times.
Three friends. Two sides. One memory.
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Stunning.
It's a really sad book.
You should probably read it when it's quiet; you feel like your I'm the book.
Horrific, scary, but absolutely brilliant! great novel for over 13 year olds
So sad
This book is based on a true story. It’s in the time of WW2 and about 3 friends getting separated as 2 of them are Jewish and 1 of them is a nazi
A brilliant novel which is a fantastic read but also heart-breaking. Based on true events, a story about the strongest childhood friendships and how they were affected by the devastating events of WW2.
Stories of three different children told at the time of WW2- two of them Jewish and the other German. These children were best friends and inseparable at the start; however, war torn them apart and separated them. Quite dark and poignant in places but beautifully written.
A brilliant and important book. On a par with The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. It isn't easy to read books like this, but it is important. Beautifully written and utterly compelling.
This is so sad,I'm crying my eyes out
This book was really nice, albeit very sorrowful.
My school did an interview with the author of this book, Liz Kessler and she took us through her experiences when writing the book and it was really interesting how she implemented a story from her family’s past into her book so subtly yet so well.
I think my favourite character would be Leo’s dad as he was so kind to Leo and his friends and even when he was suffering under the hands of the Nazis he reassured his son and wife that he was doing alright.
I would definitely recommend this to people around my age (10 - 13+) as it is a really beautiful story.
andrea.strachan@manorlodgeschool.com
I enjoyed this book about three childhood friends, set during the holocaust and World War 2. It then followed them through the next few years as they face the hard realities of the invasions, escapes, and concentration camps. A quick read that will stay with you for a long time after.
Fabulous book. A story of hope, sadness and the bewilderment of war.
Everyone should read this book! Set during the Second World War, it tells the story of the three friends and their experiences of the Holocaust. Truly heartbreaking and serves as an important reminder that we must never let anything like this happen again!
'When The World Was Ours' is a middle grade historical novel following three former best friends - Leo, Max and Elsa - during World War 2. The story was inspired by real events which occurred in the author's own family.
The story begins in 1936. Leo, Elsa and Max are best friends living in Vienna. It is Leo's ninth birthday and his father has taken the three friends to the fair. There they make the accidental acquaintance of an English couple, the Stewarts. However, that moment of happiness when the three children feel like the Kings and Queen of the world is the start of a downward spiral because Leo and Elsa are both Jewish and their lives are becoming increasingly dangerous.
From this point on, the three perspectives begin to split off. Elsa's parents make the decision to flee to Czechoslovakia, but when their country is invaded, the family are shipped off to Theresienstadt and then Auschwitz.
Leo's father is also taken away, forcing Leo and his mother to flee, in their case to England, that accidental encounter with the Stewarts becoming a lifeline for the desperate family.
Meanwhile, Max's father is rising higher in the SS and Max himself joins the Hitler Youth.
In the author's note, she states that her aim was both to explore how lucky her own family were (their story inspired Leo's narrative), but also to try to explain how ordinary, normal people can become part of a terrible regime. Max's tale is sympathetically written. He isn't evil. He's simply a boy desperate to fit in and afraid of what will happen if he doesn't.
This is sensitively written in a way that is appropriate for a middle grade audience, but the author does not airbrush the horrors of the Holocaust. Whilst she does not dwell on individual specifics in great detail, it's still clear how awful the situation in the concentration camps was. The result is moving and tragic.
