The second book in the Out of the Hitler Time series, this book jumps forward in time from where When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit left off. In this book the family are now living in a boarding house in London during the early days of the Blitz. Things are tough – not just because bombs are whistling through the air and exploding all around them, but because it’s been hard for the family to find footing in their new home. Anna’s father hasn’t been able to find work as a writer, and her mother is working as an admin assistant to a wealthy gentleman. Anna is still at school, but soon drops out to take a secretarial course and find work to help support the family. Max is the only one who is doing well – he’s studying to become a lawyer at one of the top universities in the country. At least, he is at the beginning of the book.
The story of this one is a bit slower, a bit smaller. We follow Anna as she works, takes art classes and navigates complex social interactions in both settings. There’s some movement in and out of the city and between different abodes due to the war, and there’s a lot of austerity and poverty. Anna is coming of age in the midst of all this, and so there’s still some interpersonal drama for her, and some disillusionment as most young people have to experience when first beginning to explore romantic feelings.
I felt like this book definitely had a good portrayal of life during WWII, and included some important information about some aspects of what that experience was like. She talks about the trauma everyone experiences due to bombs, loss and living in a new country that isn’t always super welcoming to German immigrants, even if they are there because they opposed to and fled from Hitler. But it’s also a darker, more grim story. There are moments of joy and levity, but there’s also a lot of pain, sadness, frustration and despair. It doesn’t have the same hopeful tone of the previous book, and has lost some of that magic of childhood as the characters have gotten older and circumstances have gotten harder.
I did enjoy watching Anna come into herself. As much as the situation she was in was incredibly limiting and difficult, she still does manage to grow and find her footing. She takes up art and works hard to gain skills and experience. It’s a joy to see how art impacts her – both in terms of what she learns, and in terms of how it helps her mature. I found that to be the most rewarding aspect of the book, and the part that made the rest bearable.
I still love these characters, and there were moments that were just lovely scattered throughout. Some that stand out are Anna stopping in the middle of the street to sketch a child sitting in the rubble, and the exchange she has with her father about hope and looking for positivity. It’s a harder book, but still well worth the effort, particularly if this is a period of time that interests you as it does me!
Partly autobiographical, this is the second title in Judith Kerr’s internationally acclaimed trilogy of books following the life of Anna through war-torn Germany, to London during the Blitz and her return to Berlin to discover the past…
It is hard enough being a teenager in London during the Blitz, finding yourself in love and wondering every night whether you will survive the bombs. But it is even harder for Anna, who is still officially classified as an “enemy alien”. Those bombs are coming from Germany – the country that was once her own. If Hitler invades, can she and her beloved refugee family possibly survive? – Goodreads
Book Title: Bombs on Aunt Dainty
Author: Judith Kerr
Series: Yes – Out of the Hitler Time #2
Edition: Paperback/Digital
Published By: HarperCollins Children’s Books/Kindle
Released: January 1, 1975
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, WWII
Pages: 386
Date Read: August 5-13, 2022
Rating: 7/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.07/5 (2,096 ratings)