Six-year-old Gretl Schmidt is on a train bound for Aushwitz. Jak³b Kowalski is planting a bomb on the tracks.Â
€œRichly imagined and masterfully told, a love story so moving it will leave you breathless. And deeply satisfied.€ €"Tamera Alexander, USA Today bestselling authorÂ
As World War II draws to a close, Jak³b fights with the Polish resistance against the crushing forces of Germany and Russia. They intend to destroy a German troop transport, but Gretl€s unscheduled train reaches the bomb first.
Gretl is the only survivor. Though spared from the concentration camp, the orphaned German Jew finds herself lost in a country hostile to her people. When Jak³b discovers her, guilt and fatherly compassion prompt him to take her in. For three years, the young man and little girl form a bond over the secrets they must hide from his Catholic family.
But she can€t stay with him forever. Jak³b sends Gretl to South Africa, where German war orphans are promised bright futures with adoptive Protestant families€"so long as Gretl€s Jewish roots, Catholic education, and connections to communist Poland are never discovered.
Separated by continents, politics, religion, language, and years, Jak³b and Gretl will likely never see each other again. But the events they have both survived and their belief that the human spirit can triumph over the ravages of war have formed a bond of love that no circumstances can overcome.Â
€œReaders will adore intrepid Gretl and strong Jak³b in this story of war, redemption, and love.€Â €"Publisher€s WeeklyÂ
€œJoubert reminds readers how love triumphed over the difficulties faced by WWII survivors as they navigated new boundaries, revised politics, and the old faith prejudices that defined post-war Europe.€Â €"CBA Retailers + Resources
€œRight from the start, Joubert sets up a palpable, tension-filled atmosphere and visually striking landscape. Mixing factual events with fiction, Gretl and Jakob offer interesting viewpoints on the world around them.€Â €"RT Book Reviews, 4 1/2 starsÂ
€œA riveting read with an endearing, courageous protagonist . . . takes us from war-torn Poland to the veldt of South Africa in a story rich in love, loss, and the survival of the human spirit.€Â €"Anne Easter Smith, author of A Rose for the Crown
€œCaptivating. Emotional and heart-stirring. Joubert masterfully crafts every scene with tenderness and hauntingly accurate detail. It€s a stunning coming-of-age novel that packs emotion in a delicate weave of hope, faith€"and the very best of love.€Â €"Kristy Cambron, author of The Butterfly and the Violin and A Sparrow in TerezinÂ
€œA fresh voice and a masterpiece I could not put down€"one I will long remember.€Â €"Cathy Gohlke, Christy Award winning author of Secrets She Kept and Saving AmelieÂ
€œThe Girl From the Train is an eloquent, moving testament to love and its power to illuminate our authentic selves.€Â €"Sherry Jones, author of The Sharp Hook of Love
