I just finished The Kommandant's Girl last night, and I am actually sad that the book came to an end. I thoroughly enjoyed this story of courage, faith and determination. Emma is 19 and newly married when the Nazis occupy her homeland of Poland. Her husband is a resistance fighter and must go into hiding, while she and her parents are forced into the Jewish ghetto. In the ghetto she meets some other members of the resistance who smuggle her out of the ghetto, to the safety of Jacob's aunt's house. There, she takes on a new identity as Anna, a Catholic.
The story gets even more intense when she meets Kommandant Richwalder, a high ranking Nazi official. She is then hired on as his assistant, and uses her position to get crucial information to the resistance fighters. To top it all off, the Kommandant is intensely attracted to Anna, which complicates her life even more.
I really liked how the characters of Emma/Anna and the Kommandant were written. I really felt the inner struggle and conflict that each of them had. Emma/Anna feels conflicted about her marriage vows, but knows that becoming close to the Kommandant will help the resistance. The Kommandant is right in the middle of the horrors of the war, but doesn't really feel comfortable with the position he holds, or about the actions of the Nazi party.
Being married myself, I often questioned the actions of Emma/Anna, but it is hard to say what one would do in that same, extremely difficult situation. Overall, I would recommend this book, and I look forward to reading Jenoff's next book, The Diplomat's Wife.
Leyah Javed
