THE INSPIRATION FOR THE OSCAR-NOMINATED MOTION PICTURE ‘JOJO RABBIT’
NOMINATED FOR 6 ACADEMY AWARDS INCLUDING BEST PICTURE AND BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
This extraordinary novel is seen through the eyes of Johannes, an avid member of the Hitler Youth in the 1940s. After he is severely injured in a raid, he discovers his parents are hiding a Jewish girl called Elsa behind a false wall in their large house in Vienna.
His initial horror turns to interest, then love and obsession. After the disappearance of his parents, Johannes finds he is the only one aware of Elsa’s existence in the house, the only one responsible for her survival. Both manipulating and manipulated, Johannes dreads the end of the war: with it will come the prospect of losing Elsa and their relationship, which ranges through passion and obsession, dependence and indifference, love and hate.
This gripping, masterful work examines truth and lies at both political and personal levels, laying bare the darkest corners of the human soul.
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Reviews
Enthralling throughout...
A vivid and deeply compelling novel, Caging Skies is an existential battle of moral and ethical extremes. Christine Leunens is an adept and eloquent storyteller
The best part of this interesting novel is its ability to show parts of our history which others dismiss: why suffering can make some people more sensitive but others more cruel, and how a war, such an outrage to human dignity, blurs the line between the victorious and defeated
Totally compelling
Leunens has an ear for language and the ability to create a vividly sensual world for her characters that I found highly satisfying
A novel that breaks all the rules. In spite of this, or maybe because of it, the result is a disturbing and gripping novel that has haunted me ever since I finished reading it.
Disturbing, moving, eminently readable - this is a story you won't be able to put down
. . . a novel about Hitler's Third Reich without equal
Leunens said the film showed moviegoers that "we have a choice, are we going to go back to this kind of thinking ... superior, inferior ... or are we going to move on and bring more love and compassion to our relationships?"
The good-natured humour and quirkiness of the film and the drama of the novel are quite fun to contrast, and both are impactful in their own right.