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A review by heykellyjensen
The Ship to Nowhere: On Board the Exodus by Rona Arato
Yet another piece of World War II history that I never knew about: the Exodus situation. The ship was a mission to move Jewish refugees from Britain to Palestine in a way that would allow them their freedom in a new state; in this situation, though, the ship wasn't allowed to pass through (it was a secret mission, after all) and thus, weeks of being transported throughout parts of Europe where Jewish refugees were not welcome. This particular story focuses on one girl, Rachel, and her experiences aboard the Exodus.
A super fascinating story, though it's lacking in good writing. I found the fake conversations to be more irritating than inviting and didn't add much to the overall story. I find this such a tricky choice in narrative nonfiction, since it's not real dialog unless it's been pulled from a recording (which, just from reading it here, isn't). Likewise, it's a really neat bow at the end of the package here that felt too neat and tidy. It was the author's note that added some really great context for the "after," and I wish more of that had been in-text.
The pictures here are solid, which added a whole additional level of horror to the book. Related: I want a story about Ruth Gruber, the American journalist busting ass to share these stories with US readers and being the kind of reporter doing her job being on top of the bs policies actively harming the lives of other people.
A super fascinating story, though it's lacking in good writing. I found the fake conversations to be more irritating than inviting and didn't add much to the overall story. I find this such a tricky choice in narrative nonfiction, since it's not real dialog unless it's been pulled from a recording (which, just from reading it here, isn't). Likewise, it's a really neat bow at the end of the package here that felt too neat and tidy. It was the author's note that added some really great context for the "after," and I wish more of that had been in-text.
The pictures here are solid, which added a whole additional level of horror to the book. Related: I want a story about Ruth Gruber, the American journalist busting ass to share these stories with US readers and being the kind of reporter doing her job being on top of the bs policies actively harming the lives of other people.