Memoirs and diaries are an interesting genre to read but especially so when
written by non-professional writers who are merely telling a story.
Polishing thoughts can be a good thing but it can also knock some of the
edges off that give power and sharpness to the true story.

This book was written by a woman who lived thru the Nazi occupation of
Norway, grew up and wrote this book as a response to her grandchildren’s
request for stories about her childhood. She tells of having to abruptly
flee inland away from the bombing of the fjord they lived near and in the
process leaving her toys and pet dog behind. For a time her older sister is
working in a hospital directly in line of the bombs treating German and
Norwegian injured, unable to communicate with the family and in serious
danger. She, her mother and siblings travel to refugee sites inland without
her father who works in the harbor, living in cramped quarters with
strangers and struggling to find food. The stories go on of atrocities
committed in concentration camps in Norway, of kids teasing the German
soldiers and of adults trying to keep a sense of pride in a situation
purposely designed to demoralize.

It’s a story of hardship and uncertainty and, above all, trauma. It’s not
polished writing. There are no elegant phrases or images. It’s rough and
untidy and at times hard to read. But it gave me a clear picture of what
her childhood was like and what her family had to do to survive. And if it
seemed chaotic at times, that only reflected the uncertainties a little girl
had to live with every day. It’s something that should be written down and
should be remembered so that I and my kids and the rest of the folks who
read this book understand what it is that war does to the people living
around the battlefields. I’d recommend it for that alone.