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94 Maidens
by
WHEN THE UNIMAGINABLE IS THE ONLY THING LEFT TO DO...
They are innocent schoolgirls ranging in age from 14 to 22. Under normal circumstances they should be learning, laughing, and playing. Unfortunately, the year is 1942 and the place is Nazi-occupied Poland. Nothing is normal. On the night of August 11, dressed only in cotton nightgowns, they await their fate at the hand ...more
They are innocent schoolgirls ranging in age from 14 to 22. Under normal circumstances they should be learning, laughing, and playing. Unfortunately, the year is 1942 and the place is Nazi-occupied Poland. Nothing is normal. On the night of August 11, dressed only in cotton nightgowns, they await their fate at the hand ...more
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Paperback, 304 pages
Published
October 3rd 2012
by Dog Ear Publishing
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94 Maidens: A novel inspired by True Events is by Rhonda Fink-Whitman. This is one of those books I would consider to be more of a memorial than a novel as it is based on true events. However, since people were changed and some other things wee changed. Sometimes, in order to tell a story, you have to go beyond the truth to be able to get your truth across. This story deals with the love a family has for itself and for their religion. For a final gift to her, Sarah’s Father gives her the love of
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A beautifully written book about the German/Jewish Holocaust and a family that lived through the hell. This is a true, interwoven story that captures your attention from the first pages and true attitude of people who just don't understand. Teenage attitude, husband's impatience all turn into a rare opportunity to learn not just about the Holocaust but to learn about your family and the history of survival. It is a quick read, mostly because you just can not stop!
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This was an interesting look at what happened to one family during World War II. I learned things about the holocaust that I did not know before - and I knew a LOT before.
Keep your tissues handy for this story.
UPDATE - (about one week later)
So, I got an email saying that the author liked my review. However, my review was a very quick summary that did not do the book justice. I am in a hurry again but I am going to try and do better this time.
In the first scene of the book teenagers get exaspe ...more
Keep your tissues handy for this story.
UPDATE - (about one week later)
So, I got an email saying that the author liked my review. However, my review was a very quick summary that did not do the book justice. I am in a hurry again but I am going to try and do better this time.
In the first scene of the book teenagers get exaspe ...more

94 Maidens is the riveting story of the author’s family history as she discovered it and perceived it as told in the historical novel portion of the book. Three tributaries contribute to this one river of suspense and emotion. Rhonda Fink-Whitman, with her husband and son, takes an eventful journey through the portals that enable her to learn of her ancestors who lived and died during the Holocaust. One branch of the river, pictured on the cover of the book, is also a branch of her family tree,
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Jan 27, 2018
Toni
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biography-memoir,
germany,
history,
holocaust,
immigration,
multi-cultural,
poland,
world-war-ii
The author, along with her husband and son, visited her mother's homeland in order to hear for herself the story her mother was never able to relate to her. In her retelling of the journey the reality of the horrors of the holocaust once again cannot help but impact the reader (it definitely did me). A powerful story.
...more

Jun 03, 2016
Diane Stefan
added it
5.0 out of 5 stars! A Must Read!!
I just finished reading 94 Maidens last evening – hard through the tears. . .but such a well written, sad and beautiful sharing of truths, extreme evil and pure goodness. . . a true rendering of family and life, death, unimaginable sorrow, written so well – weaving and flowing and connecting the horrible past and the hope-filled future.

It is rare for me to be so engrossed in a book to read it in one sitting. "94 Maidens" is a powerful story of courage and perseverance in one of the most dismal and bleak times in human history. This book brought tears to my eyes and wrenched my heart. Highly recommended. 5 stars!
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This is a shame, because the plot is so good. However, I believe someone said this is self-published, and it shows. The writing, organization, and editing are quite poor. Perhaps if a professional publisher picked it up and improved on these points, it would flow better. For example, some chapters have dates at the beginning, but others do not---even though they are not in the same time frame as the previous chapter. The present-day scenes don't advance the story. Some chapters are half of a pag
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I didn't care much for the author's style - it was sometimes difficult to tell if she was in present-day or in WWII. And she was a bit manipulative in building an unnecessary suspense as to the identities of the people involved (I had figured out all but one by the end, and that in itself was a distraction from the story).
That being said, it was a tale that more of us need to read and remember, especially today's young people. The horrors of the Holocaust are being denied or glossed over by a lo ...more
That being said, it was a tale that more of us need to read and remember, especially today's young people. The horrors of the Holocaust are being denied or glossed over by a lo ...more

This book didn't live up to the 4 and 5 star reviews it got at all. It felt like the present story and the flashback story were written by two different authors. The writing in the present day story was so juvenile. And while the flash back story was interesting is seemed very choppy and all over the map. I'm thinking this is because it's based on a true story and the historical info wasn't completely filled in. Overall the story of the family's history was very interesting but the book wasn't w
...more

I would like to give this book a 5, as many have done, but I think many of them are because of the painful subject matter. The characters are all likeable, but there is not much depth to them. I never felt I really knew any of them. The storyline, about Jews living through the Holocaust, is also glossed over. I never really felt the horror, except the foreboding I had from because of my previous knowledge of what was likely to happen.
Not a bad book, but not a great one, either.
Not a bad book, but not a great one, either.

I decided to read this book because I am familiar with the author, Rhonda Fink Whitman's work calling attention to the need for Pennsylvania to have mandated Holocaust education. Now that Governor Corbett has signed such a bill I am hoping that our children will able to understand this period in history.
If you have not seen her interviews of college students regarding the whole period surrounding the Holocaust, you should. One of the interviews is entitled 94 Maidens. ...more
If you have not seen her interviews of college students regarding the whole period surrounding the Holocaust, you should. One of the interviews is entitled 94 Maidens. ...more

Once I got past the first chapter, I started to get drawn into the story. I've read quite a bit about the Holocaust but still learned some new (& terrible) things that occurred. At times I found myself having to "get through" the author's personal account in order to read the more compelling (and better written) narratives.
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It's neither great history (really basic stuff to anyone who's familiar with the Holocaust) nor highly accurate/detailed historical fiction, and with a long list of books on my "to read" pile, I set this aside.
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"It wasn't my choice to write this story...it was my responsibility." ~ Rhonda Fink-Whitman is a veteran TV and radio personality as well as an award-winning screenwriter, longtime Jewish educator and the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. 94 Maidens is her first novel.
She lives in a suburb of Philadelphia with her husband, two children, and two cats. In their free time, for which they thank our tr ...more
She lives in a suburb of Philadelphia with her husband, two children, and two cats. In their free time, for which they thank our tr ...more
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“It wasn't my choice to write this story...it was my responsibility.”
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