This novel is historical fiction at its best. It is narrated by Nettie, whose African-American family had been brought to America as slaves. During Nettie’s upbringing in South Carolina, her family had always emphasized their historical roots, including the speaking of Gullah, the language of their African ancestors. In 1939, Nettie is sent to London to attend nursing school where she meets her future husband, a fighter pilot in the Army. During her time in London, she also meets a family of Jewish foster children who have been sent on the Kindertransport from various European countries to England. She takes them in and helps to care for them, as she later cares for neighbors when she returns to her home in South Carolina. Aunt Nettie is a richly drawn, unusual character who often dresses in traditional African clothes and is a familiar nurturing figure to all the neighborhood.
Issues of racial and religious intolerance are meaningfully interwoven into the text. The horrible realities of slavery in the United States and the persecution of Jews in Europe during World War II are introduced in an age-appropriate fashion. A lesson in the unimportance of differences in skin color, religion, or physical disability is presented to the reader in a non-dogmatic style. There is much Jewish content, as the Kindertransport children share their customs, holidays, and family history.
There are hints of the supernatural in this book, which may not work for all readers. Musical themes appear and re-appear, and there are also tangible objects that mysteriously appear for Nettie, representing people in her past. Recommended for ages 9 – 13.
