European Royalty discussion

Please discuss Part Two: Dolce (Occupation) here.

What did people think about Bruno's (the German) relationship with Lucile? The only part of this book that I did not understand was how this relationship ended. I didn't like it at all, and that's a part that I hoped would have changed by the final draft of the book. How it ended was just so abrupt. Not that I expected a happy ending, but I would have settled for bittersweet, and for me, it was just kind of bitter. Sorry this is a little cryptic, but I don't want to totally spoil it for people who haven't gotten to this point in the book.

I'm not there yet, but I'm sad to hear it doesn't end happy. I wasn't really expecting it to, but I like Lucile and Bruno together, and I was hoping she'd find at least a bit of happiness.

I find it interesting that part 2 is called Dolce...means 'sweet' in English...does it have another meaning in German? I can't find one. I'm not to the end yet, but it seems like an ironic title.

I thought it was an ironic title too. Maybe it's sweet because there is a lull in the fighting? I'm not sure.

Finished part two...really loved the book. It's impossible not to wonder how the other parts would have fit in.
Throughout the book I was very impressed with IRs ability (knowing that she ended up in a concentration camp) to portray the German soldiers not only in such a matter of fact way, but also with empathy. After reading the appendices I'm even more impressed.

Mandy wrote: "Finished part two...really loved the book. It's impossible not to wonder how the other parts would have fit in.
Throughout the book I was very impressed with IRs ability (knowing that she ended ..."

I just finished the book minutes ago and the thing that stayed with me was how she was able to portray the Germans with empathy. But I think it's from her prior experience with having some German soldiers stay with her household in real life, and that experience having been 'nice' (as shown by the note left by the soldiers discussed in the Appendix)

As for the relationship between Lucille and the German, I thought it was 'dolce', sweet. And a bit tragic. If circumstances had been different, I believe they would've made a perfect pair.

Question, how old was Lucille supposed to be? I know the German was 24, but I don't remember if Irene mentioned her age.

I'm not sure how old Lucille was (or at least I don't remember).

This book is so striking to me because it was written as the war was going on. I mean, I read it as "historical fiction" because it's 2009, but I kept having to remind myself that it was written as contemporary fiction. It is amazing and sad (knowing the outcome) how she was able to portray the Germans - kind of like when you read that one line from The Diary of Anne Frank about her believing all people are good at heart (or something like that), and it just tears you up inside knowing what her fate turned out to be.