Only Alfred, stationed on the Gustloff, lacks sympathy almost a caricature, he is self-delusional, unlikable, a Hitler worshiper.

The three sympathetic refugees and their motley companions (especially an orphaned boy and an elderly shoemaker) make it clear that while the Gustloff was a German ship full of German civilians and soldiers during World War II, its sinking was still a tragedy.

Told in four alternating voices-Lithuanian nurse Joana, Polish Emilia, Prussian forger Florian, and German soldier Alfred-with often contemporary cadences, this stints on neither history nor fiction. Returning to the successful formula of her highly lauded debut, Between Shades of Gray (2011), Sepetys combines research (described in extensive backmatter) with well-crafted fiction to bring to life another little-known story: the sinking (from Soviet torpedoes) of the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff. January 1945: as Russians advance through East Prussia, four teens’ lives converge in hopes of escape. Amid the romantic fervor readers get glimpses of the civic-minded woman the historical Eliza became and the insecurities about his origins that plagued the real Alexander Hamilton.Ī pleasant diversion for younger teen readers who cannot get enough of all things Hamilton. Other personalities made familiar by the musical, such as John Laurens and the Marquis de Lafayette, make passing appearances. The language is as modern as the musical that probably inspired it but not nearly as lively. This is a mixture of what is known about this period in Hamilton’s life and what might make a good story. In de la Cruz’s version of events, Eliza’s parents want to marry her off to a wealthy son of one of their connections, forcing Alexander to prove his character superior to that of his rival. The bright, ambitious, but penniless Hamilton is drawn to practical Eliza, falling deeply in love, at one point becoming so addled he forgets a military password.

George Washington when he has his first, unsuccessful encounter with Elizabeth Schuyler at her family home in Albany, New York, setting up romantic tension for subsequent meetings at the home of Eliza’s aunt and uncle in Morristown, New Jersey. The unlikely romance between America’s first treasury secretary and a young woman from a socially connected family receives fictionalized treatment that speculates on unknown details, ending on their wedding night.Īlexander Hamilton is a young aide to Gen.

Book alex and eliza