The Other Me - Saskia Sarginson

Eliza Bennet has the life she's always dreamed of. She's who she wants to be, and she's with the man she loves.

But Eliza is living a lie. Her real name is Klaudia Myer. And Klaudia is on the run. She's escaping her old life, and a terrible secret buried at the heart of her family.

This is the story of Eliza and Klaudia - one girl, two lives and a lie they cannot hide from.

To put this into perspective, one woman two lives I think is a little strong. Klaudia was a child and then she called herself Eliza when she went to University - not quite the dramatic event of two lives that the book cover proclaims.

So I was wrong footed when I began to read, as I had assumed (!) that this was going to an adult who had reinvented herself.

Ultimately I suppose the book is about identity and how others perceive you through the bloodline you carry.

However, to me this book was far more interesting from the perspective of Klaudia's Father and Uncle who had been brought up in Nazi Germany. Through Ernst eyes we re live the terror of the jews and their awful fate at the hands of the Nazis - of which Ernst was one. A perspective I had not read this part of history from before.

The writing is really very sensitive and insightful - difficult to read at times, but very poignant.

I kept turning the pages wanting to know if the sins of the father were going to prevent happiness for Klaudia/Eliza - but as I don't do spoilers you need to turn those pages to find out yourself.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars.

My thanks go to Net galley and Little Brown Book group for a free advance e copy of this book.

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