The End and the Beginning

'The End and the Beginning' is an engaging and compelling read. Set towards the end of World War 2 in Germany, it offers a very different perspective from a lot of other war novels. The story alternates between 14-year-old Max and his French mother Marguerite, each trying to survive the war and reunite with their family. Max escapes a Hitler Youth Camp with his best friend Hans to avoid being sent to the front lines even as Germany is losing the war. At the same time, Marguerite, along with her daughter Anna, is forced out of her home and drawn into the dangerous world of a fanatical Nazi officer whose agenda is not truly known.

What Holdom presents that is fascinating is the difficulty of people who are neither fully French or German. Coming from the disputed border territory of Saarland, Max's family are consistently treated with suspicion and cannot 'win' no matter which side they are on. Focus is especially placed on Max and Hans' long journey home, and their tragedy of being arrested and sent to a labour camp in France.

The language is evocative and the setting is easy to visualise. The danger of the time period is brought to light as the war ends and no one is quite sure who the enemy is. So many more innocent people were caught up in the desire of retribution from the French and the Allies who discovered atrocities when liberating German death camps. This is Max's story.