As part of the experimental population of twins. Its 1944 when twin sisters, Pearl and Stasha Zagorski, arrive at Auschwitz with their mother and grandfather. She knows these eyes once belonged to her predecessors in “Mengele’s zoo. : 'One of the most harrowing, powerful, and imaginative books of the year' (Anthony Doerr) about twin sisters fighting to survive the evils of World War II. Stasha stumbles into one of Mengele’s clinic rooms, where she is greeted by a wall of staring eyeballs pinned to the wall like insect specimens. Konar is matter of fact about the horrific scenes at Auschwitz no added adjectives are needed to make these scenes burn in the brain. When Pearl disappears at a twisted concert performance, Stasha plots vengeance on Mengele. The introspective Stasha finds her swagger at Auschwitz. Pearl is a dancer, the more social of the twins. Pearl and Stasha are captivating heroines. Stasha and Pearl are based on real-life Auschwitz survivors Eva and Miriam Mozes, who were among 3,000 twins who became guinea pigs for the demented genetic experiments of infamous Nazi Dr. This is not an easy novel to read, but Affinity Konar’s evocative storytelling, fierce characters and haunting prose make Mischling (Lee Boudreaux Books/Little, Brown, 338 pp., *** ½ out of four stars) equally hard to put down. Stasha and Pearl are 12 when they are forced into a rail car bound for Auschwitz with their mother and their beloved Zayde. “Mischling” is German for half-breed, an ugly term that prepares the reader for the horrors the twins will endure.
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