Book of the Month–November 2012
Title: Far to Go
By: Alison Pick
Pavel and Anneliese Bauer live a comfortable life in Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia with their young son Pepik and his nanny Marta. Although the Bauers are Jewish, they maintain a secular life. The wealthy owner of a garment factory, Pavel is also a patroitic secular Jew and finds that his world is beginning to unravel as Nazi propaganda begins to influence his neighbours, friends and colleagues. The situation in their hometown disintegrates as the Nazis begin to take control and the family flees to Prague. Prague is not much safer for the family so Pavel and Anneliese make the heartbreaking decision to send their son to England via Kindertransport.
Much of the book is written from the perspective of Marta, Pepik’s governess. A Gentile, Marta bears witness as the Bauer family is destroyed by external forces.
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Acknowledgements and Awards
2011: Helen and Stan Vine Jewish Book Award
2010: Words Worthy Award
2011: OLA Evergreen Award (finalist)
2011: Man Booker Prize (nominee)
2011: Relit Award (nominee)
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