Folio. GEMENELE DE LA AUSCHWITZ.

Twin sisters Perla and Stasa Zagorski reach Auschwitz in 1944. Their mother and grandfather come with them. Their bond gives them strength. So do their childhood games and the private speech they share. Under Mengele, they get special treatment but face great cruelty. Grief and guilt change their sense of who they are.

That winter, Perla vanishes at a concert Mengele has arranged. Stasa fears her sister has died but still has hope. The Red Army frees the camp. Stasa then leaves with Feliks, who has lost his own twin. He wants revenge. They cross towns in Poland that lie in ruins. They face wounds, hunger, and a lack of order. They meet villagers who are hostile to them. They also meet Jewish fighters who resist and other refugees. Both hope Mengele will face justice for his crimes. They must also find a way to picture their own futures.

Affinity Konar’s novel draws on history. It is for readers of Holocaust fiction. Each sister tells her part of the story. It shows how they stay alive and lose their childhood. It explores hope, kindness, revenge, and Perla’s power to forgive. Konar blends research into the past with a style drawn from fables.

Konar grew up in California and lives in Los Angeles. She studied literature at Columbia University and San Francisco State University. This Folio edition has Adina Ratiu and Gabriel Ratiu’s translation from English. The novel’s original title is Mischling.