RGG: A story of the Armenian massacre by the Turkish state during WWI. Young lovers separated, people surviving in hiding, heroes helping others risking themselves. A strong story, but the description of violence and rape make for a story more appropriate for teenages. Reading Interest: 14-YA.

I don’t know why man’s inhumanities to man still has the power to shock me but the fact is that they do. In the spring of 1915 the Turkish government drove all the Armenians from their homes. Under the guise of relocation they were marched hundreds of mile into the Syrian Desert without food or water. Death of thirst, malnutrition and exhaustion was common. Many more were shot. In all more than one million Armenians died. Some of the children were rescued by German missionaries, and some were rescued by compassionate Muslim families. Unfortunately some of the young girls were taken as slaves or concubines. These survivors lived in constant fear that they would be discovered and shot or marched into the desert to die.

In Daughter of War by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch tells the story of three young Armenians and how they survived. Sisters Marta and Miriam, along with Marta’s betrothed, Kevork had found safety in a German Orphanage but the soldiers deemed them, at fourteen and fifteen, too old to stay there. The three were separated and each underwent their own traumatic experiences in order to survive. They had vowed to each other to live and try to find each other again.

The author has a powerful story to tell and does so beautifully. She caught the emotions of these displaced people by keeping her story simple and without embellishment. Although the main characters are fictionalized, Daughter of War is based on first hand accounts and bears witness to the Armenian genocide and the horrors these people suffered. ( )

Good historical fiction set during the Armenian genocide. Not as powerful as Bagdasarian's Forgotten Fire but very good. ( )

Set in Turkey during WW I, Daughter of War is the story of Kevork and Marta, two Armenian teens in love who are thrust apart when Armenians are deported and sent to concentration camps. Posing as Arab, Kevork repairs shoes for a living and dreams of finding his beloved again. Marta, forced to be a concubine, becomes pregnant with a Turkish man's child and is then deposited at an orphanage. Throughout the events of the war, Kevork and Marta both fight back against the Turks in any way they can and they are constantly thinking about finding one another.

I liked this book because it deals with a time period that I know nothing about. It gives a horrifying glimpse into what life was like for Armenians during the war. But it was difficult to keep the timing straight. Months would suddenly pass in one storyline while only days had passed in another. The bulk of the novel happens during several months in 1916, but at the end it fast forwards to the end of the war in 1918... If the plotting had been a little more even, I would have given it a higher rating.

Read more on my blog:
http://abbylibrarian.blogspot.com/2008/12/book-review-daughter-of-war.html ( )