I did a little research via internet, and found there were organizations that arranged for war orphans to be adopted by Afrikaners, many of whom had a german heritage. Love stories are sometimes predictable but this one was not. It is also about overcoming tragedy and resiliency. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be Christian? This is the third book of hers I have read, which left me in a dreamy fog. One of my favorite things when reading historical fiction, is when it makes me want to read more about the topic. Two sisters manage to jump off a train bound for Aushwitz, assured by their mother and grandmother that they will follow. [ GradeSaver, 27 July 2016 Web. Rachel lives with her university friend, Cathy, after she broke up with her husband and had no where to live. Half-way in, when the romance starts in, Jakób, being 33, thinks he’s falling in love and kisses a girl—detailed. He left Megan alone after she gave birth to Libby, betraying her trust in a way that permanently damaged her ability to feel safe and trusting in a relationship. I was hooked from the start, not only by the setting (I have a soft spot for stories taking place in Poland because my heritage is Polish :) ) but the need to know what happens to the little girl who escapes a train just before it explodes. He asks her if she can identify the man based on a picture and she says yes. It all felt ... forced, somehow. I didn't want the story to end. In self-defense, she kills him by putting the corkscrew in his throat. Her character is absolutely precious.The relationships throughout the book are very relatable. And six year old Gretl, who survives and Jakob finds himself taking care of her. As the book ends, Rachel decides to get away from that area for a while and reclaim her sobriety and her life. When Jess – who turns out to be Megan Hipwell – goes missing, Rachel is sure that the man she saw cheating with Megan is the culprit. I've read lots of WWII, but never from the view of a South African writer and what that meant, even through the lens of a fictional tale, for that country. 3.5 stars. The communal sharing of information on the internet and on social media allows Rachel to find Tom's happy posts on Facebook and to contact Scott by looking up his personal website. The novel ‘The Girl on the Train’ written by Paula Hawkins was published in the year 2015 by the Riverhead Books. The story is told by three narrators: Rachel, Megan, and (more rarely) Anna. Protagonists: Rachel, Megan, and to an extent, Anna. Written in Afrikaans, this is the first book of Irma Joubert's translated into English. Jakób sends Gretl to South Africa, where German war orphans are promised bright futures with adoptive Protestant families—so long as Gretl’s Jewish roots, Catholic education, and connections to communist Poland are never discovered.Separated by continents, politics, religion, language, and years, Jakób and Gretl will likely never see each other again.