A Faraway Island by Annika Thor

Twelve-year-old Stephanie (Stephie) Steiner and her seven-year-old sister Eleonore (Nellie) arrive in Goteberg, Sweden by train. They are part of a group of refugee children from Vienna, Austria. A lady escorts Stephie and Nellie along with the other children to a large waiting area where a lady from the local relief committee welcomes them. Each child's name is called and an adult comes forward to claim them. But Stephie and Nellie are taken by taxi to the harbor where a boat takes them to an island. 

There they are met at the dock by a woman who tells them her name is Alma Lindberg or Auntie Alma. Aunt Alma's home is "...a yellow wooden house with a glass-enclosed veranda."  She has two children, Elsa and John. Inside, Stephie and Nellie meet a stern-looking woman, Aunt Marta. Neither Stephie nor Nellie speak Swedish but they manage to learn a few words to understand what is happening.

After some milk and buns, Stephie leaves with Aunt Marta, causing Nellie to be very upset as their mother had promised they would stay together. Stephie rides on Aunt Marta's bike, far along the island road to "...an isolated house, pressed up close to a stony cliff..." with a red boathouse by the water's edge. To Stephie, the house feels like it is at the "...end of the world." Stephie's room is small with a sloping ceiling and a small window. She has a bed, dresser and table but no books or art except for a picture of Jesus. Not long after Stephie settles in, Uncle Evert arrives. Stephie immediately feels a connection to him as they try to talk in a mixture of German and Swedish. 

Stephie and Nellie, along with Aunt Alma and her children spend their summer days at the beach swimming. Stephie doesn't swim however because she only has an old black woolen swimsuit that Aunt Marta has given her. When Aunt Alma's husband, Uncle Evert returns, Stephie learns that he is a fisherman who has a boat named Diana. Aunt Alma's husband,Sigurd is a member of the crew along with a boy named Per-Erik and four others.

Stephie continues to write letters to her parents describing a pleasant life in Sweden so her parents won't worry. Meanwhile she and Nellie wait and hope their parents can leave Austria. However, with the start of World War II, Austria is now at war as it is part of the German Reich. One day Vera Hedberg, a girl with red hair, shows Stephie and Nellie where to pick blackberries. This ends in a disaster for Stephie who stains and tears her skirt and is punished by Aunt Marta. The sisters are taken to a "revival meeting" as the island's Pentecostal Church. When they are overcome with emotion by the music and cry, they later learn that Aunt Alma and Aunt Marta believe they have accepted Jesus and are now redeemed. A few weeks later both girls are baptized and begin attending Sunday school. 

Eventually Stephie and Nellie are able to speak Swedish well enough to attend school. Stephie is disappointed to be placed back in the sixth grade which she completed a year ago in Austria. She is even more disappointed to be given used textbooks and workbooks. But Uncle Evert surprises her with a new wooden pencil case. School proves to be challenging for Stephie as she has to deal with being bullied by classmate Sylvia and her friends. However, Stephie excels and decides to try for the opportunity to attend the grammar school in Goteberg. That notion is quickly put to an end however by Aunt Marta who tells her they cannot possibly afford the tuition nor to board her in the city.

With the outbreak of war and the invasion of Norway and Denmark, Stephie begins to realize that her family's dream of obtaining visas to America and leaving Europe is now unlikely to happen. Her only hope is to have the relief committee consider sponsoring her parents. So desperate is Stephie that she attempts to walk across the ice to Goteberg. When this fails, Aunt Marta and Uncle Evert attempt to make a case for helping her parents without success.  As she struggles to deal with this reality, Stephie continues to move forward with her life, making new friends, and gradually capturing the heart of Aunt Marta too.

Discussion

A Faraway Island is the first book in a four book series by Swedish author, Annika Thor, about two Austrian-Jewish sisters who are sent to live in Sweden during the Second World War. The books were written in 1996 and have recently been translated from Swedish into English. The first two books have recently been published by Random House Yearling Books, with the final two slated to follow soon, although no date has been issued as to when.

Annika Thor was born into a Jewish family living in Goteborg, Sweden sixty years ago. Thor considers that had her paternal grandparents not immigrated from Belarus in the early 1900's, she would likely not have been born. After the Kristallnacht in November, 1938, the Jewish community in Sweden arranged for the transport of over five hundred Jewish children from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia to safety. Sadly, the parents of these children were never allowed to immigrate with them, and many never saw their children again in this life. The Jewish children generally ended up living in rural areas, very different from their middle class upbringing. The cultural shock, in addition to the stress of relocating alone, must have been enormously traumatic. As with many Jewish children who were placed with families of other faiths, often their cultural and religious heritage was not respected. Thor based her books on "interviews with about a dozen of the real refugees who shared their childhoods, their letters, and their diaries, as well as on the research of Ingrid Lomfors, a Jewish historian in Sweden who explored the destinies of the five hundred refugee children."

Told through the narrative of twelve-year-old Stephie Steiner, Thor effectively portrays the cultural shock that many Jewish children would have experienced. Stephie's family were well off Jewish Austrians living in Vienna. At this time, Vienna was the cultural capital of Europe with its music, literature and fine arts. Stephie's father was a doctor,her mother an opera singer when she was younger. Stephie's parents were well off and took part in the vibrant culture that existed at this time in the city.  In Vienna they had a large apartment with a cook, a housemaid and a cleaning lady. Stephie's family attended concerts and movies, and took vacations. When Britta asks Stephie if her family are rich, this brings back memories of her life in Vienna. "She remembers the large apartment, the beautiful furniture, the soft rugs. She remembers her mother's elegant clothes, her fur coats and hats. And Papa's study with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, filled with leather-bound volumes". The photograph of her parents show that her mother was well dressed, "Her permed hair, her lipsticked lips, the elegant stole around her neck."  

Stephie finds herself in an isolated house, at the end of the island and feels like it is at the "end of the world." Life is sparse and plain. Stephie notes that her bedroom at Aunt Marta's has no books and no art. Her own mother looks so different from "the women on the island with their tightly twisted buns, their plain faces and cotton dresses." She speaks German and cannot understand Swedish, although she learns the new language quite quickly. Everything from the landscape, to the climate, to the food and even to the school are very different from life in Vienna. 

As was very common during this era, the religious beliefs of Jewish refugee children was not often respected. Those who were placed with Christian families were often coerced into practicing the Christian faith. In some cases, learning to recite Christian prayers or being baptized was done to protect Jewish children from being identified by the Nazis. However, in Stephie and Nellie's situation that immediate danger is not present. When Stephie arrives at Aunt Marta's home she immediately notices the picture of Jesus in her bedroom. Soon after she and Nellie are baptized, enrolled in Sunday school. They do not resist as they are young children, totally dependent on the adults who are caring for them. Their foster parents seem oblivious to the fact that they might believe differently. Stephie doesn't tell her mother about being baptized because she is worried this will upset her. It is a troubling secret that she believes she will have to keep the rest of her life - a burden no child should have to carry. Although Stephie feels some confusion about Christian beliefs, the author doesn't really explore this aspect of life for the two girls.

The Jewish experience during this early part of the war is told through flashbacks of Stephie remembering events in Austria prior to her and Nellie leaving. For example Stephie remembers how they were not able to go to the beach in Vienna as this was forbidden to Jews. She also remembers returning from the playground with Nellie and seeing the elderly furrier and his wife on their knees scrubbing the sidewalk as people mocked and laughed at them. And when she struggles to tell Aunt Marta about what happened with the summer guests' dog Putte, she reveals how the Nazi soldier shot her beloved dog Mimi in front of her.

Although the novel focuses on the journey of Stephie and Nellie, there is also a second journey that involves Aunt Marta. She is a crusty, severe woman described as "...a woman with a thin, stern-looking face. Her salt-and-pepper hair is twistedinto a tight bun at the nape of her neck." She is critical of most everything Stephie does. It is revealed later in the novel that Marta Jansson lost her daughter, Anna-Lisa and was never the same. This loss seems to have locked her heart and her emotions deep inside her. However when Aunt Marta becomes aware of just want Stephie and Nellie have endured, she stands up for Stephie after an altercation between Stephie and the shopkeeper's son. She defends Stephie, calling her "my little girl". This term of endearment goes a long way to healing the hurt and loss that Stephie has been experiencing.

Despite the setting in rural Sweden and a different era with the onset of World War II, A Faraway Island is in many ways similar to the novel, Anne of Green Gables written by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The movie adaptations by Kevin Sullivan in 1985 were extremely popular through the late 1980's and well into the 1990's. There are similar characters and events: stiff and no-nonsense Auntie Marta is similar to the crusty Marilla Cuthbert, quiet, unassuming Uncle Evert is like Matthew Cuthbert able to connect with the young girl they've taken in, Sylvia is like the irritating bully Josie Pye, while Stephie's teacher,  Miss Bergstrom is similar to the wonderfully uplifting Miss Muriel Stacy. At one point in the novel, Uncle Evertt, in a moment reminiscent of Matthew Cuthbert, tells Auntie Marta, "She's a fine girl. I'm glad we took her in." As with Anne Shirley whose attempt to dye her hair leaves her with short hair, Stephie also ends up with short hair after attempting to trim the burned hair from her braid.When Stephie is told she cannot go on to grammar school in the city of Goteberg, an unexpected benefactor, their summer guests - a doctor and his wife, arrange for Stephie to board at their home in the city. 

This short novel is well written and holds the reader's interest with the ongoing troubles and tribulations of the young protagonist who must adapt to her new life in Sweden. Stephie's plight is real and it's easy to feel a great deal of empathy for her, especially since we know the likely fate that awaits her parents in Austria. Annika Thor doesn't go into too much detail as to the Jewish experience in Austria, just enough to demonstrate the cruelty of the Nazi regime to younger readers. The author has set up the story for the next novel, with Stephie moving to Goteberg to continue her studies.

This book will be of interest to girls, aged 8 to 12 who enjoy historical fiction. 

Book Details:
A Faraway Island by Annika Thor
Random House Children's Books 2009 translated by Linda Schenck
247 pp.