Faraway Home

Marilyn Taylor's FARAWAY HOME sensitively unfolds a touching story of the anguish suffered by Jewish refugee children sent by their parents from all over Europe to a farm in County Down, Northern Ireland during the Second World War. This is a story of pain and separation, of camaraderie and, finally, of hope. The beginnings of the Holocaust in Vienna are vividly portrayed through young Karl's eyes; the development of his character carries the reader from the oppression of Vienna to the friendly hardship of refugee life on the Ards peninsula. When Karl meets a spirited but rather spoilt volunteer from Dublin he is eventually persuaded to release some of his pain and anger. In the end, Judy teaches him to hope for the future. The pathos, suffering and bravery are overwhelming. But for me, it is Taylor's skill in building three-dimensional characters which makes this book so outstanding. None of the central characters are easily categorised. We are allowed inside the heads of Karl and Judy, thus getting to know their intimate thoughts; we hear how each regards the other and everyone else around them. Sometines their views are at odds and sometimes they coincide. The conflict between perception and reality in the book accurately mirrors real life. This is a story which stays with the reader, long after the final page has been turned.