The Oasis: A Memoir of Love and Survival in a Concentration Camp

Not only is this a compelling novel made even more amazing by the fact that it is a true story, but the writing and the way the author captured the story - and his characters - leaves me in awe. The author did a wonderful job of portraying a camp from the inside and included enough historical facts to educate his readers, yet not weigh it down (which would be incredibly easy and sometimes happens in novels of this genre). I've read many books about this time in history - from historical documents to autobiographies and this one is among the best in its blend of fact and "personal story". You never for a second aren't aware that these people are real and lived through this amazing challenge. It will touch you forever and you will think about this amazing couple and incredible love story for a long time to come.

This book is wonderful. It is so honest in such a dishonest time of history. You find yourself rooting for the main characters with all of your passion. You get to feel like you know Mirek (Karel) and Blanka like they were family. This book is such a pleasure. I will read it again and again until my copy if so worn, that I will have to buy it again.

My mother, a Holocaust survivor, never talked to me about her experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. This novel gave me a vivid picture of what it was like to survive such an ordeal and the deep scars that such an event can imprint on peoples lives. I am grateful to Blanka and Mirek Friedman for making public such a personal account of their love story and more importantly to Petru Popescu for using his obvious literary talent to bring such a story to life. The novel evokes life in a concentration camp with such force that by the end of the novel I got the feeling that I have experienced life in camp Muldorf.Many years ago I read some of Petru Popescu's Romanian novels. His English writing is as powerful as it was in Romanian. Great book, I strongly recommend it.

Popescu managed to hook the reader in with his extradordinary style and vivid descriptions. This is the best book I've ever read about the Holocaust era (and I have read almost all of them), and I urge you to read it even if you are uncomfortable reading about the era. The Oasis is a story about love that just happens to take place in a concentration camp.