A powerful story of betrayal, love, and imagination set against the horrific backdrop of the Second World War. Julia and Suzanne, two Jewish girls from the Netherlands, are rounded up by the Nazis and transported to the ghetto of Theresienstadt. Although their world views are wildly different - Julia is jaded and bitter, Suzanne naive and optimistic - they become each other's closest confidants as they experience the horrors of the journey to 'The Paradise Ghetto'. The girls use a precious smuggled notebook to write a story, each contributing to an alternate reality that takes them away from the horrors of their daily lives, but there soon comes a point when reality can no longer be held at bay. People are being deported to Auschwitz, and if the girls' names end up on the lists of deportees there will be no return. Is there a chance of escaping that fate - and at what cost?

Author Biography

Fergus O'Connell is a world-renowned business management expert who has lectured at a number of universities across the world. His non-fiction title, Simply Brilliant, was runner-up in the WH Smith Book Awards 2002, and his debut novel Call the Swallow was shortlisted for the 2002 Irish Fiction Prize and nominated for the Sunday Independent Novel of the Year.