experimental surgery

Lilac Girls

By Martha Hall Kelly

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Feb 23, 2017

Lilac Girls is a World War II historical fiction book focusing on Ravensbruck, a women's concentration camp where some prisoners endured cruel experimental surgeries. Chapters alternate between the perspectives of three different women: former actress and wealthy American, Catherine Ferriday, who sends care packages to orphaned children overseas; Kasia, a Polish teenager and Ravensbruck prisoner; and Herta Oberhauser, a German doctor performing experiments in Ravensbruck.

Before reading this book, I hadn't heard of the Ravensbruck Rabbits, but found their story, which is based on real people