Jason Foster is a history teacher who includes the Holocaust in his curriculum. He discovers Hadamar, an institution where the ‘undesirables’, including the mentally and physically disabled and others, are systematically killed according to Nazi policies. This time and place are the inspiration for the novel. As historical fiction, the focus centres on Ingrid Marchand, a teenage girl with German-French-Senegalese ancestry. She is placed in a psychiatric hospital because of the colour of her skin. Hitler’s policies of racial cleansing made Ingrid’s existence precarious. Adding authenticity to this story, the author uses American military documents, archival footage and interviews. Ingrid is a composite character of the stories of black children in Nazi Germany while the Hadamar staff and the stories told within the narrative are based on real events. Readers should be aware that the novel includes graphic images and detailed passages outlining the cruel torture of many victims of Hadamar. This novel, told in first person, is an emotionally harrowing one requiring a mature readership.
NCACL Cultural Diversity Database
