Reviews of the first edition

  • "...a compelling, moving, highly evocative, and sensitive treasure box of information....only after adjusting to their safe shelter in Clonyn Castle were they able to play innocent games again. The main themes [of the book] are life-giving. A small number of remarkable people performed miracles..."

    — Michael Pinto Duschinsky, Jewish Quarterly

  • "...Barnett's account is scholarly yet gripping, fleshed out with archive letters, documents, and photographs. Most of the children, whose deeply affecting memoirs Barnett gathered, had suffered appallingly before setting out on this totally bewildering rural adventure...and yet their story unfolds as a triumph of resilience and normality restored."

    — Madeleine Kingsley, Jewish Chronicle

  • "...mesmerizing, compelling and an extraordinary narrative of our people's survival and ultimate triumph. It evokes many painful memories of a lost childhood and the vagaries of life. It brought tears to my eyes."

    — Murray Lynn (Alfred Leicht) contributor