The Last Daughter, by Belle Ami

Award winning author, Belle Ami, crafts a true story of courage, loss and endurance woven through the devastating strands of time and history. The harrowing tale of her mother’s real past starts from the tender age of ten.

The Last Daughter begins just before Hitler’s troops invade Poland. The author describes the young life of her mother, Dinale (Dina) through six years of torture, heartbreak, and courage.

Innocence, love, laughter, and curiosity are a great part of the Frydman family before the invasion. The ongoing discussions and concerns about growing anti-Semitism before the war build a sense of impending doom. The thoughts and actions of the characters as they are moved along like cattle portray an accurate depiction of the human psyche and lends credit to the author’s depiction of the travesty. Belle drives home how quickly things can be swept away and rights lost where happiness and freedom were once taken for granted.

Young, fragile, suddenly orphaned and living at the factory where she works, Dina makes her way through Nazi Poland and claws her way to a destiny she could never have fathomed. This compelling and poignant story, even in its tragic moments, is remarkable and heart lifting. It is amazing this Nazi survivor could endures so much at such a tender age. Luck, fait, the destiny to survive, Dina beats all odds and lives to tell the history of her ancestors and the atrocities of WWII. Today, she still stands in the face of evil, and her story will hopefully keep the vigilance of freedom alive. Shock, horror and devastation of a true account of one of the youngest holocaust survivors will keep you rapt in the story, but courage, determination and perseverance will encourage you to read until the very end. Belle’s portrayal of her mother’s history is a wonderful acknowledgement and gift to her mother and other survivors so that we can never forget. Don’t miss this captivating story, The Last Daughter.