Help needed to remember the books

[NutCase82]

Book 1. Set in the holocaust about a couple of polish (?!) women working sorting through the luggage of the dead at Auschwitz one called Mimi or Kiki I can't remember much else about it.

Book 2. A husbands wife had gone mad and was kept upstairs I think he opened a home/sanitation home for other mad people but she was kept separately. He employed this woman who found out about the wife upstairs and it was something to do with the loss of a child that sent her crazy. Something like that.

Help gratefully received

Book 2 sounds like Jane Eyre but is that too obvious?

Book 2 reminds me a bit of The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds.

No neither of those unfortunately. I believe book 2 was quite full of suspense I remember the wife hiding behind a door and leaping out when her room door was opened to bring her food.

It's so annoying I don't know if I'm merging several books together. I only seem to remember snippets and not the point to the stories! Very frustrating!!

Can someone come and tell us because I want to read these

It's soooooo frustrating!! I remember the holocaust one being so extremely interesting (think may of been fact based) and the other I couldn't give up but almost mourned it once it was over. I bet they're not as good as memory serves in reality but really want to find out 😂

Could the mad woman book possibly be Waterland? I haven’t read it for years but I remember writing an essay about madness at university and I have a feeling there was a “mad woman in the attic” scenario in the past, and then there was also a theme of loss of children/ yearning for children. But as I say I can’t remember the actual events of the book so I don’t know!

Was the first one Hana’s Suitcase?
www.librarything.com/work/41382/reviews/117854140

Sorry I can't help. I'm just here becasuse I'm nosey.

😂

Not Waterland or Hana's suitcase but my list of 'want to read' is growing 😂

The holocaust book I'm sure there were two women and somehow they managed to get people free due to the jobs they were given, or at least prolonged the life by I think stealing things from the suitcases they sorted through.

Arghh I think the woman eventually got a job as a secretary or like!

Is it The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult?

Maybe! I have read that, I'm not sure if I've merged that with another book or if that's it! I will have a go at reading that and see!! Thank you!! 😁

You might try the w1.loganberrybooks.com/stumpthebookseller/ Stump the Bookseller site.

The New York Public Library lists some other similar sites on this page: www.nypl.org/blog/2017/11/22/finding-book-forgotten-title

Wow what an amazing couple of links, thank you!

The only Holocaust book I can think of is Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally, which was made into the film Schindler's List.

Doesn't Sophie do something along those lines in Sophie's Choice?

@dogdaydisaster thank you! It was indeed The Storyteller. I wish I had a prize for you!🥇

Oh I’ve just seen this. Glad I could help! Think that’s the first of these I’ve been able to help with.

It was as good as I remembered, thank you!