Book Review: Everyone Has Their Reasons by Joseph Matthews

About:
Everyone Has Their Reasons by Joseph Matthews is a historical fiction novel based on the true story of Herschel Grynszpan.

• 528 pages
• Publisher: PM Press
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1629630942

My rat­ing for Everyone Has Their Reasons — 5
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Thoughts:
Everyone Has Their Reasons by Joseph Matthews is an engaging and tragic story based on facts which historians agree on and some speculation as well. The novel is told through letters Herschel Grynszpan, the protagonist, writes his defense lawyer from jail.

The strength of the book is the written descriptions of the way immigrants had to live in Paris during World War II and what it took to survive, or even eat once a day. The descriptions of the harsh life of immigrants, especially Jewish immigrants, during that time are heartbreaking and show how easily a boy could turn assassin.

This book is a wonderful fictionalization of real occurrences in 1938. The hardships and misery of the time come through the narrative, as well as the vile propaganda which changed the world.

Synopsis:
Herschel Grynszpan , a Polish-German Jew living in Paris is writing letters to his defense lawyer from jail after murdering a German consular official. Grynszpan details the hardships and anti-Semitism he and his family endured trying to explain the murder.

In his letters, Grynszpan feels regret for bring on Kristallnacht, a government sponsored pogrom in Germany, not knowing it was a planned event and his actions were simply a pretext.

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Dis­claimer: I got this book for free.
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