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The Enemy's Daughter

Audiobook
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
In the spirit of Lauren Wolk and Ruta Sepetys comes the tale of a girl fighting her way back home after surviving the sinking of the Lusitania—and learning to think for herself rather than accept the prejudice of wartime.
The year is 1915 and the world is at war. Marta and her father are passengers on the Lusitania, desperately trying to get back home to Germany. While aboard, they must keep their identities hidden or risk being mistaken for enemy spies. Then the Lusitania is attacked by a German submarine. They just make it off the sinking ship, but her father is discovered and detained. Marta suddenly finds herself alone in enemy land.
To survive, Marta must draw upon a deep well of bravery she never knew she had. Fortunately, she meets Clare, a young Irish girl who can talk a mile a minute, and her kind family. Believing that Marta is a Dutch refugee, they welcome her into their home. She can't risk letting her new friends know she's actually from Germany—the very nation that the Irish and English are fighting against. But could these people who have shown her nothing but kindness truly be her enemy? 
Sweeping from the Irish Sea to a cathedral city in England, this story shows us that friendship, especially in times of war, may be the greatest gift of all.
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    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 11, 2024
      In May 1915, following a long stay with American relatives, Marta, 12, and her father are traveling home on the Lusitania, bearing false identity papers to hide their German citizenship. When the ship is bombed by a German submarine just after Marta’s father’s nationality is uncovered by another passenger, they jump overboard together. Father and daughter survive but are separated, and quick-witted Marta must make her way alone. Relying on her talent for adopting different accents, she poses as American, then English, then Dutch as she journeys from the Irish fishing boat that rescues her to the English city of York, where she is taken in by the Irish O’Sullivans. Wavering between disbelief that “her people had bombed the Lusitania,” hatred for the “greedy” English and Irish, and guilt and confusion about her deepening friendship with the family’s daughter Clare and the heartfelt care they all provide, Marta grapples with her subterfuge. As she demonstrates consistent bravery through unusually challenging experiences, Marta’s naive viewpoint expands to encompass a unity of humankind. The well-paced story offers a look into WWI history from the seldom-told perspective of a child whose native country is often depicted as the enemy. Ages 8–12. Agent: Tracey Adams, Adams Literary.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Saskia Maarleveld portrays 12-year-old Marta, who is traveling home to Germany with her father on the British ship LUSITANIA in 1915. Maarleveld's delivery reflects the pair's need to disguise their German accents to avoid the other passengers' suspicion that they're German spies. When the ship is torpedoed by a German U-boat, Maarleveld delivers heart-pounding scenes of its sinking. Marta's father is then arrested, and she finds herself alone in a foreign land. Maarleveld's smooth transitions between Irish, British, and German accents add realism to Marta's confusion about the anti-German sentiments she encounters and her struggles with her duplicity when she accepts the care of an openhearted Irish family. This audio provides a fascinating fresh perspective on WWI. S.W. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine

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  • English

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