Briar Rose

In this module, the Board of Studies requires that you undertake a detailed analysis of the
text. Therefore, by the end of this unit, you need to have knowledge and understanding of
every element of this novel; you must know it inside and out, back to front!
These are the elements of the novel you will have analysed in order to Closely Study Briar
Rose.
Context
1. Historical Context
The Holocaust
Original definition: great destruction resulting in the extensive loss of life, especially by fire.
20th century definition: Genocide of European Jews and others by the Nazis during World War
II.
History: The Holocaust refers to the period from January 30, 1933 to May 8, 1945, when the
war in Europe ended. During this time, Jews in Europe ere subjected to increasingly harsh
persecution of 6,000,000 million Jews (approx 1.5 million of these were children), and the
destruction of at least 5,000 communities. These deaths represented 2/3 of the European
Jewry. They were victims of Germanys deliberate and systematic attempt to eradicate the
entire Jewish population of Europe; a plan Hitler called the Final Solution.
2. Fairytales Briar Rose (aka Sleeping Beauty) you need to know the fairy tales
origins and meaning.
Fairy Tales Briar Rose
Origin: the earliest recorded version of Sleeping Beauty appears as Troylus and Zellandine
in a 14th century prose narrative called Perceforest; the Grimms story of sleeping beauty is
considered a truncated version of Charles Perraults Sleeping Beauty in the Wood. The
Grimms story has a narrative integrity that has made it more appealing than Perraults tale,
perpetually re-written and adapted, the story has been retold, most recently as a Holocaust
tale by Jane Yolen.
The name Briar Rose is therefore another name for Sleeping Beauty. There have been many
versions of the tale, which not many people know about, and they havent always been for
little children, they were scarier and saucier than Disney-style and were told to a wider
audience.
Meaning:
Yolen has taken the story of Sleeping Beauty (Briar Rose) and developed the parallel stories
of two women: Becca searching for her grandmothers story, and Gemmas story in the
extermination camp of Chelmno and afterwards with the partisans of Poland during World
War II.
Plot
The novel, Briar Rose is about a woman and her promise to her Grandmother to find out
where she came from, about the story Briar Rose or Sleeping Beauty, which is inter-twined
throughout the novel, her grandmothers castle and Beccas encounters whilst trying to find
out the truth about the Holocaust and her Grandmother.
There are two plots in the novel, Briar Rose.
The 1st plot = Present Day
This plot follows Beccas search for the truth of Gemmas past.
2nd plot = Fairy Tale, Set in the past during Beccas childhood
This plot follows Gemmas telling of Briar Rose to her 3 granddaughters.

Fairy Tale
Briar Rose

Parallels between Gemmas Life and the Fairytale Briar Rose

Including Quotes
Reality
e.g. briar rose = gemma because:
she is given the nickname princess
her hair is red crown of red hair

Castle

Bad fairy
Not the bad fairy. Not the
one in black with big black
boots and silver eagles on
her hat (pg. 19)
Good fairies
The curse
dead from the exhaust
piped in pg 210 (Gassed)
Uncles, aunties, cousins,
family I curse you Briar
Rose, your father, mother,
cousins, aunts
everyone sleptand all
kinds of citizens
Who do these people
represent in reality?
Mist
a fog, an exhaust
dead from the exhaust
piped in
a mist covered the entire
kingdom
keep all thoughts of mist
away, I forbid you to think of
it
Truck/Van
100 years
Is 100 years a lot?
100 years is forever
Briar hedge/thorns
a briary hedge began to
grow, with thorns as sharp as
barbs
The peasant
he said when they go in,
they come out but its not the
same meaning they are
dead, better not, the
peasant said, whoever goes
in doesnt come out
Prince
I am called prince, and I
shall never forget the dark
prince who kissed me
awake,
Troops
The prince came riding by
with his troops, saw the
hedge and tried to see over
it

on her death whispering I am Briar Rose

The schloss at Chelmno which the Nazis took over
extermination camp.
she spoke of the castle, the schloss
Hitler and his Nazi soldiers

The allied forces OR partisans

- curse was being Jewish and it was to be killed by
being gassed in the trucks on the way out of Chelmno
- the final solution
- Jewish, gay, Gypsies
Everybody all Jewish people
Jews, Gypsies, and homosexuals were killed.

e.g. pg 43 Gemma describes the mist as an exhaust - this

directly relates to the way Gemma was gassed, in a truck and
a hose was connected from the exhaust pipe of the truck
- gas the pipe was put into the truck

it had a tin ceiling and a tin floor covered with

latticework
100 years = death
OR
It felt like it took forever to be found
100 years is forever
Briar hedge/thorns = barbed wire, fence
higher and higher the thorny bush grew until it covered
this symbolises the spread of concentration camps
The peasant was someone who Josef sat with to find out
about the camps, literally.

I am alive my dear prince, you have given me back the world

The prince is Josef ties in with his name where he used to
live.
Fairytale ending
Josef and the partisans coming out of the woods to save
Gemma although they said it could not be done.

White birch trees

once it was believed birch
trees housed souls of the
dead, on either side of the
path white birch trees
gleamed like the souls of the
new dead
Awakening
The bed part linked to the
truck with the floor
latticework

Baby girl

Refers to people who are dead their gleaming white

innocent? Souls still living on with them, also their bodies in
the pits covered in dew lifeless but so bare and innocent
Birch was a partisan (boy)

When Gemma survives the gassing and is woken by the

avenger and Josef
- the kiss of life sleeping beauty
- he put his hand right into the thorns
- and as he did so giving her breath for breath she
awoke
- that he put his mouth on hers and as he did so it was
in Josefs mouth that she, at last spluttered and
coughed
Gemmas daughter is the baby girl (Beccas mother)
I am with child

Narrative Structure + Intertextuality

Fairytale Genre
Fairytales have come to be regarded as childrens short stories in their modern, sanitised
revamping; however, they were originally intended for a more varied audience often including
a moralistic overtones more suited to adult readers or designed to frighten children into
submissive patterns of behaviour.
In traditional fairy stories one starts with the helpless maiden, especially with Sleeping Beauty.
One knows she is going to be rescued, however one interesting pattern that develops in
fairytales is that the rescuer of the persecuted or bewitched person has himself or herself
been bewitched or persecuted.
Fairytales have always hovered between the fully-grown poetic imagination and the
imagination of children. Our present uncertainty about the proper place in lives of children can
be explained by their odd history in written literature.
Briar Rose (Novel)
Briar Rose has a complex yet tightly constructed narrative structure. Yolen interweaves at
least three major strands into her plot, and uses voices of different types to add an interesting
variety to the narrative; the voices of Becca and her sisters, of Josef Potocki, of the priest
(Father Stashau), of Magda, of Stand and other parents recount.
Two parallel stories are developed simultaneously:
1. Gemmas whole version of the Briar Rose tale which Becca recognises to be a
metaphor for Gemmas life (Pg 17). Effects:
the placement of segments of the never-completed fairy story at intervals through the
narrative adds suspense and mystery to the novel
More importantly, the fairy tale references seem to deepen the story of Gemmas
Holocaust sufferings and relate them to the whole cultural tradition of good and evil,
of suffering and rescue, and of seeking and eventually finding.
2. The narrative of Beccas determined quest to make sense of this story after her
grandmothers death
3. A third stage of Beccas developing relationship with fellow journalist, Stan is
presented more lightly, but suggests that, for Becca, a happy ending is likely. Her own
happy ever after tale springs out of her grandmothers life story, and make the bitter
sadness of the Holocaust easier for the readers to bear. Gemmas story itself was
one of a happy normal ending with a supportive family.
Above all, it is Gemmas story. Gemmas voice reaches the reader most through her
unusual retelling of the old Briar Rose fairytale. This is so different in details from the
traditional version that visiting children are outraged or terrified after being told the story.
As in all good fairy tales the older sisters if not exactly wicked are at times
unsympathetic to hearing this same favourite story repeated countless times. It is the
youngest of the three sisters who shows the required goodness and empathy.

There are three distinct sections of the novel: Home, Castle, and Home Again.
Plot 1 This includes the growing relationship story of Becca and Stan that hopefully
leads her to her own lived happily ever after.
Plot 2 This is a very interesting narrative structure because the reader can hear
Gemmas voice and gets to know her character despite the fact that she is dead in
present day. The use if italics are a clear sign/device that clearly indicates to the reader
the time change from present to the past.
Home (Chapters 1-24) Home follows plot 1 & 2
Home has the two narratives running as alternative chapters time past running
simultaneously with time present. The reader is given glimpses of Becca as a child
listening to the story of Sleeping Beauty and each glimpse seems to move ahead in
months and years.
Castle (Chapters 25-30) Castle follows aspects of plot 1 + aspects of the past.
It is present day in Poland and Josef is telling his story in 3 rd person including dialogue.
He is telling his story/experiences of the Holocaust/past that included Gemma. * There
are no chapters involving Gemmas telling of Briar Rose*
Home Again (Chapters 31-33) Home Again follows plots 1&2, in this section, Gemmas
Briar Rose story is completed (chapter 31+32)
Chapter 33 sees the main plot line being resolved too, as Becca returns home and has
discovered the truth of Gemmas story (her journey and the story is at an end) and Becca
and Stan get together this is clear from the last line of the novel.
Characters
There are 3 main characters in the novel: Gemma, Becca and Josef.
Gemma (Ksiezniczka meaning Princess)
Gemma is the focal character in the novel. She gives the romantic fairytale of magic and
happy-ever-after a greater significance by providing the analogy between the darker
concepts of sleeping beauty and the horrors of the Holocaust.
She assumes the traditional role of the story teller as she nurtures the childrens hearts
and dreams with the story of sleeping beauty. She appears in the story in her own right
only in chapter 2, when she is dying in a nursing home, and in The Castle, the section by
Josef. She drifts into consciousness and still attempts to remember the story, distressing
her granddaughters. Becca recognises she is purposeful in this attempt, and she
eventually makes the central claim of her life: I was the princess in the castle in the
sleeping woods. And there came a great dark mist and we all fell asleep. But the prince
kissed me awake. Only me. Becca promises to find the castle, Gemma says its her
legacy which is all she has to give, finally claming she is Briar Rose.
She shows much love and determination, but her life story is shown only in a handful of
photographs, artefacts and papers in her wooden box. From these clues Becca leads the
reader to a fuller understanding. By the nature of the story it can never be complete. Her
own account of her early years is never given to us, nor are her thoughts revealed, except
in her actions.
Gemma essentially represents the hidden millions whose stories were destroyed with
their lives. She is thus an archetypal figure the valiant mother, the miraculous survivor.
Becca
For most of its length, the novel is told through Beccas point of view. It is her quest, her
promise to her dying grandmother to be fulfilled. She is created as a journalist, one who
has certain skills in discovering facts, in finding contacts and articulating what she finds.
Love, loyalty and tenacity these are her defining characteristics. Readers are shown
these through her actions, her thought and her words, particularly in the way she relates
to her parents. She is shrewd and quick to understand and learn, but her empathy not
just with her grandmother, but with her father and the nurses which makes her out as
one who understands through her emotions as well as her intellect.
Josef
Conveniently constructed to be attractive to men and women, he holds the key to
Gemmas past, which Becca has never been able to open. When Becca locates him she
can find the fullness of understanding that she seeks she can unravel the secrets of her
origins.

Josef is careful to debunk any ideas of glamorous, heroic partisans: you must
understand that this is a story of survivors, not heroes. He remains conscious of his own
guilt and presents himself as a drifter, but emerges as a natural thinker and planner when
he joins the partisans. He is given the nickname Prince because of his land-owning
family. He is introduced by Father Stashau.
Before he was sent to the labour camp, Sachenhausen, Josef had never heard of it. He
had paid little attention to persecution of homosexuals in his previous pleasure-seeking
life, and as a young man had thought himself immune.
Josef details for Becca the situation in Germany and in the labour camps. He is shown as
an accidental hero, who links with the partisans when he finds and joins some prisoners
planning an escape. His adventures with the partisans enable him to be come a man of
honour, a hero. He is the one who persuades the rest to attempt to save some of the
Chelmno victims and is thus responsible for helping save Gemma, the Ksiezniczka. He
helps Gemma escape after her husband, Aron has died and she is pregnant.
Shana + Sylvia
The two sisters, at times almost appear to be the proverbial ugly sisters in the Cinderella
story when they side against Becca and try to impose their attitudes onto her. They are
redeemed from this because of Beccas love for them and thus the reader endures their
often petulant and obstructive behaviour. We forgive them ultimately because they have
lost the innocence of childhood and grown into cynical adults dressed in designer clothes
whose priorities seem to have gone astray. This is most evident in their behaviour at the
nursing home and at the funeral. Their role is predominantly to provide a contrast to
Becca, who has held onto her innocence in her belief in the fairytale.
Dr Jerold and Mrs Eve Berlin
These two rarely enter the novel although they are Beccas parents and Eve is Gemmas
daughter, the child she was pregnant with when Josef helped her leave Poland in 1944.
Their role in the novel is only as peripheral characters. When Gemma dies, Eve knows
very little about her.
Stan
Stan is Beccas love interest, and he helps her search and encourages her to persist. He
is her prince, which is cemented in the final scene of the main narrative, with a happyever-after metaphor being maintained until the end.
Magda
Magda contains the best traits of her family members when Becca is in Poland. She acts
a guardian, guide and mentor facilitating in Beccas search. She picks up subtleties that
Becca does not have access to and provides Becca with the answers.
Partisans (Jewish) all woodsmen the women too were careful, quiet and strong
couldnt be tracked in the forests.
The Avenger (Aron)
Aron was 23, he went to medical school, experienced death, wanted to fight evil, his
family was burned alive, married Gemma, Beccas grandfather, loved by Josef and
Gemma, Angels face surrounded by a halo of gold curls, Jewish, died a heroic death
Language + Techniques + Allegory
Language
The language of the novel is interesting in the way Yolen relies heavily on irony and the
sustained metaphor of the fairytale even working the metaphor of the fairytale into the
main narrative. The whole of Gemmas version of the fairytale is ironic in its use of
parallels. A fairytale should be happy but Gemma uses it as an allegory for the Holocaust.
According to tradition, a fairytale is by nature didactic or moralistic. It aims to teach a
lesson. This one does so on an internal and external level. Firstly, it teaches children that
ultimately good will triumph over evil, and secondly, it celebrates for the reader the
triumph of the human heart and spirit over the agony of the Holocaust, that there is a
happy-ever-after for those who believe in beauty in its truest sense.

Throughout the main narrative, Yolen reminds the reader that this is, after all, a book that
uses a fairytale as its inspiration. There is much use of the language of the fairytale
throughout, such as in Beccas words when Stan meets her at the airport and in the
names given to the partisans in Josefs story. Its use stands as an interesting contrast to
the modern idiom especially in the dialogue of the two narratives. This can be seen most
markedly in the italicised chapters when the beauty of the fairytale is interrupted by
argumentative or cynical children.
There are two extremes of imagery used: the warm, happy images of the Berlin house
and the bleak imagery of the fairytale as Gemma tells it and as used in Josefs story.
Techniques
Technique
Example
Effect
Allegory a narrative where E.g. Fairytale Briar Rose = You can compare something
all the way through you can metaphor e.g. I mean, its
to something completely unsee another story or
not that I believe it. That she
related
interpretation, other than the
does its like the story is
Briar Rose allegory for the
one being explicitly told
like a metaphor pg 13,
Holocaust. Gemmas story
easily apply the story to
Gemmas holocaust past =
acts as an allegory/metaphor
something other than the
literal the fairytale is being for her telling of the whole
subject of the text, it often
story (real life). The harsh
used to tell the whole story
makes subjects easier to
details of her survival are
* we need to understand the
understand
hidden in the magical
fairytale in order to
fairytale it softens the
understand Gemmas past
impact of reality for the
and learn from it
like all allegorical tales, it tells reader.
Yolen has constructed the
of good triumphing over evil,
whole story as an allegory
survival of dangers, life
a text whose whole plot is in
winning over obstacles i.e.
itself symbolic.
happily ever after
Irony often used by
Josef represents the prince
Makes the reader feel
composers of texts when
and certainly acted like a
sympathetic towards the
the meaning that the
prince, but he is in fact
victim or defensive if the
audience is to understand
homosexual the
victim is the reader, can
differs from what is actually
stereotypical view of princes
provide humour
being said or done. It is often in fairytales is that they
used in texts to highlight a
rescue the female and they
contradiction
kiss, live happily ever after
etc. that was never going to
be the case with Gemma and
Josef.
Intertextuality relationship Stan: whats past is
between texts an allusion.
prologue from
Influencing the reader, can
Shakespeares The Tempest
trace authors researching.
Sylvia: The true Belle au
using one text as an
Bois Dormant the sleeping
ingredient of another is often
beauty in the wood
called intetextuality
Josef: refers to Dantes
inferno
McKinleys Beauty a book
she reread whenever she felt
troubled.
Language writing style
Sylvia: oh right, I forgot
Gives different ideas about
changes a lot and is adapted were back in the boonies
the peoples backgrounds
to the speaking character
Magda: oh they are much in etc.
appreciation
Josef well-educated, formal Gemma: once upon a time,
Becca and family everyday from your lips to gods ears
middle-class America
Becca & Sisters: Seepin
colloquial, conversational
Boot, meddlefur
Magda awkward, brokenEnglish

Gemma fairytale
Sisters&Becca as children
Narrative voices/alternate

Repetition of key words,

symbols, events

Josef his narrative voice is

acknowledged by repeated
he said in the last chapters
castle
Gemma
Becca
o the child, a finger in
her mouth like a
stopper pg 39, its
thumb was firmly in
its mouth like a
stopper pg 206
simile
o pg 17 I am briar
rose, I am briar rose
heroes
o seepin boot at
start and end of
novel
e.g. a white dove =
peace/hope
mist = gas

Gives the audience a

different/changing
perspective on the story

Re-enforces some important

parts of the narrative for the
audience
Seeping Boot - it indicates
to the reader the cycle of life
and stories they will live on
and not be forgotten briar
rose will be orally re-told
through the generations.

Symbolism use of symbols

to represent ideas, especially
in art and literature

Gives the reader different

interpretations of things.

eg. A fog = an exhaust

big black boots and silver
eagles on her hat = Nazi
uniform
Themes + Symbols
Darkness of humanity and Good vs. evil
Role: In Briar Rose, Yolen has set out to rewrite the Sleeping Beauty fairytale in a way which
is true to its origins. For Yolen, fairytales contain truths and are a way for people to retell the
past using metaphors.
Gemma is a survivor of the Holocaust, yet never explicitly tells her family. To deal with the
terrible experience and to explain herself to her family, she uses the Briar Rose metaphor and
adopts her past to it. Gemma does not want people to forget her past as past is prologue, so
she uses a fairytale to soften her harsh experience.
What can be learnt: we learn about the history of the holocaust, and we also learn that
despite the horrors of the Holocaust, there is some good in humanity too.
How Yolen presents the theme:
1. the theme of holocaust has been shown through Gemmas real life allegory
2. darkness of humanity = symbolism
3. simile to enhance description of horrifying experience
Further examples: pgs 126-128 Magda describes her experience as a child when she visited
a concentration camp and fully understood the horrors inflicted on Jews in Poland and how
dark and evil the Nazis were.
Good Vs Evil in the end Good won over Evil in real life as it does in the fairytale. The
Germans were defeated and Poland was liberated but at a high price in the lives that had
already been paid. Gemma is rescued from the hellish pit, mass grave by the partisans.
Gemma survives and therefore the whole Berlin family is formed, she creates a new and
happy life despite the evil in her past she overcomes it.
Past, forgiveness, remembrance and memory
Role: The whole story of Briar Rose is dependent on the remembrance and memory of others
to tell the tale/history of Gemmas unspoken and hidden past. The holocaust is a major
theme, that Yolen stresses the importance of memories that must not be forgotten,
forgiveness (minor theme), discover the past it shows the importance those who exist in the

present. What characters? Gemma, Josef and family. What can the reader learn? Some
memories will always be kept in the past gemmas name is never discovered, peace and
forgiveness can be made from terrible things. How Yolen presents the theme: through her
characters events and consequences of the Holocaust are portrayed to us through different
eyes, Gemma has forgotten her past and relives it through a fairytale, and her past was so
traumatic that in order to cope Gemmas memory of the past was always presented in a
unique way to her family. Quotes: I have no memories in my head but onea fairytale
Gemma pg 211, and as god forgives them, they will also be forgiven by the souls of the Jews
and the Gypsies and the Communists and priests father Stashau pg, one likes to
remember being a hero Magda pg 229, time may heal wounds but it does not erase the
scars Stan pg 81
Journey/quest for meaning
Yolen uses the motif of a heros physical and emotional quest to explore historical
concerns of the Holocaust and WW2
The typical heros journey ends happily ever after, many difficulties and obstacles
are experienced during the journey before reaching the end. Despite the fact that
their stories ended happily ever after, like man Jews and victims of war, Gemma and
Joesfs happily ever after were shadowed by the terrible and painful memories of the
Holocaust.
The focus is Beccas quest for meaning. She is searching for the truth of Gemmas
past in order to give herself and the Berlin family enlightenment as to their family
background/history.
Becca makes a deathbed promise to Gemma to seek the truth and thus give meaning
to Gemmas story and life.
The reader follows Becca on her journey and shares in the sadness and joy it brings.
The reader can learn why uncovering the past can bring freedom and greater
meaning to the individual.
Survival of the human spirit (including courage and heroism)
Role: it shows how heroic Gemma and Josefs story is, the power of survival, great empathy,
human spirits resilience, more from the novel, moral and lesson. Its purpose is to inform
people on the effects of such wars and things as the holocaust and destruction of human life.
To let people get an insight into this different period in time nothing like (we hope) anyone
could experience in their lifetime. What Characters?: Gemma, Josef, Partisans. What can
the reader learn?: Overcoming traumatic truths can be excruciatingly difficult for someone
who has experienced the presence of evil. We notice that Gemma slowly reveals a degree of
truth in her fairytale story as she told the entire lyrics of a song look at me: Im pale and dead.
I had already washed and said the blessing when in walked the khapermenshn (kidnapper)
. We learn about that the resilience of the human spirit is so strong that they were
determined to move on with rather than giving up. How does Yolen present the theme?:
The theme is mostly evident in Josefs account of his Holocaust experience. Gemmas telling
of Briar Rose uses a simplistic contrast between the character of the prince and the peasant.
Yolen uses a diverse range of characters in the real life story to display different examples of
survival of the human spirit and courage. Josef expresses numerous times his survival of the
Holocaust and his views on heroism, courage and survival. this is a story of survivors, not
heroesa man are not a hero if he scrabbles to stay alive, if he struggles for one more crust
of bread, one more ragged breath. We were all heroes of the moment. Josef provides the
reader with an interesting idea of courage and the human spirit. Initially, we see a man, who
perhaps believes in the ideal of strength and courage, but does not follow it through into his
actions, started to say somethingabout being men, about fighting, about dying with
honour as opposed to, he admitted finally not only to homosexuality, but named his past
lovers as well. Finally after escaping Sachenhausen he quotes, he was not afraidhe had
no fear left, this transition is an example of how the events of the war had influenced Josefs
change in attitude towards survival and courage, resulting in a man who had become numb to
the horrors of the Holocaust, yet to an extent, a stronger man than he was before. Quotes: it
is our sacred duty to fight when we can and to die if we must Henrik, we have not come here
to stay alive. It is our sacred duty to fight when we can and to die if we must, but to avenge
what they have done to our Germany pg 182.

Identity growth and truth

Role: The theme identity plays a large role in the novel when it comes to discovering
Gemmas past. Gemmas identity at the start of the novel is hidden; we know very little to
almost nothing about her past. Throughout the duration of the book Becca (Gemmas
granddaughter) is on a journey to discover and unveil the truth about Gemma and her past,
as well as revealing her identity. During this journey Becca discovers not only her
grandmothers identity, but also her own, Becca grows up and realises that her grandmother
chose her to find the truth because she and Becca are so much alike. We also discover
Josefs identity and his past life and what he is today a hero. What can be learned from
the theme: Learn about the identities of each character. The truth and identity of Gemmas.
Identity is important about knowing who we are and giving a sense of where we come from.
Beccas learning of the truth and the finding the familys identity allowed her to grow. How
Yolen presents the theme: Similes, Intertextuality, Repetition, Allegory, Symbolism, Narrative
voices, Language, Irony. Quotes: She had a new baby but no husband and. That is all I
remember pg 83, She carried herself like a princess pg 84, You asked where it was,
Rebecca, and I answered you. Kulmhof. It was not even a concentration camp. It was simply
a place of extermination. Pg 96, This was Gemma Pg 100
Family, love and loyalty
Role: family love and loyalty in the novel make us aware of what can happen to people in a
difficult time. The Holocaust brought together strong groups of people who fought to survive
together. Beccas family are very loving and supporting towards her decision to research
Gemmas history this shows the importance of family and love. Yolen has used the novel as
a way to tell truths about the past and from this, the themes and central ideas have emerged.
Characters linked to theme: majority. What can we learn: Importance of family history +
love, learning where we came from and who we are as a person. How Yolen presents the
theme: loyalty is shown through Becca and Josef. Becca loyal to Gemma, Josef
partisans. Techniques. Quotes: I am with child she said and I will not let it die Gemma.