This review was originally posted on Andi's ABCs 
 I had heard about Anna and the Swallow Man back in May at BEA. I was talking to a friend on the showroom floor and she mentioned the book and it had been in the back of my mind ever since. When I was contacted about reading it for a blog tour I immediately said yes. I knew it would be a tough read thanks to the subject matter and parts of it really were. But it was also just a beautifully written novel about survival. 
 It's hard to say exactly what happened in the book since we all know the stories on what happened in parts of Europe in the 40s when WW2 was happening. People were being taken away from their family and their homes and no one would know where they went or if they would return. And this is the position Anna found herself in when her father, a single father, was taken away and she was left alone. She was 7. That was the heart of the story for me. This poor 7 year old girl had to navigate through a time in history that hurts to even think about. She had to trust a stranger and make decisions an adult wouldn't want to make and do things I would never want to do. That was what really hit me in Anna and the Swallow Man. 
 And even with all that violence and death and sadness the writing shined through. The author did justice to what they were writing about even though it was difficult to do I would imagine. It was done with tact and class and with a certain kind of beauty. It made Anna and the Swallow Man a hard read but a beautiful read when all is said and done.