Caging Skies cover art

Caging Skies

The Inspiration for The Major Motion Picture 'jojo Rabbit'

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Caging Skies

By: Christine Leunens
Narrated by: Tim Bruce
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About this listen

The inspiration for the major motion picture ‘Jojo Rabbit’.

A gripping, atmospheric novel about obsession and love in war-time Vienna.

This extraordinary novel is seen through the eyes of Johannes, an avid member of the Hitler Youth in the 1940s. After he is severely injured in a raid, he discovers his parents are hiding a Jewish girl called Elsa behind a false wall in their large house in Vienna.

His initial horror turns to interest, then love and obsession. After the disappearance of his parents, Johannes finds he is the only one aware of Elsa's existence in the house, the only one responsible for her survival. Both manipulating and manipulated, Johannes dreads the end of the war: with it will come the prospect of losing Elsa and their relationship, which ranges through passion and obsession, dependence and indifference, love and hate.

This gripping, masterful work examines truth and lies at both political and personal levels, laying bare the darkest corners of the human soul.

©2019 Christine Leunens (P)2019 Hodder & Stoughton Limited 20th Century Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction War

Critic Reviews

"A vivid and deeply compelling novel, Caging Skies is an existential battle of moral and ethical extremes. Christine Leunens is an adept and eloquent story teller." (Georgia Hunter, New York Times best-selling author of We Were the Lucky Ones)

"The best part of this interesting novel is its ability to show parts of our history which others dismiss: why suffering can make some people more sensitive but others more cruel, and how a war, such an outrage to human dignity, blurs the line between the victorious and defeated." (Elle)

"Enthralling throughout." (My Weekly)

All stars
Most relevant  
Loved the book confronting and unexpected ending ..... cried, laughed, stunned and more.

Also loved movie adaption which is drawn from book.

Thank you!

Caging skies

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An interesting and compelling story, but it just went on too long and was too repetitive, so it was a bit of a struggle to get through. I appreciate why Jojo Rabbit was made out of it. Awful time, reflected in the awful and hard to like main character.

Good but too long

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I read this book having viewed the film JoJo Rabbit which was based on Caging Skies.
I loved the quirky nature of the film, it’s tragicomic approach and the performances.
I was expecting something similar in the novel and I certainly encountered the quirkiness. The charm and humanity of the main character plus the conflict that dominated his life for much of the film was absent in the book. Instead we saw the world through the eyes of a character who was extremely hard to sympathise with and, by book’s end, quite repulsive. The book is beautifully written but ultimately a tale of human disintegration and misery. I couldn’t wait for it to end.

Bleak

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Had great hope for the book given the movie Jojo Rabbit interested me. I was really disappointed, great start and then about 1/3 of the way through the storyline ended up being disturbing and uncomfortable to read. The beginning was intriguing, entering the mind of a young boy growing up in the Hitler youth but takes a dark turn in to manipulation and most likely a continuation to Stockholm syndrome.

Great start horrible finish

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