Spark of Life

Set in 1945 in a Nazi concentration camp, this novel centres on a prisoner known as Number 509, who has survived for years through endurance and cunning. As the Allied armies draw closer, the inmates cling to small signs of hope while guards grow nervous and unpredictable. The book portrays the daily cruelty of the camp, but also solidarity, memory and the stubborn will to stay human. Based on research and the accounts of survivors, it is a sober and powerful reminder of what the prisoners endured.