When We Were Ashes by Andrew Boden

When writing historical fiction, it is sometimes an arduous task for an author to blend extensive practical knowledge of Nazi rule in the 1940s while maintaining the haunting realities and emotional complexities of Germany during World War ll. This is not so with Andrew Boden’s debut novel When We Were Ashes, a poignant and devastating look what it means to be human when it seems all humanity is lost. It is a lesson in compassion and empathy, even to those on the other side of enemy lines.

The novel focuses on Rainor Schacht, a young boy with Down’s Syndrome (a term unknown at the time) and his group of misfit friends, each with their own disabilities who are taken from their “home” in an asylum to a private hospital called Trutzburg. Unbeknownst to them, Trutzburg is dedicated facility used in forced euthanasia for patients deemed mentally and psychically disabled that are considered “uncurable”, a blanket term used by the Nazis to promote their idea of the perfect race. From the start, Boden creates a deep sense of foreboding as they approach their new home when Marie, a blind girl, notices a strange scent in the air.

“What is that smell?”
“Don’t you smell it Rainor?” she asked. “That awful odour?”

The story continues to unfold with the diary entries of Rainor and Herr Berger, the bus driver who is tasked with picking up the children to take to Trutzburg. Another character, Emmi, serves to be the catalyst that forever changes the lives of these two characters. Between the three, the author expertly explores the startling contrasts between duty and love. When looking back at this terrifying era of human cruelty, Boden teaches us that history cannot be regarded in just shades of light and dark, black and white. Sometimes there was only grey, only ash.

In a market saturated with tales of World War ll, When We Were Ashes is an amazing read that stands out in the genre. Despite a bleak setting, Boden gives us a story of love and hope, and a ray of light in the darkness of Nazi Germany.

“I asked a child, walking with a candle…From where comes that light?” Instantly he blew it out. “Tell me where it has gone—then I will tell you where it came from.”
—Hasan of Basra

Andrew Boden’s fiction and non-fiction have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies in Canada and the US, including the Journey Prize Anthology, Prairie Fire, the New Quarterly, Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine, and Descant. He is the co-editor of Hidden Lives: Coming Out on Mental Illness, a ground-breaking anthology of evocative personal essays. He lives in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Publisher: Goose Lane Editions (September 10, 2024)
Paperback 6″ x 8″ | 242 pages
ISBN: 9781773103365

Lori Green

Lori Green is a Canadian writer who has been writing poetry, horror, and dark fiction since she first picked up a pen. Her work has been accepted in various publications including Blank Spaces Magazine, Ghost Orchid Press, Dark Rose Press, Black Hare Press, and more. She studied English Literature at the University of Western Ontario and now lives along the shores of Lake Huron. She is currently working on several short stories and writing her first novel. You can follow her on Twitter @LoriG1408.