The Year We Escaped by Suzanne Leal
2025 Shortlist - CYA Category
About Suzanne Leal
Suzanne Leal is the author of novels The Teacher's Secret, Border Street and The Deceptions, for which she won the Nib People's Choice Prize and was shortlisted for the Davitt Awards, and the Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award. A senior member of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal and facilitator at community, corporate and literary events, Suzanne is the host of Thursday Book Club, a relaxed, friendly book club connecting readers online.
About The Year We Escaped
With war on their doorstep, German classmates Klara and Rachel, and French brothers Lucien and Paul, are forced to leave their homes. They are taken to Gurs, a French detention camp in the south-west of France. It's a crowded place, with little comfort and even less food.
When Klara and Rachel are promised safe refuge in a remote French village, Lucien and Paul are anxious to join them — and will risk their own lives to get there.
Filled with adventure, danger and intrigue, this is the story of four unlikely friends desperate to escape from a war that keeps coming closer.
Suzanne Leal says: “Historical fiction has long fanned my fascination for past worlds and, as a writer, I hope to ignite the curiosity and imagination of my readers. I’m delighted to be shortlisted for this prestigious prize, so generously supported by Edward Federman and the HNSA, and thank the judges for all their work.”
From the judging panel: “The Year We Escaped is one of several books on this year's longlist that return to the period of vast and alarming social change between the World Wars, for obvious reasons, but it feels fresh in its treatment and is never didactic, allowing older readers and young adults to read between the lines and make their own historical connections. Seen through the eyes of Klara and Rachel, two Jewish girls from Germany transported to a French internment camp after the thuggery of Kristallnacht in 1938, and two French brothers, Lucien and Paul, who discover that their mother is also Jewish and help them escape, The Year We Escaped doesn't waste a word, as it gives a fascinating and fast-moving account of resistance. The pace and emotionally engaging dialogue make this novel read like an imagined adventure story with thought-provoking implications in a world where ingenuity and courage are the keys to survival. An excellent example of impeccable historical research, unobtrusively and compellingly told.”
