
Rose Ella Marta & Carla In another life we might all have been friends together But this was Birchwood For fans of The Diary of Anne Frank & The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas As fourteen-year-old Ella begins her first day at work she steps into a world of silks seams scissors pins hems & trimmings She is a dressmaker but this is no ordinary sewing workshop Hers are no ordinary clients Ella has joined the seamstresses of Birkenau-Auschwitz as readers may recognise it Every dress she makes could mean the difference between life & death & this place is all about survival Ella seeks refuge from this reality & from haunting memories in her work & in the world of fashion & fabrics She is faced with painful decisions about how far she is prepared to go to survive Is her love of clothes & creativity nothing more than collaboration with her captors or is it a means of staying alive? Will she fight for herself alone or will she trust the importance of an ever-deepening friendship with Rose? One thing weaves through the colours of couture gowns & camp mud
- a red ribbon given to Ella as a symbol of hope