The beauty of storytelling is that stories can be told in a number of ways. The prose that Heather Morris chose in writing The Tattooist of Auschwitz was probably the most common of storytelling techniques that authors employ. For this exact reason, I was hesitant to read this novel. There is a fine line between telling a story in prose and the romanticization of plot. (It is for this reason that I dislike The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, and is even a theme proposed in Maus II regarding the exploitation of profit by writing about the Holocaust, but that is neither here nor there). However, Morris is able to carefully ride the fence of well-written prose without being pulled away under the lull of romantic imagery and fictional storytelling. She was careful in writing Lale's story only with the truth and facts. She did not hide from the painful truth of the history, nor did she revel too long in the atrocities. What I think is most beautiful about this story is the focus on the love between Lale and Gita. Again, for as many Holocaust stories are out there, it is necessary for each one to find its own focus or theme. This love stands in a stark contrast to the experience of survivors such as Primo Levi, who write about the machine that forced the prisoners of Auschwitz to relieve themselves of their humanity. It is refreshing, then, to know that the Nazis failed even then in relinquishing man fully of his humanity and love.

I think that this novel is fantastic, especially for those who have never read any books about the Holocaust before. I have not read Night, as most have, but was instead introduced into Holocaust literature through Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl. However, other books that are just as good include:

Primo Levi Survival in Auschwitz
Ida Fink A Scrap in Time
Victor Frankl Man's Search for Meaning
and, probably one of the most devastating:
...I Never Saw Another Butterfly...