Review: When We Were Ashes by Andrew Boden
When We Were Ashes by Andrew Boden Goose Lane Editions (2024) Boden's debut novel takes on the difficult subject of Hitler's Aktion T4 program with a strikingly written take on this tragedy. I have reviewed it for The British Columbia Review. This article was originally published in the BC Review on September 10, 2024. *** Years ago when I was learning piano, one of my favourite pieces to play was Eric Satie’s 1888 Gymnopédie No. 3 . It always struck me as a beautiful and sad piece that evokes intense emotion, hinting at the possibility of cautious hope. The notes of the Gymnopédies infuse Burnaby resident Andrew Boden’s debut novel When We Were Ashes , a powerful and haunting story of children in Germany in 1940 who were subject to forced euthanasia, and the adults who helped to carry out this policy. In this novel, Boden ( The Secret History of My Hometown ) tackles a heavy topic indeed. The Aktion T4 program in Nazi Germany began in 1939, a systematic campaign to murd
