Lilac Girls

Caroline, described as slim and tall, is a 37-year-old former Broadway actress who now volunteers at the French Consulate. She lives in New York City and is first introduced to the reader in the year 1939. Caroline is stubborn and incredibly devoted to her charitable causes. She lives with her mother in the homes in New York City, Paris, and Connecticut. Her father passed away when Caroline was a child and she continues to grieve his loss. Caroline’s story begins as she desperately searches for a speaker for a gala. Caroline approaches Paul Rodierre, a handsome French actor who's in New York to perform on Broadway. Although Paul has a wife, they continue their friendship and eventually, romance, over the next 12 years.

Caroline spearheads the French Families Fund and sends comfort boxes to orphanages in France. She eventually also raises money for the Ravensbrück Rabbits. She is primarily responsible for raising awareness about the plight of the Polish women and for organizing their trip to the United States. Caroline is later also the one who asks Kasia to find and ID Herta Oberheuser in Stocksee so that she can be suitably punished. Caroline slowly sheds her New York socialite façade as the novel continues; she is ultimately most at home in Connecticut, weeding flowers and in the company of her pet birds, dogs, and pigs.