Do you interpret the ending as happy, sad, bittersweet, foreboding, hopeful, or something else? Why?
Do you interpret the ending as happy, sad, bittersweet, foreboding, hopeful, or something else? Why?
I liked the ending of this book very much. So many mixed emotions came into play - happy, bittersweet and also somewhat sad. I thought the author did a great job of conveying so many different emotions.
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@Melissa_Chaitin my feelings exactly. I interpreted the ending with those same emotions.
I liked the ending. For a moment I thought Gert might show up but knew it wasnt likely. It was almost all of the above other than I didn’t see it as forboding. It was emotional and just what it needed to be.
@Susan_U had Gert shown up at the end of the book it would have made me happy, but I wouldn’t have liked the novel as a whole nearly as much. I appreciated the fact that terrible things happened to these people, and though they persisted, they didn’t live happily ever after.
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All of the above. There was happiness in that the three made it safely to the States. Sadness in that so many others did not, most likely including Gert. Foreboding in that we know how the future plays out, and while many things improve for the LGBTQ community and transgender in particular, many things do not. Hopeful in that there are so many wonderful people doing amazing things; hopeful in that now that the trio is in the States, they may find peace and respect.
This book evoked so many feelings and I’m left thinking so much about it - the mark of a great book!
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I agree with all of the above statements. The trials and tribulations of the final journey was quite stressful for me.
I found it to be a tough ending w some happy moments
I agree - all of the above. I was so relieved that they got to the US safely but then sad that they were met with much of the same discrimination. The only emotion I would possibly add is fear, they would continue to have to monitor their surroundings and hide their true selves in order to remain safe. They also had the added burdens of being German, speaking broken English, and being poor. The possibility of Gert having made it out safely was bittersweet but I believe it provided closure for both Bertie and Roy. I smiled when I read that Karl had brought the asparagus berries from Ulm, it meant to me that together they would move forward in finding a new life in the US.
kim.kovacs, I agree. While I certainly wanted Gert to be alive, it would have been so unrealistic. I would not have been happy with the book. The book, while fiction, needs to provide believability and respect to all those that did die. Having a happy ending without some sorrow, would not have felt right. No one left the war without some sorrow.
This was such an emotional novel. I was pleased with the hopeful ending of Roy meeting the ship and taking the trio under his wing. Every joy in this book is bittersweet knowing what they have had to endure to survive.
I said in another question I thought the ending was sad. They had such hope all those years that coming to America would mean life would be better for them, that they would have been free to be themselves. How scary it must have felt to know they were not as safe as they had hoped. LGBTQ+ people are not as free as they should be now.
The ending seemed like a perfect one-some sadness as Roy realizes that Karl is not Gert, but some hope that the survivors can forge a new way in a new country. There’s also the cynicism about the U.S. letting Nazis into the country as refugees, signaling that this country, too, is not a completely safe place for non-straight people.
I thought the ending was perfect! Had Gert shown up, I don’t think that would have felt authentic. It was a little sad yet hopeful. I loved that Karl presented the asparagus seeds to Bertie! That part brought a tear to my eye 
The ending was brilliant. The author did a great job of making it bittersweet, injecting some drama for effect and to make it interesting & surprising, while illustrating the point that not all stories end happily, particularly when set during and immediately following World War II. As someone else noted, had the ending been too happy, it would have felt gratuitous and unrealistic, even though it would have been the ending all readers hoped for. But isn’t that the point? Life doesn’t always deliver the “Hollywood ending.”
The ending was inspiring and hopeful, though, as Roy proved to be a true friend to them who also deeply loved & missed Gert. It was a testament to resilience, determination, and the power of the human spirit to survive in spite of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It was the new beginning the characters sought in a country full of contradictions which, as Bertie observed with the Statue of Liberty on the horizon, “would not be kind to them. It would be a different life of hiding, but still a life of hiding.”
For that reason, the ending was also tragic. Because reading the book in 2025 as so many strides toward true equality and justice made in prior decades are being systematically obliterated by a group in power who subscribe to precisely the same ideals that the Nazis did, was a heartbreaking and frightening experience. The convicted felon currently holding the office of President seeks to strip away rights assured to the LGBTQIA+ community by the U.S. Constitution, so the fight for equality is far from over in the U.S. History must never be repeated and The Lilac People is, as I stated in response to another question, an important book that needs to be read by as many Americans as possible, especially students of history who are high school age and above.