A reading group novel set between 1980s and 1940s Germany: when a young woman finds a Ravensbruck uniform in her father’s belongings, with hidden letters sewn into its seams, she sets out to unravel the mystery of his past…

THE RABBIT GIRLS
by Katie Mork
On submission
Foreign rights sold to : Luitingh (Holland), Newton Compton (Italy) and Vulkan (Serbia)

‘I press my pencil firm and strong, to mark the paper and save a life.’

1989, Berlin. The wall has come down and Miriam has fled an abusive marriage to care for her dying father, Henryk. Wracked with guilt that she has been away from him for so long, the discovery of a camp tattoo on his arm throws everything she thought she knew about him into doubt. Searching for answers in his belongings, she finds an old Ravensbruck uniform, which holds secret letters sewn into its seams, undiscovered for 40 years.
Through reading the letters, Miriam unravels the stories of the ‘rabbit girls’, young women experimented upon in the camp. Each letter is addressed to Henryk, and Miriam soon realises that whoever wrote the letters is her father’s lost love, and contained in the letters is the key to her family secrets. Determined to find the woman behind them – if she is still alive – and to stay one step ahead of her obsessive husband, Miriam herself embarks on a journey of discovery: of love, and sacrifice, and of the things we do to stay alive.
Moving and page turning in equal measure, THE RABBIT GIRLS is an epic story of enduring love in all its forms. This novel is perfect for readers of Kate Morton, All The Light We Cannot See and The Nightingale. 

Katie Mork is in her thirties, and works as a nurse. She is currently studying for her creative writing MA at Bath Spa University and has previously completed the Faber Academy course.