Gut-wrenching First Impression of The Nine. Starting with the poem at the beginning, to the brief paragraphs about each of the nine escapees this story pulled at my heart strings. The author wrote the stories of her great aunt and leader of the group, Hélène Podliasky, and eight other women who made an escape from the Death march toward the end of WW II. I felt like I was in the interrogation room with Hélène...the water boarding and other forms of torture.....As WWII is my favorite genre, I cannot wait to get my hands on this book.