Holocaust fiction that's about so much more.
There are about a myriad (give or take) books out there that chronicle the horrors of the Holocaust. What I truly liked about this book was that it didn't do that - it told the story of the tolls of the Holocaust- of not believing it would ever get to that, of living with the aftermath in the Cold War years. This is as much about mental health as it is about history.
"Our glorious new leaders don't care much for Jews
and they're getting very skilled at spotting us." - Michael
👍 What I Liked 👍
Effects: Books like The Tattooist of Auschwitz, We Were the Lucky Ones and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas show the horrors that people lived through during the Holocaust, the torture, the fear and the inhumanity. What I really liked about this book is that the Holocaust is more of an unseen, visceral horror that isn't made explicit in so many words. This book is more about the effects of the Holocaust on the psyche and mental health for those that lived through it. It was a very interesting take.
"It was as if no one wanted her [her mother] remembered
except Karen, who was terrified to forget."
Parallel timelines: This book has dual timelines of the 1930's and 1940's on the one hand and the 1970's and 1980's on the other. In each timeline we follow a woman, who has been impacted by the Holocaust - and we learn about their relationship with one another. I am not usually one for parallel timelimes (unless it's written by the queen of parallel timelines, Gill Paul) but here I really enjoyed seeing the timelines slowly come together and the stories intertwine. It was very well done.
Liese: Liese is our main character from the 30's and 40's and I was very impressed by her character and her arc throughout the book. She felt like a very realistic character who went through a great deal - from spoiled daughter, to strong mother and finally broken woman. She was character I could easily like because I felt like she was real.
Mental health: The Holocaust is about so much more than just the human horrors - it's about living with those horrors afterwards. The characters in this book each have their own way of dealing with what they went through during those years, and I found that very interesting to read about.
👎 Wjat I Disliked 👎
Karen: Our main character from the 70's and 80's did not impress me. As much as I liked Liese's arc I disliked Karen's. I didn't feel like she made any progress throughout the book, she had a way of dealing with things that I just couldn't connect with and I found her very unlikable.
Read it if you like: Holocaust fiction, books about mental health, finding your roots
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ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
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