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brighteyes1178's review against another edition
5.0
I know it's a little weird to call a Holocaust book "lovely", but I found this one surprisingly so. Maybe because I recently found out that I'm a tiny bit Czech Jewish, this story of Lenka and Josef, who fall in love and get married as World War II is beginning and then separate for a lifetime, believing each other is dead, really resonated with me. I recommend this one, especially anyone interested in Holocaust books, as well-rendered and poignant without being overdone.
mellabella's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful story about Josef and Lenka. Their love spanned 60 years, survived the Holocaust... I have read other books (fiction and non) about the Holocaust. Books about people who survived, what they went through, how they kept believing and had hope. But never a love story like this. Josef and Lenka meet when they are very young. She is a friend of his sisters and an artist. He is in medical school. They are torn apart when he and his family flee the Nazi invasion. They are married at that point. Hastily but, very much in love. She cannot leave her family and he cannot provide visa's for all of them. The chapters alternate between them as we learn how Josef escaped to London, then settled in NYC. Marrying a woman who had lost just as much as him. They had two children. How Lenka survived the ghetto Terezin,and then Auschwitz. She marries a soldier and has a daughter. This book is very good. I could not put it down. But, it was very sad. Of course the atrocities that people suffered at the hands of the Nazi's will never cease to make me feel that way (amongst the other emotions you feel when you read about the Holocaust). It was how Josef and Lenka settled for comfortable, love instead of the passionate love they had for each other. Each thinking the other was dead. Lenka right after Josef leaves. He is the only remaining member of his family. Josef after repeatedly attempting to locate Lenka after the war. Although he is told that she was killed in a gas chamber incorrectly. It made me wonder just how many real life couples, torn apart like them, went through the same thing.
notbenblais's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
readingnightandday's review against another edition
4.0
Perhaps I would have liked the book more if I was more of a love story reader??? I gave it 4 stars because I did learn a lot about the artists and their efforts in telling the truth about the conditions of the ghettos. I loved ,loved the first and last pages of the book!!!!!
jetlaggedjanet's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book for a book club (Long Island Reads) and loved it. I read it in two days. There is so much to say about it, but to keep it brief the book first depicts a well-to-do Jewish family in Praugue, the artistic daughter who falls in love, and at the hight of their romance the drastic change in their lives as the Nazi influence reaches Czechoslovakia. Then her story about Terezin is different than other holocaust books (the club deemed it 'holocaust-lite' if you will allow). The story was about resistance within the camps. Yes, they were horrible and she writes about it, but even more important to this story was how art kept her alive, and how it changed things. It gave the victims hope and a feeling of resistance. Some of it reached the outside world. It was very moving.
There is so much to say, and I heard many opinions, but overall it is a well crafted book. Tragic, but also an incredible story.
There is so much to say, and I heard many opinions, but overall it is a well crafted book. Tragic, but also an incredible story.
reneesmith's review against another edition
5.0
A stirring novel. Must-read. My takeaway: No matter what mankind does in attempts to destroy it, love survives. Beautiful storytelling.
alexee_m's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
daisey4's review against another edition
4.0
I kind of don’t know how I feel about this book. It is heartbreaking. It isn’t really a totally clean book which I normally don’t read yet, the story itself is touching.
mikkelsonch's review against another edition
5.0
It's hard to believe but every time I read a book about the Holocaust I learn something new and this book was no exception. It also brought out the ugly cry.