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serendipity730's review against another edition
5.0
This is a book that will stay with you. I am very infrequently moved to tears by a book, but the ending made me cry. I've read many fictional (and non-fiction) accounts of WWII and the Holocaust. This may very well be the best fictional account I've read.
katie_samsock's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. If you love historical fiction set during WW2 you need to read this. I couldn’t put it down. It evokes all of the feels. Just trust me and go read it!
3twirlygirls's review against another edition
3.0
Solid historical fiction, but really wish there was more to the story after they reunited.
nanislibrary's review against another edition
3.0
Un libro que será fácil de olvidar para mi.
Realmente no pude conectar como me hubiera gustado con la historia, aunque el audiolibro estuvo muy bueno. sin embargo, escuchar historias inspiradas en la Segunda Guerra Mundial siempre será algo difícil y doloroso que transmitirá tristeza y pesar y eso si pude notarlo.
Realmente no pude conectar como me hubiera gustado con la historia, aunque el audiolibro estuvo muy bueno. sin embargo, escuchar historias inspiradas en la Segunda Guerra Mundial siempre será algo difícil y doloroso que transmitirá tristeza y pesar y eso si pude notarlo.
mycriminalmind's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
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.