A review by jvan
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

5.0

This book made me ugly cry, a wail that came uncontrolled out of my heart and frightened me with how little I could control it. This is a book about limitations, about losses, about trying to get by in a world that isn't usually accommodating. Parts of the book are funny, most of it is charming, but what I take away from it is the aching heart of it, the love and the sorrow and the deep humanity. This is a wonderful book, a treasure.