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make_tea_and_read 's review for:
Send for Me
by Lauren Fox
What a book this is! A very thought provoking book which brought out a range of emotions.
This book is set half in Germany 1930's as Antisemitism is on the rise and the world is on the brink of World War Two. Annelise is a young girl who lives with her parents Klara and Julius and works at their bakery. She dreams of the future. She marries and has a child, Ruthie, but danger creeps closer and with more and more attacks on her Jewish community she flees to America with her husband and Child.
The other half of the book is set in modern day America where Clare, Ruthie's daughter discovers hidden letters from war time from Klara to Annelise.
The author worked with a professor for a year to translate the letters from German to English where she discovers her familys sacrifices, love, hope and sadness.
I'll start by saying this... This book was brilliantly written. A book about the hardship these families faced in pre war Germany in the Jewish community and the different paths that families had to take. There are striking parallels between Annelise and Clare's lives, feelings and behaviours despite them being years, and miles, apart.
Another aspect of this book I thought was done well was the way the letters were incorporated. This book is based on letters from the author's own family.
The pieces of letters we read were snippets of people's lives. There were times I was itching to know more, to know if people escaped or what happened to them. I wanted more details. But that is the whole point. No one has the other side of these correspondence, not the Author and not Clare. We don't know all of the information we want to know as the people who's story this is don't know it themselves. Family's got torn apart, most without knowing the fate of their loved ones. By not inventing the other side of the letters the author stays true to the story that i'm sure many family's would have lived through. The unknowing, the uncertainty.
This book is in no way 'unfinished'. This is a story that not only tells the story of the authors family, of Annelise, of Clare. But tells the story of many families living through those times and whose grandchildren and great grandchildren may never know everything they would like to know. Sometimes people don't want to speak of their experiences from War time, some people chose to keep things hidden to protect their loved ones and sometimes that information is lost forever.
What happened to Julius? What were the circumstances of Klara's passing? What was Max's life like and how did it come to be that his name was on a list you hope wasn't there?
Maybe we the readers don't know because the people who's lives it was also didn't know. Maybe Julius never wrote another letter and Ruthie didn't like speaking of the past. Not all 'unfinished' stories are unfinished, maybe we have a tiny glimpse into the unknown that thousands of families will have had themselves.
Maybe this is all they know and that is a great sadness, to only know half a story that shapes your family and your own life. Not all of life's stories give you everything you want and not all stories have closure.
This book is fantastically written and truly gets your emotions going. It has both sadness and happiness, heart break and love. And it shows that no matter how far apart you are, your family and its history will be there within you. Whether it be family traits or traditions, beliefs or fears, you will find that home is where your family are.
This book is set half in Germany 1930's as Antisemitism is on the rise and the world is on the brink of World War Two. Annelise is a young girl who lives with her parents Klara and Julius and works at their bakery. She dreams of the future. She marries and has a child, Ruthie, but danger creeps closer and with more and more attacks on her Jewish community she flees to America with her husband and Child.
The other half of the book is set in modern day America where Clare, Ruthie's daughter discovers hidden letters from war time from Klara to Annelise.
The author worked with a professor for a year to translate the letters from German to English where she discovers her familys sacrifices, love, hope and sadness.
I'll start by saying this... This book was brilliantly written. A book about the hardship these families faced in pre war Germany in the Jewish community and the different paths that families had to take. There are striking parallels between Annelise and Clare's lives, feelings and behaviours despite them being years, and miles, apart.
Another aspect of this book I thought was done well was the way the letters were incorporated. This book is based on letters from the author's own family.
The pieces of letters we read were snippets of people's lives. There were times I was itching to know more, to know if people escaped or what happened to them. I wanted more details. But that is the whole point. No one has the other side of these correspondence, not the Author and not Clare. We don't know all of the information we want to know as the people who's story this is don't know it themselves. Family's got torn apart, most without knowing the fate of their loved ones. By not inventing the other side of the letters the author stays true to the story that i'm sure many family's would have lived through. The unknowing, the uncertainty.
This book is in no way 'unfinished'. This is a story that not only tells the story of the authors family, of Annelise, of Clare. But tells the story of many families living through those times and whose grandchildren and great grandchildren may never know everything they would like to know. Sometimes people don't want to speak of their experiences from War time, some people chose to keep things hidden to protect their loved ones and sometimes that information is lost forever.
What happened to Julius? What were the circumstances of Klara's passing? What was Max's life like and how did it come to be that his name was on a list you hope wasn't there?
Maybe we the readers don't know because the people who's lives it was also didn't know. Maybe Julius never wrote another letter and Ruthie didn't like speaking of the past. Not all 'unfinished' stories are unfinished, maybe we have a tiny glimpse into the unknown that thousands of families will have had themselves.
Maybe this is all they know and that is a great sadness, to only know half a story that shapes your family and your own life. Not all of life's stories give you everything you want and not all stories have closure.
This book is fantastically written and truly gets your emotions going. It has both sadness and happiness, heart break and love. And it shows that no matter how far apart you are, your family and its history will be there within you. Whether it be family traits or traditions, beliefs or fears, you will find that home is where your family are.