starrburst112's review
3.0
It was just okay. Wanted the villain to get justice so that’s why I kept reading.
td3's review
4.0
I don’t think an author has ever captured my attention in the first chapter quite like this one. Ronald H. Balson’s description of General Patton’s 6th Armored Division’s rescue of prisoners at Buchenwald concentration camp so accurately conveyed the shock of the American soldiers as they discovered the horrors of the camp.
One prisoner the soldiers rescued was Eli Rosen, a man near death, who insisted they find his son Isaak, who was also in the camp. After reuniting, Eli and Isaak were driven away from the camp in Red Cross vehicles.
Balson tells the story of Eli Rosen in three distinct timelines. In 1939, we see a happy and prosperous Rosen family until the Germans invade Poland and they gradually realize that their very existence is being threatened. In 1946, we find Eli and his son living in a displaced person’s camp while searching for the whereabouts of Esther, their wife and mother. In 1965, we find Eli in Albany Park, Chicago. Why Albany Park? Eli is there to fulfill a promise he made, seeking justice for a Nazi sympathizer and con man who has evaded arrest for years.
This was a different approach to a World War II novel because it focused less on the camps and more on the corruption that existed during the war years. Some citizens exploited the Jewish people in the worst ways at a time when they so desperately needed help.
This was a very interesting novel and I can see why it won the National Jewish Book Award. I highly recommend this one to those who like historical fiction and World War II novels.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance release and give my honest review.
One prisoner the soldiers rescued was Eli Rosen, a man near death, who insisted they find his son Isaak, who was also in the camp. After reuniting, Eli and Isaak were driven away from the camp in Red Cross vehicles.
Balson tells the story of Eli Rosen in three distinct timelines. In 1939, we see a happy and prosperous Rosen family until the Germans invade Poland and they gradually realize that their very existence is being threatened. In 1946, we find Eli and his son living in a displaced person’s camp while searching for the whereabouts of Esther, their wife and mother. In 1965, we find Eli in Albany Park, Chicago. Why Albany Park? Eli is there to fulfill a promise he made, seeking justice for a Nazi sympathizer and con man who has evaded arrest for years.
This was a different approach to a World War II novel because it focused less on the camps and more on the corruption that existed during the war years. Some citizens exploited the Jewish people in the worst ways at a time when they so desperately needed help.
This was a very interesting novel and I can see why it won the National Jewish Book Award. I highly recommend this one to those who like historical fiction and World War II novels.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance release and give my honest review.
minib's review
3.5
I struggled to keep going with this book and feel if I had read the epilogue at the start of the book I would have enjoyed it much more.
I have read many books about the Holocaust and expected this to be as intense but the Chicago section mystified me until the end when I read about Albany.
I enjoyed the chapters taking place in Lublin, Poland during the war
Föhrenwald mid-1940s (the fictional chapters based on actual DP camps)
Albany Park 1965 (accurate but it felt out of place to me) now I understand why Eli ended up there but only after reading the epilogue
I would have enjoyed a more fluid story rather
I have read many books about the Holocaust and expected this to be as intense but the Chicago section mystified me until the end when I read about Albany.
I enjoyed the chapters taking place in Lublin, Poland during the war
Föhrenwald mid-1940s (the fictional chapters based on actual DP camps)
Albany Park 1965 (accurate but it felt out of place to me) now I understand why Eli ended up there but only after reading the epilogue
I would have enjoyed a more fluid story rather
kdowli01's review
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Unpopular opinion, but I was not a fan of this one. :(
Synopsis: Told in three different timelines, we see Eli Rosen and his family struggling with the Nazi occupation of Poland in late 1930s-1940s, trusting a "fixer" Max to help them. Then after the war, Eli and his son are in a refugee camp and trying to find out what happened to his wife. And then jumping ahead to the 1960s, a woman in Chicago lives near Eli and sees her best friend caught up in a difficult situation.
So...I thought the premise in the 1930s/1940s chapters was interesting, and sad, and very frustrating, seeing Eli and his family continue to be screwed over by Max. But I thought the writing and the dialogue was very stilted, and awkwardly repetitive in places.
Then the 1960s chapters, it does come together in a way, but these chapters have a completely different focus and a different narrator, and it was jarring. Also, it's never explained how exactly Eli made it to Chicago, that felt like a pretty big gap. I found these chapters pretty jarring.
So, sadly, not my favorite, but 3 stars for the idea, and the potential I think it had.
nlonghi's review
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
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