In Those Who Save Us , Jenna Blum illuminates the relationship between a mother and a daughter whose relationship is based on secrets and half truths. Trudie is the grown daughter of Anna, a woman who came to the United States from Germany during the Holocaust. When Anna is hospitalized and Trudie is forced to pack up her mother’s belongings, she finds a framed picture of herself as a child and her mother with a Nazi Soldier who she presumes is her father. This photo serves as the central image defining Trudie and Anna’s relationship– a photo that Trudie assumes to be one thing and that Anna refuses to discuss.

The book is told both in a series of flashbacks to Anna’s list in Nazi Germany and in accounts of Trudie’s life as a German history professor who, in hopes of understanding more about her mother and her own past, embarks on a project to collect the stories of Germans who lived during the Nazi regime. Trudie’s interviews with a number of German immigrants provide a foil to Anna’s story which we learn is one of falling in love with Jewish man and getting involved in the resistance movement.

Those Who Save Us has compelling stories, rich characters, and deeply enriching historical details. As the reader learns more about Anna’s life in Germany, our compassion for both Anna and Trudie grows. Relationships between mothers and daughters are often complex, yet Blum gives us a relationship strained by Anna’s traditional German values and expectations of who Trudie should be coupled with her own fear and shame of sharing her own story.

This is an excellent book, rich in plot, with skillful structure, and sympathetic characters. I highly recommend it.

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Each of our lives is bound to spiral and turn to a certain degree. We do not know where we’ll eventually wind up, which is what makes choosing a path so hard – we do not know where it ends. As such, Linnet Gow, makes some remarkably brave decisions in The Linnet Bird.

As a woman in her era, Linny seems to have few life paths before her. She has few opportunities for independence. She begins life in one of the poorest neighborhoods in England with a bleak future ahead of her. Yet, with every choice she has, she inches closer to being her own woman. This journey through several countries leads her through an amazingly complex series of events that seem to be set in motion with the first page of the story.

Linny’s reactions at the beginning of the book are very reactive and survival based. She obediently obeys her step-father no matter what she is asked to do, for fear of ending up alone on the street. But compared to what he asks of her, being on the street would not be such a terrible fate. She is truly as caged as the bird after which she is named. Slowly, she begins to make more proactive decisions and ultimately takes control of her own destiny.

This glimpse into the life of a strong woman in a time when women were supposed to faint at the first glimmer of inequity is completely moving. Linda Holeman pulls no punches while telling us this tale, and we are all pushed to examine our own choices. Is there a moment when we would decide it is easier to be taken care of than to fend for ourselves? This book is an excellent examination of what truly makes a person captive or free and where your choices can lead you. It also serves as a reminder that evil is around any corner and that you can only control your own choices and thus your own destiny. A great read, highly recommended.

- Kristin
Diverxtrme

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The beginning of this novel is much like starting a new job. You think: Who are these people? Why are they so paranoid? Why are they so neurotic? But slowly, slowly you get sucked into the insanity. For really, what is work without the insanity? Then We Came to the End is engrossing the same way that workplace gossip is an addiction.

This novel focuses on a Chicago advertising firm that is consistently laying people off in an attempt to keep itself afloat. The timeline jumps back and forth which may be confusing to some, but is reminiscent of how you learn about your co-workers: one story about what they’ll do this weekend, one story about a project from a year ago. This keeps the book populated despite the layoffs that are occurring, but also brings us into the fold. We are learning about these people, these teammates the same way that we would if we were working with them. They are interesting and once we’ve become part of it we can’t help but want to know more.

There is a heart breaking middle section to the book that is extremely well written, but seems to come out of nowhere. It is a completely different pace than the rest of the book and focuses on one particular person’s issues rather than the groups. At the end of the book this section is tied back in, but it still does not seem to entirely fit with the rest of the writing.

In the end, both section of this book are engaging and touching, although in vastly different ways. This book is worth reading for anyone who has ever worked in an office and thought they knew everything about those around them, until they find out they know everything but what matters.

Add Then We Came to the End to your rental pool!

- Kristin
Diverxtrme