I really wanted to get into this book but it was pretty drawn out. It was also hard for me to switch between 3 time periods. I did like the main character, Charlotte. She had incredible strength.
Charlotte and Jack find themselves pursuing the truth about a case that involves a man accused of World War II era war crimes. In their quest for the truth they develop a relationship. Charlotte is hesitant to her feelings for Jack because she was hurt by his brother, Brian. They find the evidence they're looking for but time has run out. ( )

Titolo originale: The things we cherished, secondo me più appropriato

Charlotte Gold,
avvocato difensore di Filadelfia, vede il suo passato piombarle addosso nella persone dell'ex-fidanzato Brian, che le offre un incarico prestigioso in Europa, dove è avvenuto il loro primo incontro.
Senza abbandonare il suo cliente, che a fronte del suo accordo con Brian affida alla penalista più abile sulla piazza, Charlotte balza su un aereo per Berlino, dove troverà ad attenderla Jack, fratello di Brian.
Lo scopo della loro collaborazione è la difesa di Roger Dyckmann, uomo d'affari newyorkese e cliente dello studio di Brian, accusato di crimini nazisti ai danni del fratello.
Tra Berlino e Breslavia passando per Salisburgo e un convento sul Lago di Como, si intrecciano storie presenti e passate, sullo sfondo della seconda guerra mondiale e dell'ascesa del nazifascismo, con protagonisti due rarissimi esemplari identici di 'orologio 400 giorni' scaturiti dall'ingegno di un contadino ebreo e dal suo amore per la moglie adorata. ( )

Thoroughly enjoyed it, the best novel I've read in a while. Couldn't put it down, all the elements in a story I like, it's the second book by Pam Jenoff that I've read and I think I'm going to go straight onto another of her books next. A little slow to get going but once into it, hooked! ( )

This is another work where I’m not 100% sure whether I liked the dual storyline or not. Individually, I liked each one to a degree. It was interesting to see the footwork behind building a legal case as well as the journey of the clock throughout history and its importance to the developing events of the early 20th century.

Yet, I felt that the historical story lost a bit when balanced against the continuous nature of the modern tale. We’re constantly exposed to Charlotte and her journey towards truth in her trial saga; the historical story is broken up into four distinct timeframes with different families. They are all connected by subtle connections and the clock, but I think the characters as people got lost since we didn’t have that long to go get to know them. Not nearly as long as Charlotte and the brothers.

I also have mixed feelings on Charlotte. I cared enough about her to be invested in her emotional journey and to see how her relationship triangle would end up. But at times I felt like she was too perfect: pretty, good at her job, dedicated to the downtrodden, and drawing men like flies. She had a slight whiff of the “Mary Sue” about her that set my teeth on edge.

Having so many historical time periods was a bit of a detract, but I do have to say that I enjoyed exploring the journey of this inanimate object and seeing how many lives it touched/impacted. Through that vehicle, the reader gets a window into the rise of the Nazi state and how it impacted these various families. We get to see the early stages of that rise: pre-WWI, the interwar years, during WWII, and the aftermath in Soviet occupied Poland. Learning the different fates both touched and saddened me.

While I enjoyed this in-depth exploration of the Nazi years through a unique vehicle, overall this book still rates as a 3 for me. The dual storylines read a bit skewed since so many historical timeframes are explored. In the modern tale, the main lead sometimes comes off as too perfect, making me hate her as much as I’m rooting for her. So a good tale but not my favorite by this author. ( )

The Things We Cherished, Pam Jenoff
The story really begins in Bavaria, with the seemingly innocent introduction of a handmade clock, in 1903. It is an Anniversary Clock, a unique clock that is wound only once a year, that has been built by a farmer who hopes to sell it for enough money to pay for passage to America for himself and his pregnant wife.
The book then fast forwards to 2009 where we meet Charlotte, a lawyer from a modest background, daughter of a Holocaust survivor. Once very much in love, she was jilted by her boyfriend. Brian decided to get engaged to a woman who was from the same social class and more compatible to him. Instead of working as planned, with him at The Hague, she changes course and becomes a Public Defender in Philadelphia.
After several years pass, Brian reappears suddenly and asks for her help. He is representing Roger Dykmans against the charge of being a Nazi collaborator responsible for sending many innocents to their deaths, including his own brother. If Brian is successful in getting him an acquittal, he is virtually guaranteed to make partner in his firm.
Charlotte spent three years studying the Holocaust in Eastern Europe and is a great forensic investigator. Her mother is now dead, and all of her other close relatives died in Europe at the hands of the Nazis, so she is very much interested in the case. Although she is still smarting from the pain of her broken engagement, she consents to give Brian a week’s time, if he will help one of her clients in return. Brian believes that Charlotte will be able to discover evidence with her forensic skills and will provide a plausible defense for his client. He believes he has missed something in his own investigation, and so he agrees to her terms.
Charlotte sets off for Germany, only to be stood up at the airport by Brian, who said he was unavoidably delayed, and so she is forced to travel alone. Once in Germany, she is shocked to find that it is Brian’s brother with whom she will be working in this investigation, even though the brothers are still very much estranged. Together, they travel to Poland and investigate the war years in order to try and prove Dykmans’ innocence. Dykmans, himself, is unwilling to help in the investigation to clear his name.
Charlotte is often put off by Mike’s coldness and distance and an uneasy, seesaw working relationship develops. She wonders if he dislikes her and why. As their friendship grows, the development of a romance in the story feels a little bit contrived, at first, but for the most part, it comes together, in the end.
As they investigate Dykmans’ past, they learn of a great secret love in his life. Between the two of them they discover many subtle subplots that intertwine, sometimes not very clearly, but they all do eventually connect and work their way into the plot and the mystery’s solution. The novel serves to explain how hard it was to survive during the war and how hard it was to help each other, even with the best of intentions, and yet, love somehow survived and thrived, lasting decades, even in the absence of hope and the loss of the loved one. It was a time when no one could be trusted and evidence was easily lost or destroyed. Happy or unhappy coincidences often meant the difference between life and death. What is it that holds the key to the puzzle of Roger’s guilt or innocence and will it be discovered in time? To find out, you must travel with Charlotte and Roger on their journey to discover the truth. ( )