Those Who Save Us (original 2004; edition 2005)

Great story...loved the way it was told. ( )

VERY POSSIBLY THE ABSOLUTE WORST WORLD WAR II FICTION I'VE EVER READ

I won't reiterate the plot here, since the product description and other reviews do that more than adequately. And, frankly, because I don't want to spend a lot more time on this book. I had high hopes for this story, but it was a disappointment. Actually, more than a disappointment. It was downright repulsive. I read a lot of Holocaust fiction and nonfiction, so it's not the subject matter. It's the author's focus on sadistic sex and shallow psychodrama, both of which trivialize the subject matter in a shameful way.

Anna's story was lurid and embarrassing. There was way too much detailed and lengthy description of Anna's sex life. Her sex life with Max just led to questions about why a physician wouldn't know better than to get Anna pregnant, especially in their dangerous circumstances.

But it's the descriptions of her encounters with the Obersturmführer that made my skin crawl. I couldn't help but think they felt like sick sadistic porn. I can't see how it served the story to retell how Anna would achieve orgasm in her coerced sex with him, including being raped with a pistol, when she didn't with Max. It was hardly necessary to include such a level of degrading detail to get the point across, unless the intent was to titillate. And even though that can't be the case, it certainly felt that way--over and over and over again. Truly repulsive and perverse.

Trudy was an uninteresting character, and her story--and Anna's--degenerated into a ridiculous psychodrama straight out of The Prince of Tides or Ordinary People. You know, the kind of story where the character has suffered a traumatic experience that haunts him/her and eventually is resolved by some revelatory event. Bah. This is dreck from start to finish. ( )

Jenna Blum carefully switches back and forth with her points of view to fully uncover a storyline to explain the life of Anna Schlemmer. Anna spent her youth and early adulthood in Germany at the time of WWII. During this time, Anna has fallen in love with a Jewish man (a problem as she is not Jewish), hidden him from the soldiers, and after he was taken away, given birth to their child. She struggles to survive during the rations, and at one point, delivered bread and messages to and from prisoners. Anna does numerous things that others may frown on only to care for her child during the harsh winter wartime.

The other point of view came from Anna's daughter, present-day, who happens to be a history professor. She is currently working on a project to interview Germans who are not Jewish, to see what life was like in Germany during WWII times. Yes, the two storylines eventually connect - obviously.

Overall, I found the story interesting enough - it took several different perspectives into account during the same time period which is different than others of this genre. It kept my interest, due to the back and forth viewpoints. I tended to connect more with the present day storyline, as I seemed to connect more with Trudy (the daughter) than with Anna.

More of a 3.5, but I rounded up on this one. Worthwhile read. ( )

When I heard the author speak soon after reading this book, she explained that she was motivated to write this book by her interest in understanding what ordinary Germans were doing and thinking while the Holocaust was taking place. Although her first novel is not perfect, and some people I discussed it with felt parts of the plot were contrived, I think Blum accomplishes her goal as she examines the lives and relationships of a mother and daughter who survived living in Germany during World War II.

This is not an easy read -- there's lots of graphic scenes and violence, but in my opinion these scenes are necessary to show the horror of the Holocaust period. ( )

I couldn't put down this book. I lost sleep because I couldn't put it down, hours after I should have been in bed. Wonderfully written, seamless transissions from past to present, characters I hated and loved. What a grey area this book is written in, a fantastic change from mostly the black and white of this era. I loved it. ( )