David R. Gillham

This is an intelligent, taut thriller set in WWII Berlin. Sigrid's husband is fighting on the Eastern Front. She's a stenographer, living with her hard-to-please mother-in-law. Life goes on, in its drab and difficult way until she meets and falls in love with Egon, a Jew: and at more or less the same time, Ericha, who works with a group who hide Jews from the authorities, then helps move them on. But who can you trust in this game of cat-and-mouse? Is your enemy always your enemy? And can show more your friend be trusted? This is a morally suspenseful read, coloured with telling imagery, and understated conversations. Perhaps the ending was rather rushed, rather tidied up. But I was eager to turn the pages, though not so eager to leave the drab, dismal and terrifying world into which I had been thrust. show less

Hauntingly beautiful depiction of what Berlin must have been like for the women left behind in war. It is a powerful as The Book Thief. Sigrid stumbles day to day to her mundane job, putting up with her less than friendly mother-in-law and going to the cinema to see her secret lover which seems to be the only release from the monotony of Berlin during World War II. Her husband is on the Eastern front and all that is left in her building is a misfit group of women and wounded men all of whom show more live in fear of not coming across as a good party member, finding enough food and surviving the bombings. Sigrid is very good at keeping secrets - others and her own and we see her life change drastically as she begins to trust a young woman au pair and get pulled deeper and deeper into a world of lies. She is not perfect, none of the women in the book are, and must decide whom to trust and how much truth to give up. The characters we hate we begin to understand and love while the characters we love we begin to mistrust and feel betrayed. This book will be a book club selection for years to come due to the masterful writing and depth of characters. A fantastic debut for David R. Gillham. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC copy but have already ordered a copy for the library. show less

I listened to this as an audiobook on a trip from Ohio to Boston. It was such a gripping story that the entire 700 miles, both there and back, slipped by unnoticed. Much of this was due to the narrator Suzanne Toren. She did a magnificent job and caused me to designate this "the best audiobook that I have ever heard." Toren brought the characters and the setting to vivid, vibrant, heartbreaking life.
But the best narrator in the world can do little unless the material itself is compelling, show more and this is. Gillham reveals Rachel's past in bits and pieces, weaving her present life with her husband, Aaron, into her memories of her past in Berlin. The relatively short account of their courtship and marriage is one of the sweetest I've ever encountered.
Aaron's subsequent puzzlement and confusion over how to help his wife survive her horrific past is a love story subtly but strongly portrayed.
There are other love stories and other survivors of the Nazi horror in this book, and their entwined stories, played out in 1950s New York, have a taste and a tang of William Styron's "Sophie's Choice." We should never forget. This novel helps us to remember, and to care about all those souls whose stories were never told. Well done. show less

The novel starts in 1955 in New York City where Rachel lives with her husband Aaron. Rachel has only been in the United States for several years after entering the country from Germany as a displaced person with her uncle, her only family left alive after the war. She tries to acclimate to life in New York as a housewife but is consumed with her memories of war time Berlin and the survivor's guilt that haunts her.

Even though Rachel is living what should be a happy life with her husband, her show more memories are easily triggered about her life in Berlin during the war. Her husband had been in the Army during the war but never left the US and she tells him constantly that he has no idea of what it was like to be a Jew in Berlin during the war...how she and her mother, a famous painter, hid in plain sight and tried not to be discovered by the Gestapo...how she never had enough food and rarely had a bed to sleep in. Every day was a struggle and when she and her mother were discovered by the Gestapo, life got much worse as they struggled to stay alive despite the ever growing threats to their lives. Now she's in New York and can buy food, travel round town, dress well and always has a place to sleep. Her husband loves her and tries to make her happy but she is so overwhelmed with her survivor's guilt that she isn't able to truly return his love. Her mind is constantly remembering her life in Germany with her mother and it takes very little for her to remember her past.

When her uncle calls and tells her that he's found one of her mother's painting at a pawnshop, she has to see it despite the memories that it brings. Rachel believed that all of her mother's paintings were destroyed by the Germans. She tries to buy it but someone else buys it first. Rachel is also an artist but won't return to her painting because she feel that her talent is nothing compared to her mother. Aaron tries to help her acclimate to her life in New York but is not successful. He would love to have children but doesn't push the issue because she just doesn't feel like she can bring a child into this world or be a good mother to her child.

I read many WWII era books but this is the first one I've read that takes such a introspective look at a survivor of the war and the way they deal with their guilt - not only that they survived and others didn't but also their thoughts that they could have done something - anything to save people that they loved. This is a beautiful look at loss and love and learning to live with memories of the past.

This is a fantastic, well written book about survival, redemption and learning to love again - not only your family but more importantly yourself. This book haunted me after I finished it and I was unable to start a new book for a few days. Even weeks after I finished it, I still think about Rachel and her valiant struggle to learn from her past and not allow her past memories control her current life. show less