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Avg. Rating: 5
A New Perspective
This novel tells two stories: one of Anna, a young woman in Nazi Germany, and the second of an elderly Anna and her daughter, Trudie, living in Minnesota. Trudie was born in Germany during World War II, but Anna refuses to discuss the circumstances of her daughter's birth. All Trudie has to go on is a picture that fills her with dread: her mother, herself as a baby, and a Nazi officer. Trudie is now a professor of German history conducting an interview project interviewing German men and women who lived during the Third Reich. As the two stories are told back and forth, we, and Trudie, learn more about Anna's past.
Quote: "She is really more irritated with herself than Anna, for she has wasted this chance given to her. She has tried to crack her most important subject, and she has failed."
Although this book moved slowly at times, I liked it overall. I found myself wanting to skip over the Anna and Trudie sections, so I could get back to Anna in Germany faster. Usually when I read World War II book I read about concentration camps or members of the resistance, not about how life might have been for someone who, for whatever reason, may have been a collaborator. It was an interesting perspective.
a book to remember
at last, a book that had memorable characters and a fascinating plot. The subject matter was handled in an intelligent non sentimental way. Anna and Trudie are portrayed as women with depth. They make decisions and live with the consequenses, good or bad. I apppreciated a book where women are complex people, not superficial representations of either the madonna or a postitute.
This book gives a glimpse of Germany during the war, but it is seen from different angles. You feel as though you have experienced the horror of living through the second world war as well as knowing the incredible toll payed in human lives.
I can't stop thinking about this FABULOUS book!
Everyone I've told to read "Those Who Save Us" has loved it as much as I did; it comes very highly recommended!
It is not your "typical" holocaust novel (if there is such a thing) and deeply explores those gray areas concerning the lengths people go through to survive and the choices we make that change our lives.
Shifting back and forth between Minneapolis in the late 1990's and Weimar during the war, this novel centers around a mother/daughter relationship, specifically, the Mother's actions during the war and the daughter's grappling to understand who she is and her family history. As a reader you'll feel horrified, moved, uplifted, angry, surprised and hopeful, amongst other emotions that truly run the gamut.
This book is phenomenally written- I hope to read more by such a talented writer!
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