Those Who Save Us

Amazing!

This is an amazing story. I was drawn in and couldn't put it down to the very end. It flips back and forth from the present to the past with the mother's life, and with her daughter's life. Each time it switched, I didn't want to leave one's life for the next, but was quickly drawn to the 'new' story. This book made me think of 'Stones from the River' by Ursula Hegi which was also told from the German's point of view.

15 out of 15 people found this review helpful.

It's missing quotations marks - "Very distracting," she said.

I just started reading this novel and so far the story is really interesting, however there is one thing missing - quotation marks!!!

I'm surprised no one has yet to mention it, but I have to say it is really distracting to have to read dialogue without quotation marks to differentiate between what is said and what is thought.

I know the new trend for new authors is to forego conventional writing styles for a more free-form approach, but it loses it's effect here - I find myself distracted by the lack of quotation marks (I want to fill them in by hand!) instead of focusing on what promises to be a great story.

Editors at Harcourt: please put them back in for the next edition! My 8th grade English teacher would have a heart attack if she read this novel!

10 out of 17 people found this review helpful.

Loved it!!!

I could not put this book down! Very chilling and interesting story, toggling between life in war-time Nazi Germany and present day. I highly recommend this book to anyone. It really highlights the difference between generations and is an excellent story of survival and love...

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Wow...what women did to survive.

In the past 18 months, I have read many books about this period of history. Most have been from a soldier's or a Jew's perspective. This was the first book I've read from the perspective of a woman...Anna, trying to survive WWII and hide the identity of who she and her daughter are. It truly is a matter of life and death.

This book completely intrigued me and made me reflect on how war, not just WWII, but all wars effect women and children and what mothers do to come out on the other side of such trial.

An amazing story with strong characters that makes you reflect on history. Would be a fantastic AP/summer reading list book for HS students.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Good First Novel

Good first novel by Jenna Blum. We seldom think of the struggles faced by Germans in the Resistance who tried to help the Jewish people. I enjoyed reading chapters pertaining to the past rather than those pertaining to the present. I found myself skipping the present just to get to the past.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Great Book!

It was great to read a book about Germany during WWII from a German victim's view. It was heart wrenching to read about what non-Nazi Germans went through during the war, just to stay alive. This book was recommended to me by a stranger in the book store. I'm glad I took her recommendation and will definitely recommend it to others.

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Great for book clubs!

Those Who Save Us is a very intriguing book. It gives an account of history from a perspective we are not accustomed to hearing: the German civilian perspective during WWII. It leaves the reader with much to ponder, and one walks away with the thought that history does not have such simple explanations. This book will spur a lot of good discussion.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A great read!

I really enjoyed this book. The title is provocative and reflects the many layers to the story. A new take on a well read subject which shows the deep love of a mother for her daughter and just to what extent a mother is willing to go for her child.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great

No text was provided for this review.

good but rough

A good read but honestly this kept me up at night. Reading about something very real in our world and so gritty- reliving rape over and over and the heart break of a love one being starved and killed is very hard. Then, seeing how one's actions translate to one's children is hard. The parts of present day of her daughter are a bit drawn out but almost need to be to allow you to rest from the dramatically real times of Anna. I am not the best with writing but I do get distracted by typos and the like and in the ebook version there were plenty of them.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Those who save us

It was hard to get into this book, but once past the first ten chapters, it was hard to put it down. Sometimes the switching back and forth was hard to keep up with, but it kept you going to find out the end. The end did leave you hanging, wanting a bit more.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A great Read

This book is very well written and very heartbreaking what one mother put herself through to save her child.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

War Novel is Frightening and Fascinating

Stories of 1930's/1940's Germany fascinate me, maybe because I'm of German heritage and often wonder what my life would have been, had I lived in Nazi Germany. This book offers an intriguing view of Anna, a young mother living through those years, and what she did to survive. The question is: did she need, or choose, to do what she did? The forces of war are overwhelming and I cannot even begin to pass an opinion on her actions, let along condemn them. The reader can ponder the question for a long time. The novel also relates the impact of Anna's life in Nazi Germany on her daughter Trudy, and here perhaps we get some understanding of how deeply those years scarred Anna. The effect of her own inclinations, exascerbated by the horrors of war, prevent Anna from making herself known to her daughter, and we see how this has influenced Trudy's life, both personally and professionally. I highly recommend this novel for anyone with an interest in this aspect of the war.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Everyone is a victim in war time

My book club has selected several WWII books recently...Sarah's Key, The Guernsey Literary Guild and Potato Pie Society and now Those Who Save Us. With each book I learned more about WWII and the impact on the citizens as they tried to survive.

Those Who Saves Us shows a side of WWII that is not taugh in the history books. Many of us grew believing that all Germans were Nazis. This book tells us other wise. The characters in the book are collateral damage.The horrors experienced by Anna as she tried to survive is something few of us have ever know.

The book also give me insight on how strong the human spirit fights for survival.

Excellent choice for a book club!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Never assume anything...

The opening seen in Those Who Save Us, is one of the best that I can recall. It takes real talent to create an opening scene that immediately establishes a character, place, and situation of suspense. Maybe being a dog lover helped draw me in. This story captured so many themes that are favorites of mine. Not only is the historical subject matter of on going interest, but the underlying theme of drawing conclusions about people without having all the facts first. Something that most of us can learn a lesson from. Ms. Blum takes us on a trip between the modern day 1990's, where a daughter is teaching German History, and has a mother who grew up in Germany during the Holocaust. She is curious about her mothers past, and goes on a journey of discovery about not only the attrocities of the past, but the ones that her mother in fact endured on her behalf. In flashbacks her mothers true story is revealed, in a riveting fashion. It is her mothers story that is most compelling here, and quite frankly in the hands of the right screenplay writer, would be wonderful on the big screen. In addition to the sheer suspense, and intensity of the story, this author is one of the most wonderful wordsmiths I've encountered. I was stumped on many of the chosen words used here, but this came as a pleasentry rather than an annoyance. To me she has a wonderful style to her writing. I have not read hundreds of books in my time, but I have read dozens, and this book shoots close to the top of my list of favorites. I eagerly await her next book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Those Who Saved Us!

This book was so well written that you feel like you are there. The older woman in this book was so strong and independent that even when others would have quit she never did. She went through hell for her daughter and her life. I recommend this book to those who aren't interested in WWII for just the fighting but for those who want to hear the struggles of those behind the scene.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

a nice twist in the plot...

I think the book does well to depict the stoic silent germans that immigrated to the US after the war.... interesting fiction.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

wonderful book

a must read for anyone who enjoys compelling stories

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Fabulous

This book was really amazing. It is moving and captures your attention right off. Some of the things that happened in the story are disturbing because although these specific characters are fictious, you know that similar things really did happen. I highly recommend this book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great book

Although this is a shorted book I finished it in a little over 2 days. That may not sound like a short time but, I work 2 jobs and have 3 kids. I loved it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.