Book: The World That We Knew
Author: Alice Hoffman
Pages: 400
Publisher: Scribner
How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days
Read On: Kindle
Plot Summary: In Berlin, at the time when the world changed, Hanni Kohn knows she must send her twelve-year-old daughter away to save her from the Nazi regime. She finds her way to a renowned rabbi, but it’s his daughter, Ettie, who offers hope of salvation when she creates a mystical Jewish creature, a rare and unusual golem, who is sworn to protect Lea. Once Ava is brought to life, she and Lea and Ettie become eternally entwined, their paths fated to cross, their fortunes linked.
Lea and Ava travel from Paris, where Lea meets her soulmate, to a convent in western France known for its silver roses; from a school in a mountaintop village where three thousand Jews were saved. Meanwhile, Ettie is in hiding, waiting to become the fighter she's destined to be.
What does it mean to lose your mother? How much can one person sacrifice for love? In a world where evil can be found at every turn, we meet remarkable characters that take us on a stunning journey of loss and resistance, the fantastical and the mortal, in a place where all roads lead past the Angel of Death and love is never ending.
Things I Liked:
1. This book is a mix of all things that I love reading about- the people who helped Jewish children escape to Switzerland, the people who risked their own lives and well-being to provide sanctuary to their Jewish friends and neighbours in countries overrun by the Nazis, about the resilience of families, women and children and, unrelated to the horrors of World War II, magical realism and folk lore. So, it sounds like a lot and it is a lot, but it is to the author's credit that everything comes together in a beautiful story about resilience, kindness and love.
2. I loved the three girls in this book- Ava, Lea and Ettie. Each of them has their own struggles and journey and I loved how they were written and the courage and humanity each displayed as they navigated hellish circumstances.
- Ava, who is not even human, a golem fashioned out of clay and tears, turns out to be the most human of them all- the way she always looks out for those around her, her unique love story with the heron (yes, you read that right) and her discovery of what it is to be human make her a beautiful character to read about.
- Lea's evolution from an innocent, scared twelve year old to a strong, confident sixteen year old through the course of the War is tragic yet inspiring.
- Ettie's anger and pain is heartbreaking. I felt like giving her a huge hug and telling her that she should stop punishing herself for something that was not her fault!
3. The key male protagonists were also so beautifully written. Their courage, fear, love, hopes for the future, their big and small acts of resistance were all so well brought to life. I really loved Victor, Julien, Dr. Girard and Marianne's dad- the beekeeper.
4. What I think, however, that I loved the most about this book is that even in humanity's darkest hour, there were people, ordinary people, who went above and beyond to help Jewish families and children. Even churches that took in refugees and hid them from the Nazis did so at great personal risk. There is such an amazing interplay of love and hate in this book. When there is so much hateful rhetoric and hateful actions perpetuated by the Nazis, there are some sublime and glowing examples of love and service and sacrifice and that is really what keeps all of us- this human race- going, doesn't it?
5. The writing is beautiful! This is, I believe, only the second book that I've read by Alice Hoffman and I can't wait to find more of her work and read them!
6. There is an element of magical realism and the use of Jewish folk lore in this book, which I simply loved! Jewish magical/ mystical practices are something I had never read about before and so, getting to know a little about their folklores and mystical practices was something I deeply enjoyed.
Things I Didn't Like: Nothing! This is a great book!
Rating: 5/5
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