Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Genre: historical fiction
Review: As teenagers, Meike and her brother David were sent to America from Germany in the aftermath of Kristallnacht. Their parents and younger sister Sarah stayed behind. Meike, who Americanizes her name to Millie, spends WWII at Bryn Mawr, and then as an editor at a magazine. David enlists as soon as he turns 18. Both go back to Berlin during the occupation, both to help in various official and unofficial capacities, and to try to make sense of what happened to their family, their city, and their country.
The reader's first question will be: what happened to the rest of the family? The answer, and Meike's journey to come to terms with it, will haunt readers beyond the last page. The second question may well be: can Germany and the German people ever recover? History more or less tells us the answer to that question, but Feldman's exploration of the immediate aftermath of the war will also not soon be forgotten by readers.
Feldman has put all the pieces together to form a worthwhile addition to the genre. She has a light touch on this weighty topic, but does not shy from addressing the mass hatred and prejudice on both the German and American side. She brings her scenes and characters to life with heartwrenching feeling. No reader will escape this book unscathed, and yet it is not so emotional as to get in the way of being able to process the narrative and really think about the larger story.
FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.
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