I loved this book. Thought the ending quite unlikely after everything but still really enjoyed it.. Beautifully written

Otra historia llena de cosas, que como humana me da pena y vergüenza saber que sucedieron. Bellamente escrita con una cadencia y tiempos correctos, te aplasta el corazón pero al final terminas con un sabor justo y real como debe de haber sido.

2.5

Maybe even 4.5 stars.

I have read many novels set during the Holocaust, but I learn different things from each one. They are heart-wrenching, to be sure, and this one is no different, but there is also so much hope, so much incredible strength of human spirit. There is also an epic love story here, one based on a supposed true story. While far-fetched, I do hope that it really happened, because it is heartbreakingly beautiful.

I was delighted to learn about the underground art movement in the camps that provided beauty and solace and depicted their unbelievable circumstances to the outside world. I would be thrilled to visit the museum in Prague that displays children's artwork from the camps.

Highly recommended.

Read with tissue in hand.

Great book. Compelling story.

Never one to read the end of any book before I start it, I paused as this book opens with the end, but I did need to see how it came to be. It does include a nice twist that rewards those who do not cheat and read the last pages first. A great combination of love story, holocaust story and the human condition story.

Middle of the road. The writing was OK, but in all honesty the details will probably get lost in the jumble of Holocaust books I have read over the years. The twist is revealed in the first chapter, and after that, well, there isn't really anything unique about it (I realize that is a horrible thing to say...as millions of people lost their lives in the same terrible way, but a book needs something more).

****SPOILER ALERT****
Lenka and Josef are fall in love and are married in Prague (?). A few weeks later they are separated-Josef escaped with his family to Britain, Lenka stayed with her family. Word gets back to Lenka that Josef and his entire family perished after their ship to America was bombed by the Germans. She survives-her family does not. She is transported to a ghetto. She creates secret artwork with a group of underground artists that depicts ghetto life as it actually is...instead of how Germany portray it to the world. In America, Josef becomes a doctor. After the war they both marry. They have children. They have grandchildren. The story opens at the wedding of two people...people who happen to be the grandchildren of Josef and Lenka...but of course they do not know that. Seated next to each other, suddenly Josef realizes it's her...that he has found his "Lost Wife". From there the rest of the story is told. I can't decide if I liked the fact that the twist was revealed right away. It made me care about their story, but it also took something away. In a way I knew how it ended so I didn't care as much. At the same time, parts of the book were kind of "blah" and knowing that they found each other in the end made me want to keep reading to see HOW they ended up in the same place again.

Like I said, run of the mill. If you like Holocaust stories definitely worth a read, but not the best in my opinion.

Hermosa narración de la autora, muy fácil e intensa, además de dolorosa. Relata de preciosa manera la pasión del primer amor y del recuerdo de este.
Te atrapa desde la primera hoja, partiendo por el final y con una historia que dura más de 60 años.
Marta, mi personaje favorito por lejos.