Daughters of the Occupation- A Novel of WWII by Shelly Sanders
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Web ID: 18023659Needed in our time.
Book Title: Daughters Of The Occupation Author: Shelly Sanders Genre: World War 2 Historical Fiction Pub Date: May 3, 2022 Print Length: 400 pages Book Reviewed By Sylvia J. The book is dedicated to the Jews of Latvia that were murdered in the holocaust.” One is not truly dead until one’s name is forgotten”. We will not forget them. Books were censored or banned. Citizens were put in prison for having foreign currency like American dollars and they are not allowed in stores for tourists. The Russians and the Latvians wanted to get rid of the Jews. The Soviets took away their schools and the Nazis had the Jews wear yellow stars showing that they were Jewish. This book was inspired by true events in World War II Latvia. In June 1940 the Soviets invaded Latvia and Miriam Talan’s water broke and she was about to have her second child who was a boy. Miriam and her husband Max will name their second child Monya. Their first child is named ILana. The Soviets occupied the capital city of Latvia called Riga. Riga was where this couple lived. This couple's life will now be shattered. Will Miriam‘s husband be killed by the Germans? Soviet tanks were now congregated in the main square of the town. Red Army soldiers were on top of the tank. Miriam was quite shaken, to see all of this. Miriam saw a tank go head on into some pedestrians. Screams were in the air, and Stalin was in power. The Soviets controlled Latvia and had captured the Latvian border. Bank accounts were seized, businesses were taken over and religion was not allowed to be practiced. People had to be afraid that at any moment they could be struck by a German bomb. Hundreds of Jews were being deported to Siberia. They were stuffed into crowded wooden train cars without enough food and water. How many people were descendants of Jews and didn't know it because they had to hide their religion. Will Miriam have to give her children away to someone who isn’t Jewish to protect them until the war is over?. Chapter 2, brings you to 1975 in the Chicago area. We hear about someone named Sarah Byrne, who is attending her mother‘s funeral. Sarah is 24 years old. She’s the granddaughter of Miriam. Sarah was quite stiff as her father took her to the funeral in his car. She thought about her mom who had collapsed in a grocery store. Sarah tried to be strong because she knew her mother would want her to be like that. There is much Sarah didn’t know about her mother named ILana Eve Byrne, especially her past. What was her mother hiding? Will she ever find out? Sarah hadn’t seen her grandmother Miriam in years because she and Sarah‘s mom didn’t get along unfortunately. All of a sudden, we now see her at the funeral of Sarah's mom/her daughter. Will Sarah now find out her mother‘s hidden secrets from her grandmother? Will there be many hidden secrets? Will her grandmother Miriam Go to the hospital with a heart issue and whisper to her granddaughter Sarah to find Monya. As we mentioned earlier, Monya is Miriam‘s son and she hasn’t seen him since he was two years old when she gave him away in Latvia, In the town of Rica. Will Sarah now go to Latvia? Will Americans be allowed to travel to Latvia? Will she find Monya her uncle, if she goes? Firstly, I would like to say I love the cover that shows the three generations of strong women. It shows the grandmother and her daughter and her daughter‘s daughter. It shows us that all three generations were affected by the trauma of the Holocaust. They were all affected in different ways. I love the way this book was written. Reading about the strength of the three generations was just simply amazing and inspiring. This book is absolutely perfect for our time. This book is quite the page turner and it’s so good that I wanted to stay up all night and just read right through it. The word that describes this book is sensational. I found it to be quite fascinating and interesting. The writer has a way with words and there isn’t a dull moment in the book. This book was so excellent. I can go on and on all day speaking about it. It is definitely one of my favorite books I have ever read. I really hope a movie is made out of this book as it would be one fantastic movie. I highly recommend everyone to read this book. I liked the book from its first word and its first page, as the book went on I liked it even more and more. I liked it so much that I started reading it as an ebook and after I switched to the audio version and went back-and-forth between the two. I didn’t want to miss a word in the book. I got the audiobook from Apple Books as the narrator was fantastic. I got the e-book from hoopla from my local library, which was nice. There is so much to be said about this book. I think the author did an amazing job in each and every way and I can’t praise it enough. There isn’t a dull moment in the book. It will hold your interest and you will want to know the ending. One would definitely invest their time as I did in finding out about the three generations of women in the book. I find this to be a very important book and I am so happy I had the opportunity and chance to read it. I love the way the chapters went back-and-forth from 1941 during the time of the Holocaust to 1975. Shelly Sanders, thank you so much for writing this book. I will definitely follow you throughout your writing journey. All should make sure to read the Author's Note in the back of the book. It is very informative and I have learned very much about Latvia and the jewish people who lived in Latvia. Five stars is my rating for this book.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
So important, but not for the faint of heart...
Wow... this was such an important book, but so intense and graphic. Sadly, this was the reality for so many Jews during this hate-filled war, and it's incredibly hard to imagine that human beings are capable of such vile behavior toward one another. Shelly Sanders did an amazing job sharing the Latvian history and how the country was simultaneously taken over by Russians and then Germans. It became so complex for residents, never knowing who to trust. With adept storytelling, Ms. Sanders crafted a dual-timeline novel that was completely enthralling. The historical story of poor sweet Miriam's journey was absolutely heartbreaking. So many parents had to make so many devastating choices during WW2, that it pains me to even read about them. However, I'm absolutely convinced that when we know better, we do better. And the best way to know better is to read and learn in order improve the world for future generations by not repeating our mistakes. Many thanks to @harperbooks and @harpercollins for gifting me with this advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Great Book
Daughters of the Occupation by Shelly Sanders is a wonderful dual timeline, WWII-era historical fiction novel that is inspired by true events surrounding the atrocities that occurred within Latvia during the war. This is such a beautiful and descriptive, yet haunting and devastating novel. The author takes us between the occupation of Latvia starting around 1940, and weaves that story line with the 1970s. This is not just a dual timeline, but also a generational story of one family’s collection of women (and well the family in general) and what they experienced, and how it shaped their existence for generations to come. The strength, the courage, the fear, the loss, but within that, the hope and love exhibited by the full cast of characters: Miriam, Sarah, Ilana, Monya, Roger, etc. Their respective storylines and how each viewpoint and character added to the overall story was just stunning. The dual timeline was nicely done and added a bit of complexity, continuity, mystery, and suspense to the overall plot. A unique book that I will remember for a long time. 5/5 stars
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Dangerous Times
A heartbreaking story of the occupation of Latvia first by the Soviets, then by the German Nazi's. How the Jewish people were treated horribly by both regimes. The mass murders the concentration camps and the ghettos. Much is written about Poland and Germany but this is the first book I have read about the genocide in Latvia. To tell you the truth I never knew this country existed before reading this book. Although it is a book of historical fiction, the events written about actually happened. This is a dual timeline story telling the story of Miriam a young Jewish woman in Latvia under first Soviet, then German occupation. It was not a good time to be Jewish, but Miriam was on her way to the hospital for the birth of her second child a son, Monya. They already have a daughter Ilana. It is also the story of Sarah the daughter of Ilana and granddaughter of Miriam. How she struggles with the loss of her mother and reconnects with her grandmother at her mother's funeral. Alternating back and forth the story is told of Miriam's time in Latvia under both occupations. The cruel treatment of the Jewish under both regimes. It tells how one woman must give up her children to keep them safe and her quest to find them after she miraculously survives sudden death at the hands of the Nazi's. How one child is lost to her and she never forgets him. It goes then to the story of Sarah, reconnecting with her Grandmother after her mother's death and how she goes on a dangerous quest to the Soviet Union to find Monya for her Grandmother and may not make it out alive. The story is interesting, historical, very very sad and heartbreaking and sometimes hard to read. It was interesting to me to know that the facts of this genocide of the Jewish in Latvia is not well known and as far as I know not well published at all. A part of history lost forever and forgotten but should never be. It should never have happened and it must never happen again. Thanks to Shelly Sanders for writing a story bringing this part of history alive, to Harper Perennial and paperbacks for publishing it and to NetGalley for making it available to me.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Survival
Once I turned the cover on this read, I was not going to put it down, and the pages flew. Yes, we know the story, but the author does a wonderful job of putting faces on these people that were condemned for their religion. This is Miriam’s story, and we follow her from Latvia to Chicago, and then her Granddaughter Sarah back to Latvia. We are gifted a time split, from the 1930’s in Latvia with first Russian occupation and then German. You, will find some of this hard to read, and yes, what happened is true. Miriam is a strong woman and her will to survive is strong, and she does the ultimate for her children. The story does flip back to 1976 and being reunited with Miriam and her Granddaughter Sarah who takes on a journey to Communist Latvia in search of an unknown Uncle. This read was so good, and yet, so sad, how people can have so little regard for human life, but through the words of the author we put faces on these people and quickly care about them. Be sure to read the author’s note, we find out how Miriam gets to Chicago and other facts! Thank You! I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Harper Perennial, and was not required to give a positive review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com