Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Random House (2005), Edition: First Edition, Hardcover, 430 pages
Description
It is September 8, 1943, and Claudette Blum is learning Italian with a suitcase in her hand. She and her father are among the thousands of Jewish refugees scrambling over the Alps toward Italy, where they hope to be safe at last, now that the Italians have broken with Germany and made a separate peace with the Allies. The Blums will soon discover that Italy is anything but peaceful, as it becomes, overnight, an open battleground pitting against one another the Nazis, the Allies, resistance fighters, Jews in hiding, and ordinary Italians trying to survive. Set against this dramatic background, Russell traces the lives of a handful of fascinating characters -- a charismatic Italian resistance leader, a Catholic priest, an Italian rabbi's family, a disillusioned German doctor -- telling the little-known but true story of the Italian citizens who saved the lives of forty-three thousand Jews during the war.… (more)
Subjects
Awards
Around the world in 80 books (Italy)
Language
User reviews
LibraryThing member ladycato
Russell is the author I admire most for her works The Sparrow and Children of God. Therefore, I had to read this historical fiction that delves into a unique theater of World War II: northern Italy, abounding with Jewish refugees, resistance fighters, conspiring and bold Catholic priests, and far,
First of all, the sheer amount of research is staggering. This novel completely immerses you in the time period and all the horrors that come with it. I found the first hundred pages confusing because of the myriad of viewpoints and muddle of unfamiliar names, but I soon fell into the story and had little trouble keeping track from then on. Goodness, what a story. There are conflicts with conflicts within conflicts, and the losses are staggering. Some 43,000 Jewish refugees fled into Italy and were taken in by a vast network of safe houses, all orchestrated by the Catholic church in cooperation with the resident Italian Jews. This isn't a feel-good story. It doesn't have the same gripping feel of The Sparrow, in part because there are so many characters that you know many will die. However, it is beautiful and painfully human. Russell's use of present tense created a unique feel in the story, too; I knew it took place in the past, but their travails felt more immediate.
In all, a highly recommended and educational work for those who read World War II fiction.
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far too many Nazis.First of all, the sheer amount of research is staggering. This novel completely immerses you in the time period and all the horrors that come with it. I found the first hundred pages confusing because of the myriad of viewpoints and muddle of unfamiliar names, but I soon fell into the story and had little trouble keeping track from then on. Goodness, what a story. There are conflicts with conflicts within conflicts, and the losses are staggering. Some 43,000 Jewish refugees fled into Italy and were taken in by a vast network of safe houses, all orchestrated by the Catholic church in cooperation with the resident Italian Jews. This isn't a feel-good story. It doesn't have the same gripping feel of The Sparrow, in part because there are so many characters that you know many will die. However, it is beautiful and painfully human. Russell's use of present tense created a unique feel in the story, too; I knew it took place in the past, but their travails felt more immediate.
In all, a highly recommended and educational work for those who read World War II fiction.
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LibraryThing member mrstreme
I can’t imagine running for my life. I can’t imagine having to hide my religion, to rely on the kindness of strangers for food and shelter, to tell my children to mix their moldy bread in milk to disguise the taste. I can’t imagine any of it.
But, after reading A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria
A Thread of Grace is the story of Jewish people living in Italy during the German occupation. Many of them, for years, have been one step ahead of German troops, running from Belgium, Austria and Holland before settling in southern France – and then on the run again when the Germans were back on their heels. They crossed the Alps and poured into Italy, to freedom they thought, until Italy surrendered and Germany took control of the country.
Ordered to turn themselves in, the Jewish people (both Italian and non-Italian) fled to the countryside and into the benevolent homes of Italian peasants. There, they faked Catholicism, learned Italian and tried to blend into the countryside. Aided by many Catholic priests and nuns, they fought for survival – many joining guerrilla troops that aided the Allies in their defeat of Germany.
There are a lot of characters in this book, and you feel for every one of them. Not all of them survive the story. While this is fiction, you know deep in your heart that it’s still real. Men died fighting in fields, old women and children were shot for just standing in the wrong place at the wrong time, women were raped and tortured. You know the characters represent real people in a time not so long ago.
Lovers of World War II fiction and Mary Doria Russell’s previous works should read A Thread of Grace. It does require a little patience, and it will break your heart. But it will help you appreciate even more how war devastates all, not matter who is the victor.
But, after reading A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria
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Russell, I can imagine it all – and so much more.A Thread of Grace is the story of Jewish people living in Italy during the German occupation. Many of them, for years, have been one step ahead of German troops, running from Belgium, Austria and Holland before settling in southern France – and then on the run again when the Germans were back on their heels. They crossed the Alps and poured into Italy, to freedom they thought, until Italy surrendered and Germany took control of the country.
Ordered to turn themselves in, the Jewish people (both Italian and non-Italian) fled to the countryside and into the benevolent homes of Italian peasants. There, they faked Catholicism, learned Italian and tried to blend into the countryside. Aided by many Catholic priests and nuns, they fought for survival – many joining guerrilla troops that aided the Allies in their defeat of Germany.
There are a lot of characters in this book, and you feel for every one of them. Not all of them survive the story. While this is fiction, you know deep in your heart that it’s still real. Men died fighting in fields, old women and children were shot for just standing in the wrong place at the wrong time, women were raped and tortured. You know the characters represent real people in a time not so long ago.
Lovers of World War II fiction and Mary Doria Russell’s previous works should read A Thread of Grace. It does require a little patience, and it will break your heart. But it will help you appreciate even more how war devastates all, not matter who is the victor.
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LibraryThing member brenzi
Outstanding story about the last two years of WWII in German occupied northwestern Italy. Lengthy list of characters and frequent referral to maps did not diminish enjoyment of the story of the partisans led by Renzo Leoni in their fight against the Nazis to save Italian Jews as well as those
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escaping over the border from German occupied France and Austria. Russell paints a finely detailed picture and kept me turning pages well into the night. Her characterizations of the main players is absolutely fascinating but be prepared for a sad, sad ending. Excellent. Show Less
LibraryThing member Pandababy
I like books with happy endings. A Thread of Grace, by Mary Doria Russell, is not a book of happy endings - not at all. Yet, I will read it again next year.
I don't just like her book, I love it. In the midst of a story that covers the worst atrocity in human history, and littered with characters of
Russell visited the places she describes in her novel, and interviewed survivors of the war. Her original research lends an authentic, present quality to her prose - an immediacy that caught me up into the lives her characters.
There is no question that Russell not only makes history live again, she proves beyond any doubt that it's relevant to our times and our lives.
I don't just like her book, I love it. In the midst of a story that covers the worst atrocity in human history, and littered with characters of
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questionable morality and worse deeds, Mary Doria Russell manages to find a thread of grace, and to convince me that it is genuine and enduring.Russell visited the places she describes in her novel, and interviewed survivors of the war. Her original research lends an authentic, present quality to her prose - an immediacy that caught me up into the lives her characters.
There is no question that Russell not only makes history live again, she proves beyond any doubt that it's relevant to our times and our lives.
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LibraryThing member lit_chick
"A reminder, nothing more: they are practiced at this, the Jews of Sainte-Gisele. For most, this is the second or third or fourth time they've fled the Wehrmacht or Gestapo or local police, moving from Austria or Czechoslovakia or Poland to Belgium or Holland or France. Many carry children. Most
Sep 8, 1943: fourteen year old Claudette Blum is a Belgian Jew who has taken refuge in Italian-occupied southern France with her father, an accountant who worked for a metal-ore company. When the Italians surrender their occupation, the Germans' arrival in France is eminent, and Claudette and her father, along with thousands of others, are again on the move. Claudette’s mother Paula and brothers David and Jacques have not yet arrived to France, and her father attempts to leave word for them. So begins their dangerous journey over the
Alps towards Italy, where they hope to find safety now that the Italians have broken with Germany and forged a separate peace with the Allies; but they will discover that Italy is anything but peaceful. It has become a battleground for the Nazis, the Allies, resistance fighters, Jews in hiding, and Italian civilians trying to survive.
Set against this dramatic historical background, A Thread of Grace follows the lives of several enticing characters: a disillusioned German doctor, a priest, a charismatic Italian resistance leader, and an Italian rabbi's family. Through these, it tells the little-known story of the vast underground effort of Italian citizens who saved 43,000 Jews during the final phase of the war.
What I Liked/Didn’t: The novel is superbly written, its history rich, and its plot complex. Prior to reading, I did not even know of Italy’s WWII covert movement to save Jews from persecution. That said, I found this one very difficult to follow – in spite of a two-page list of characters at the front of the book. The characters, while interesting, were difficult to keep straight; and the locations within Italy changed every couple of pages. But history is not my forte, so others will undoubtedly have an easier time with it.
"Immense, intractable, incomprehensible, that conflict remains the pivot point of two centuries, the event that defines before and after. Hundreds of millions killed, wounded, maimed, displaced. The last survivors dying now. Their children and their grandchildren are fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy that the dry bones shall live again, but the poison still seeps down, contaminating generations. So much evil, so much destruction." (425)
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carry suitcases. Some have fashioned knapsacks from blankets and string. Leaderless, they will attempt to climb the Alps in street clothes, wearing whatever shoes are still intact after years on the run, one step ahead of the Nazis ... (24)Sep 8, 1943: fourteen year old Claudette Blum is a Belgian Jew who has taken refuge in Italian-occupied southern France with her father, an accountant who worked for a metal-ore company. When the Italians surrender their occupation, the Germans' arrival in France is eminent, and Claudette and her father, along with thousands of others, are again on the move. Claudette’s mother Paula and brothers David and Jacques have not yet arrived to France, and her father attempts to leave word for them. So begins their dangerous journey over the
Alps towards Italy, where they hope to find safety now that the Italians have broken with Germany and forged a separate peace with the Allies; but they will discover that Italy is anything but peaceful. It has become a battleground for the Nazis, the Allies, resistance fighters, Jews in hiding, and Italian civilians trying to survive.
Set against this dramatic historical background, A Thread of Grace follows the lives of several enticing characters: a disillusioned German doctor, a priest, a charismatic Italian resistance leader, and an Italian rabbi's family. Through these, it tells the little-known story of the vast underground effort of Italian citizens who saved 43,000 Jews during the final phase of the war.
What I Liked/Didn’t: The novel is superbly written, its history rich, and its plot complex. Prior to reading, I did not even know of Italy’s WWII covert movement to save Jews from persecution. That said, I found this one very difficult to follow – in spite of a two-page list of characters at the front of the book. The characters, while interesting, were difficult to keep straight; and the locations within Italy changed every couple of pages. But history is not my forte, so others will undoubtedly have an easier time with it.
"Immense, intractable, incomprehensible, that conflict remains the pivot point of two centuries, the event that defines before and after. Hundreds of millions killed, wounded, maimed, displaced. The last survivors dying now. Their children and their grandchildren are fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy that the dry bones shall live again, but the poison still seeps down, contaminating generations. So much evil, so much destruction." (425)
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LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
When Italy surrendered to the Allied Forces, it's soldiers retreated from the portion of France it had occupied, followed by Jewish refugees who had relied on Italy's disinterest in persecuting them. German troops in Italy became occupiers and began to enforce their own racial purity policies.
Mary
Russell knows how to tell a story. A Thread of Grace weaves together several narratives, with a large cast of characters, but she always manages to make each character real and memorable, from Claudette Blum, a teenager coming of age missing her mother and younger brothers and forced to endlessly adjust to her changing circumstances, to Meisinger, an equally young German soldier who driver to the Grüppenfuhrer in the last days of the German occupation. This is a difficult book to put down. There's a great deal of derring-do, from the priest hiding money under his cassock to give to those households hiding Jews, acting against orders from Rome, to the Calabrian soldier who remains in the Alps in order to help the refugees and avoid conscription by the German Army, to a Grandmother who undertakes a dangerous task because sitting safely at home is too boring for her, there is always something going on, usually several things at once. And Russell never lets the reader forget that this isn't an adventure story and that the ending for far too many of the people involved isn't a celebration at the end of the war.
Mary
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Doria Russell sets her novel in a fictional valley that leads into the Alps during these final years of the Second World War. A Thread of Grace follows a few families that, after having been unwelcome refugees in France, cross the Alps in street shoes and carrying the last bits of their former lives in battered suitcases, with the help of Italian soldiers who see these families as people desperately needing their help. And in a small city at the other end of the valley, a Rabbi and his family who have been instrumental in caring for the Jewish refugees from eastern Europe, face the decision of whether to go into hiding themselves or to stay in order to continue to help the Jews in Porto Sant'Andrea. Russell knows how to tell a story. A Thread of Grace weaves together several narratives, with a large cast of characters, but she always manages to make each character real and memorable, from Claudette Blum, a teenager coming of age missing her mother and younger brothers and forced to endlessly adjust to her changing circumstances, to Meisinger, an equally young German soldier who driver to the Grüppenfuhrer in the last days of the German occupation. This is a difficult book to put down. There's a great deal of derring-do, from the priest hiding money under his cassock to give to those households hiding Jews, acting against orders from Rome, to the Calabrian soldier who remains in the Alps in order to help the refugees and avoid conscription by the German Army, to a Grandmother who undertakes a dangerous task because sitting safely at home is too boring for her, there is always something going on, usually several things at once. And Russell never lets the reader forget that this isn't an adventure story and that the ending for far too many of the people involved isn't a celebration at the end of the war.
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LibraryThing member Trinity
I'm a bit of a WWII buff and have read many books on the subject. This is now one of my very favorites. While there are many characters to follow, I was deeply engrossed in the struggle of each one. The kindness, compassion and bravery of the Italians is matched by the heart wrenching stories of
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the Jewish refugees. The story was very hard to read but so worth it, I would recommend this book to everyone. Show Less
LibraryThing member ddelmoni
from my B&N post -- 5/18/2006
If not for my book club I would have never picked up this wonderful book. Mary Doria Russell has written historical fiction the way it was meant to be written, accurate historical research wrapped in an exquisitely written, compelling story. Bravo! By jump starting our
If not for my book club I would have never picked up this wonderful book. Mary Doria Russell has written historical fiction the way it was meant to be written, accurate historical research wrapped in an exquisitely written, compelling story. Bravo! By jump starting our
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education on the Italian resistance and the everyday courage of the Italian people, stories that seem to have been side tracked in American memory and media, Russell landed all historical fiction tumblers perfectly into place! Show Less
LibraryThing member riofriotex
A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell, is historical fiction set in Italy during World War II. It's about Italian Catholics and Jews who were part of the Italian Resistance and who hid Jews both from Italy and elsewhere. A list of characters at the front of the book includes 45 people (one of
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which goes by four names in the book), which was too many characters for me to track. I had purchased my copy at a used book sale, and the previous reader had torn out this list of characters and used it as a bookmark - I can understand why. It probably didn't help that I read most of this book right around the time my mother died - I was pretty tired and distracted. While I learned a lot from this book, reading about so many deaths was depressing, and I'm not sure I would read it again. Show Less
LibraryThing member Lisa2013
recommended for: those who enjoy fine novels, historical fiction novels, World War II history
For once I was able to thoroughly enjoy a historical fiction book without wondering what was real and what was fiction.
This is a character driven story and everyone in the book seemed genuine. I especially
I’m a sucker for maps and this book had a map of real places and one of fictional places that were within the real map’s area. There was also a handy characters list at the front of the book. I found myself referring to both of these frequently and found the character list indispensable, especially because a few of the characters went by more than one name.
It was so refreshing to see a book about World War II that’s about Nazi occupied Europe (in this case Northern Italy) where the populace helped Jewish citizens and refugees and partisians too, and where Jewish people often helped themselves and also often contributed significantly to the fight against the German occupiers. (At times it reminded me of another great Holocaust era novel: The Book Thief, which shows ordinary German citizens who help a Jewish man/Jewish people in Germany during the same Nazi era.)
There was actually much humor.
The book had a compelling message about what trauma can do to people and also made me think (more) about elderly people and what they might have been like when they were younger. I also thought the portrayals of the people's motivations and changes they experienced seemed very authentic.
I loved the meaning of the title A Thread of Grace.
I did think this was a fine novel and I appreciated the research that went into writing it.
What I didn’t like a lot but was okay:
I knew a bit more about this book than I would have liked before I read it, so I won’t say a lot, but I will say that it’s a book about a brutal war so the reader can expect a lot of carnage.
There are so many characters and there were a lot of times where I grew very attached to a character and then they didn’t appear again for many, many pages; there are a lot of subplots; in this book I guess the plot is a bunch of subplots as no single one really stood out for me.
What I didn’t like:
No, Hitler was not a vegetarian. I didn’t like that this book perpetuated that myth.
and:
Because of this book, I'd like to read more history about this area of Northern Italy during World War II. I'd also love to visit the area, even though I'd enjoy the cuisine of Southern Italy much more. It will have to be armchair traveling for me.
For once I was able to thoroughly enjoy a historical fiction book without wondering what was real and what was fiction.
This is a character driven story and everyone in the book seemed genuine. I especially
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enjoyed the poignant sensibilities of the children and adolescents. I’m a sucker for maps and this book had a map of real places and one of fictional places that were within the real map’s area. There was also a handy characters list at the front of the book. I found myself referring to both of these frequently and found the character list indispensable, especially because a few of the characters went by more than one name.
It was so refreshing to see a book about World War II that’s about Nazi occupied Europe (in this case Northern Italy) where the populace helped Jewish citizens and refugees and partisians too, and where Jewish people often helped themselves and also often contributed significantly to the fight against the German occupiers. (At times it reminded me of another great Holocaust era novel: The Book Thief, which shows ordinary German citizens who help a Jewish man/Jewish people in Germany during the same Nazi era.)
There was actually much humor.
The book had a compelling message about what trauma can do to people and also made me think (more) about elderly people and what they might have been like when they were younger. I also thought the portrayals of the people's motivations and changes they experienced seemed very authentic.
I loved the meaning of the title A Thread of Grace.
I did think this was a fine novel and I appreciated the research that went into writing it.
What I didn’t like a lot but was okay:
I knew a bit more about this book than I would have liked before I read it, so I won’t say a lot, but I will say that it’s a book about a brutal war so the reader can expect a lot of carnage.
There are so many characters and there were a lot of times where I grew very attached to a character and then they didn’t appear again for many, many pages; there are a lot of subplots; in this book I guess the plot is a bunch of subplots as no single one really stood out for me.
What I didn’t like:
No, Hitler was not a vegetarian. I didn’t like that this book perpetuated that myth.
and:
Because of this book, I'd like to read more history about this area of Northern Italy during World War II. I'd also love to visit the area, even though I'd enjoy the cuisine of Southern Italy much more. It will have to be armchair traveling for me.
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LibraryThing member msf59
It is fall of 1943, and Jewish refugees are fleeing occupied France, into northern Italy, although this axis country just surrendered and the Nazis are moving in. Thanks to the incredible kindness and daring of a network of Italian citizens, they are able to shelter these refugees, despite
vivid picture of this dangerous period.
MDR has delivered again. She is six for six, for me. Here, she has directed her skillful sights on a little known chapter of WWII history, with her bold, writing style, uncanny characterization, and her usual meticulous dive into the research involved. It took her seven years to write this magnificent novel.
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incredible odds. The story focuses on several different characters, on all sides, giving a vivid picture of this dangerous period.
MDR has delivered again. She is six for six, for me. Here, she has directed her skillful sights on a little known chapter of WWII history, with her bold, writing style, uncanny characterization, and her usual meticulous dive into the research involved. It took her seven years to write this magnificent novel.
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LibraryThing member LibraryCin
This is set in Italy during the last few years of World War II. As much as I figured out of the plot was from the start: 14-year old Jewish girl, Claudette, and her father are running from the Nazis into Italy.
I didn't like it. I was bored and my mind wandered. I was very rarely interested in what
I didn't like it. I was bored and my mind wandered. I was very rarely interested in what
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was happening, and it seems that different names were used for the same person? Confusing. Claudette/Claudia was the most “obvious” one, but throughout the entire book, I didn't know if she was the same person or not. My mind wandered and I rarely was able to focus. As I looked at the character list (when I finished the book... it wasn't worth my time to look at it while I was reading, as I just wanted to get it done and move on), I confirmed that a few characters had multiple names. Show Less
LibraryThing member GlobalVagabond
Although the subject of this historical novel is heartbreaking, I was mesmerized from the first page and drawn into the lives of the many strong characters. Russell's straight-forward story-telling is at once compassionate and dispassionate. She conveys both the horrors and the heroism of the time
I am in awe of the amount and detail of the research that must have gone into the writing of this novel (the Author's Note and Readers' Guide at the end of the book are enlightening). I will definitely look for Ms. Russell's other novels.
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with sympathy but without sentimentality. And she is an absolute master of dialogue. I am in awe of the amount and detail of the research that must have gone into the writing of this novel (the Author's Note and Readers' Guide at the end of the book are enlightening). I will definitely look for Ms. Russell's other novels.
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LibraryThing member mckait
Once again Russell gave us a compelling story, well written.. a good story. You will not want to put it down...
LibraryThing member jbeem
Set in Italy during the dramatic finale of World War II, this new novel is the first in seven years by the bestselling author of The Sparrow and Children of God., rec by book club site
LibraryThing member dickcraig
More great writing by one of the most intellectual writers out there. This book is about the Jews that escaped to Italy during the Second World War.
LibraryThing member mbergman
I listened to this on CD read by a woman who insisted on giving the various characters annoying accents, which detracted from my enjoyment, and I was somewhat distracted while listening to parts of it anyway. It's the story of a group of Jewish refugees in northern Italy during the last year of
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WWII. It's told with the same emotional, psychological, & intellectual complexity as Russell's earlier books. And it's also filled with priests & rabbis & other people of faith--and at least one cynic--acting on behalf of justice in the midst of unspeakable cruelty (which Russell does not flinch from depicting vividly). Show Less
LibraryThing member knithappened
Let me set the stage...one of my favorite books of all time is the author's very first book, The Sparrow, although the sequel left a lot to be desired. Glad to report that I'm back to being a devoted fan! This story is set in the latter stages of World War II in the mountains of Italy where I was
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fascinated to learn that many native-born Italians took in Jewish refugees saving them from the horrors of the concentration camps. There are multiple characters to keep track of and thankfully there is a cheat sheet at the beginning of the book so I didn't get thoroughly lost. The reader is immersed wholeheartedly in the times...you almost feel as though you are hiding out along with the refugees fighting the elements in the dead of winter in the Italian Alps. If you love good historical fiction, pick up this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member chaws
Historical fiction about Jews and Jewish sympathizers during the German occupation of Italy during WWII. Like other books by MDR, this features a deeply traumatized but enormously likable male character.
LibraryThing member grheault
Jesuits in space (The Sparrow) was great because it had a few deep characters, fascinating premise, action. This book, well, not so fascinating. I didn't give it a chance I guess. I was thinking of Primo Levi and wondering hadn't I heard this story vividly told before? I failed to get hooked on
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particular characters early enough, and got lost with who's who. Use of the present tense annoyed me. DNF Show Less
LibraryThing member the_awesome_opossum
A Thread of Grace is a work of historical fiction that rings truer and hits the reader closer to home than many actual history books. The story follows Jewish refugees who have fled to the Italian countryside rather than turn themselves in when Germany gains occupation of Italy. With the aid of
This is a story that mourns the many by mourning only a few; every casualty in the novel is crushing because the characters are so real and you know that, in real life, such situations happened hundreds of times over and are left mostly as dry statistics rather than real lives cut short. Although the book certainly isn't happy, nor would I even call it hopeful, there is something to be said for the tenacity of everyone who struggled against Germany's domination and the spirit of all the characters who clung to family and love in times of such unimaginable turmoil.
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Catholics offering safe houses and supplies, these refugees struggle to remain hidden and out of Germany's reaches, a seemingly futile task when it looks as though Germany is able to control the entire world.This is a story that mourns the many by mourning only a few; every casualty in the novel is crushing because the characters are so real and you know that, in real life, such situations happened hundreds of times over and are left mostly as dry statistics rather than real lives cut short. Although the book certainly isn't happy, nor would I even call it hopeful, there is something to be said for the tenacity of everyone who struggled against Germany's domination and the spirit of all the characters who clung to family and love in times of such unimaginable turmoil.
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LibraryThing member Bibliofemmes
This title was our October 09 selection. We met at Gail's house for a wonderful repast featuring the foods mentioned in the book. The discussion was rich and intense, with the majority of readers feeling they had gained new perspective from the story but also exhausted and wrung out from the events
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and lives portrayed. Show Less
LibraryThing member chndlrs
A very compelling account of the Italian resistance in WWII. Would pair nicely with Eleni, by Nicholas Gage.
LibraryThing member greeniezona
Somehow, I forgot something very important about Russell that I should have remembered: how ruthlessly and thoroughly she likes to break your heart.
At one time I knew. At one time I was a crumpled mess after reading The Sparrow, and then its sequel Children of God. Which were amazing books about
Parts of this book are uplifting. Parts of this book will make you fear those with absolutely certainty even more than you already do. Her characters are amazing. Flawed, terrified, brave, determined. The risks some of them take are absolutely breathtaking. You will love them. Which is, of course, the danger.
Spoilers ahead.Everyone fucking dies in the end. 43,000 Jews saved, right? You wouldn't know it from reading this book. Of course it's darkest before the dawn and the Nazis get vicious, wild, as they realize it's all crumbling before their eyes. But all this work. All this bravery and sacrifice. Can you remind me what it was for, Mary Doria Russell? As character after character falls, can you remind me what they bought with their lives? As far as I remember, two named characters survive in the end. One emigrates, lives a long life, never to speak of her war experiences with her children, who describe her as icy and feel they never knew her. One becomes an official in the post-war Italian government, which, when we last see it, is engaged in brutal recriminations against anyone viewed as Nazi sympathizers. Anyone who didn't resist hard enough and did what they could do to stay alive.
No, there are at least two other characters who lived. But still. There is a moment, at the end of the book, where there was the perfect opportunity to send home, even in a wounded and exhausted way, the scope of what all this accomplished. Russell doesn't take it. I know, we try so hard to find things to feel good about in WWII, and maybe Russell thinks we shouldn't feel good. But then don't say this book is about grace, then, okay?
Don't get me wrong. This is an amazing book. I cared so much and I learned so much. And I expected to end the book gutted, bleeding on the floor. I just thought she'd hand me some medicine, instead of telling me to go get some myself.
At one time I knew. At one time I was a crumpled mess after reading The Sparrow, and then its sequel Children of God. Which were amazing books about
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faith and hope and massive cultural misunderstandings in first contact with an alien race. Still, somehow I was fooled. The word "grace" in the title. The blurb on the back that promises 43,000 Jews saved during the final phase of WWII. It's been a theme I keep looking for, lately. How to do good in evil times. How to recognize the full scope of evil when you're in it.Parts of this book are uplifting. Parts of this book will make you fear those with absolutely certainty even more than you already do. Her characters are amazing. Flawed, terrified, brave, determined. The risks some of them take are absolutely breathtaking. You will love them. Which is, of course, the danger.
Spoilers ahead.
No, there are at least two other characters who lived. But still. There is a moment, at the end of the book, where there was the perfect opportunity to send home, even in a wounded and exhausted way, the scope of what all this accomplished. Russell doesn't take it. I know, we try so hard to find things to feel good about in WWII, and maybe Russell thinks we shouldn't feel good. But then don't say this book is about grace, then, okay?
Don't get me wrong. This is an amazing book. I cared so much and I learned so much. And I expected to end the book gutted, bleeding on the floor. I just thought she'd hand me some medicine, instead of telling me to go get some myself.
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LibraryThing member suesbooks
It was very interesting to learn about the role the Italians played to help the Jews in World War II. I was very interested in the first part of the pbook, but as the war continued, I felt the aouthor's presentation was choppy, and I found the characters less well developed than I like.
ISBN
0375501843 / 9780375501845
Local notes
signed copy