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Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML: This program features a bonus conversation between the author and narrators. From Jennifer Rosner, National Jewish Book Award Finalist and author of The Yellow Bird Sings, comes a novel based on the true stories of children stolen in the wake of World War II. Ana will never forget her mother's face when she and her baby brother, Oskar, were sent out of their Polish ghetto and into the arms of a Christian friend. For Oskar, though, their new family is the only one he remembers. When a woman from a Jewish reclamation organization seizes them, believing she has their best interest at heart, Ana sees an opportunity to reconnect with her roots, while Oskar sees only the loss of the home he loves. Roger grows up in a monastery in France, inventing stories and trading riddles with his best friend in a life of quiet concealment. When a relative seeks to retrieve him, the Church steals him across the Pyrenees before relinquishing him to family in Jerusalem. Renata, a post-graduate student in archaeology, has spent her life unearthing secrets from the past�??except for her own. After her mother's death, Renata's grief is entwined with all the questions her mother left unanswered, including why they fled Germany so quickly when Renata was a little girl. Two decades later, they are each building lives for themselves, trying to move on from the trauma and loss that haunts them. But as their stories converge in Israel, in unexpected ways, they must each ask where and to whom they truly belong. Beautifully evocative and tender, filled with both luminosity and anguish, Once We Were Home reveals a little-known history. Based on the true stories of children stolen during wartime, this heart-wrenching novel raises questions of complicity and responsibility, belonging and identity, good intentions and unforeseen consequences, as it confronts what it really means to find home. A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.… (more)
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This is the story of four children of different ages and the impact of the displacement on them. They endure name changes, some multiple times. They are shifted around from place to place, probably resulting in attachment issues. My heart broke for these children. They were caught in the middle when people felt compelled to do what they thought was right for these children. Rosner does an excellent job of expressing the emotional turmoil that haunted these children throughout their lives.
Mira is seven years old when she and her brother Daniel, only three years old, are turned over to a Christian friend by their mother. Mira now becomes Ana, and Daniel is Oskar. Ana remembers her past life, but Oskar has no memory of his biological parents. Both children were loved by their Christian parents and left devastated when they were forcibly removed from the home. Their story was the one that I found the most heart-wrenching.
Roger was very inquisitive, always asking questions. He was placed in the St. Vincent nursery when he was only three years old. When his family tries to reclaim him, he is spirited away. Renata, a post-graduate student in archaeology, was the most mysterious of the four. Her story starts as an adult and then flashes backward to tell her story. After her mother’s death, she has questions that she is compelled to find answers to.
When they all end up in Israel twenty years later, their lives come together in surprising ways. They struggle to find themselves and determine their own definitions of home and family. (Note: There was an OMG moment for me when I had to stop reading and think back on the stories.)
Rosner is a masterful storyteller. I loved “The Yellow Bird Sings” and was completely enthralled with “Once We Were Home.” I highly recommend this book of historical fiction. I have already decided that it will be a selection for my book club.
We meet Ana and Oskar whose mother had to give her children to a Polish family who would raise them as their own to keep them safe.
The children had a wonderful life
Where will Ana and Oskar end up?
We meet Roger who grew up in a convent to be kept safe, who was very inquisitive, a clever, witty writer of stories and jokes, and sadly had no parents to go home with on holidays.
We find out what happens to him and where he goes.
We meet Renata as an adult who is a scientist in Israel at an archeological dig. We learn of Israel’s beauty as Renata takes side trips to Tel Aviv and other places.
On her shopping trip she finds a hand-chiseled chessboard and an ornately carved set of nesting boxes.
Could the craftsman in the shop be none other than Oskar whose uncle taught him to whittle and make beautiful shapes out of wood?
I will dearly miss the characters…especially Oskar….he was my favorite.
It also was fun to see our favorite violinist again from THE YELLOW BIRD SINGS.
Another beautiful, beautiful but heartbreaking-to-the-core read based on true events.
ONCE WE WERE HOME does have some happy stories tucked inside as well, along with comments you will ponder, and thoughts about life’s worries and lessons.
Historical fiction fans will devour this marvelously written, impeccably researched read where Ms. Rosner introduces readers to a little known program organized after the war for displaced children.
Ms. Rosner’s writing is exquisite. 5/5
The book was given to me by the author for an honest review.
It
I did fluctuate between 4 and 5 stars on this one. Mostly because there were some “flat” places. But it is very emotional so I rolled it all the way up.
The narrators, Gabra Zackman and Vikas Adams made this story come to life. I loved their tag team on the characters and sections of this novel m
Need an emotional read about something you would never know occurred….this is it! Grab your today.
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
Four of these stories are featured in Jennifer Rosner's Once We Were Home. A brother and sister live with a deeply caring couple, learning to hide their true identities if questioned. The sister, who is older, remembers their mother and mourns her absence. Roger, an engaging boy, lives in a monastery hiding his confusion with riddles while bonding with a priest and a nun. Renata is introduced as an adult, an archaeologist grieving the death of the woman she believed to be her mother.
Their stories evolve in unexpected ways in this novel that questions whether we all have more commonalities than differences. Some of these children were taken (by force, if necessary) to be returned to Israel. This was a confusing time for children who had grown to love those who raised them. It is also a little-known aspect of yet one more of the war time atrocities.