A lot has been written about this book by Jenna Blum. I have to admit, I put off reading it for a long time, even with my mother's recommendation, because I thought it would be depressing. It does deal with Germany during WWII, after all. But once I started reading, I couldn't put it down.
How is it different from other WWII books? Like most, it has fictional characters set within a very real historical event. Blum takes a new approach by having one of the narrators, Anna, the mom, tell her story as a German. Not as a Nazi or a Jew, although she is greatly impacted by both, but as a German not sure of what was going on. As the mom of a toddler, she goes to great lengths to protect her daughter...
Trudy, who bears the effects of her mother's choices in a way her mother probably did not want. Anna wants to protect Trudy, and Trudy wants the truth. Trudy is the narrator in the present day.
Basically, the book begs us to answer what our role would be in horrific events. Would we be proactive? Let things happen as long as they are not directly affecting us? Turn away?
Overall: Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum is definitely worth reading.
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