Pam Jenoff's Historical Fiction

Happy Friday everyone!  Okay, so Friday is almost over, but I wanted to write a quick note since it's been a while since my last post.

First... a huge THANK YOU to everyone who entered the Lisa Van Allen giveaway :)  And, congratulations to the winners!  I was so excited to be able to share such an amazing author with you all, and hope that you pick up a copy of either (or both) The Wishing Thread or The Night Garden to read.

Unfortunately, I haven't had a ton of reading time lately. However, I did finish a spectacular historical fiction novel by Pam Jenoff entitled The Things We Cherished.  I am a huge fan of historical fiction, and one of my favorite eras to read about is World War II.  Lucky for me Pam Jenoff has an unbelievable background (including working for the Pentagon and working at the US Consulate in Krakow, Poland) which gives her an edge when it comes to writing about this time period.

The Things We Cherished contains different characters and story-lines spanning from 1903 to 2009.  Beginning with a struggling farmer and his wife looking for a way to travel to a better life in America all the way to the modern story of a man being tried as a war criminal almost sixty years after his crimes were committed.  Everything ties together through a one-of-a-kind clock the farmer makes to sell for money to purchase passage to America.  After the clock is commissioned and sold, it ends up holding secrets to be revealed throughout the novel.

Everything in this book is so well put together.  You can really tell that Pam understands the history behind each of these times as well as legal processes.  There is a little bit of something for everyone in this novel... mystery, family drama, love stories, and history.  I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a well-told World War II novel with a different angle.  Yes, the Holocaust is referenced and the horrifying events that surrounded it, but more than that, this is the story of real people dealing with raw emotions during a time when figuring out the "right" thing to do was not as clear as black and white.

Now the only problem is trying to decide which Pam Jenoff novel to read next!  I purchased her newest title, The Winter Guest, when it released a couple months ago, and I've put it on the top of my to-read pile :)  I highly recommend checking out one of Pam's books next time you're looking for something to read!

This upcoming weekend I have book club, so I will have a spooky story post coming up soon...  I hope everyone has a beautiful weekend!  Happy Reading!