Quite often I open up my kindle and read an old favorite when insomnia strikes, however, lately I’ve stacked so many interesting books on my kindle that have appealed to me that I’ve been reading those! Two of these reads were so excellent that I will more than likely reread them, and one I am going to purchase to put on my bookshelf and another to gift to a friend who will just love it!
1914. For Paul, with love. Jewish silversmith Johann Blumenthal engraved those words on his most exquisite creation, a singing filigree bird inside a tiny ornamented box. He crafted this treasure for his young son before leaving to fight in a terrible war to honor his beloved country—a country that would soon turn against his own family.
A half century later, Londoner Lilian Morrison inherits the box after the death of her parents. Though the silver is tarnished and dented, this much-loved treasure is also a link to an astonishing past. With the keepsake is a letter from Lilian’s mother, telling her daughter for the first time that she was adopted. Too young to remember, Lilian was rescued from a Germany in the grips of the Holocaust. Now only she can trace what happened to a family who scattered to the reaches of the world, a family forced to choose between their heritage and their dreams for the future.
Oh my word I loved this story. It was an amazing find! I own several nonfiction and some fiction Holocaust literature books, they are a favorite of mine to read. The Silver Music Box I will be purchasing to join the bookshelf. The generational story of consequences for decisions that were so incredibly difficult to make due to the surrounding happenings in history lured you into the story and made it impossible for me to put down! A beautiful sorrowful story. There is a second book rumored to be out November 2018! I can not wait!
The first novel by acclaimed Greek writer Lena Manta to appear in English translation, The House by the River is an intimate, emotionally powerful saga following five young women as they realize that no matter the men they choose, the careers they pursue, or the children they raise, the only constant is home.
Theodora knows she can’t keep her five beautiful daughters at home forever—they’re too curious, too free spirited, too like their late father. And so, before each girl leaves the small house on the riverside at the foot of Mount Olympus, Theodora makes sure they know they are always welcome to return.
A devoted and resilient mother, Theodora has lived through World War II, through the Nazi occupation of Greece, and through her husband’s death, and now she endures the twenty-year-long silence of her daughters’ absence. Her children have their own lives—they’ve married, traveled the world, and courted romance, fame, and even tragedy. But as they become modern, independent women in pursuit of their dreams, Theodora knows they need her—and each other—more than ever. Have they grown so far apart that they’ve forgotten their childhood house in its tiny village, or will their broken hearts finally lead them home?
This was a beautiful story. So many lessons learned, so much to ponder with each daughter’s life and the mother who was the head of them all. I personally could find bits on myself and my story in all of them. Although my hometown is definitely NOT what would call me back. Chicago for sure calls me, so I could relate to that feeling of calm and peace. I like how the daughters’ stories were told one after the other in book like fashion after our introduction to them all, and the ending as well as the return home was made. It was a little more racy in parts (this is why I don’t read romance) than I was planning on (hides eyes whilst reading) the story was excellent and very well told. Being a FIRST book I very much hope to read more of this authors work!
