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May. 17th, 2012
The Lost Wife
May. 17th, 2012 09:08 pmOkay, I just finished The Lost Wife.
Definitely worth reading... but have tissues handy. There are several truly heartbreaking sequences in the novel. As I stated in yesterday's book post, The Lost Wife, begins with an 85 year old man attending his grandson's wedding where, across the room, he recognizes the bride's grandmother. He approaches her and she insists that they've never met. But he touches her wrist, revealing a Holocaust tattoo, and says, "You were my wife..."
The story then leaps back to 1920s/1930s Prague as Lenka remembers her happy childhood with relatively well-to-do parents who are desperately trying to have a second child. As Lenka grows, so does her interest in art until she eventually applies to art school. One of her classmates introduces her to Josef, a young medical student.
As anti-semitism grows, narrowing their lives and freedoms.. Lenka's (and Josef's ) upper middle class lifestyle is eroded even as the two of them fall into innocent, breathless first love.
It becomes more and more obvious that Czechslovakia will soon fall and Josef's family has the opportunity to acquire visas to escape to the U.S. Josef begs Lenka to marry him, telling her that as his wife, he can get her a visa too. When he's unable to acquire visas for her parents and her sister, she urges him to go ahead without her. Once out of Czechoslovakia, he can acquire visas for herself and her family. They'll be together again soon. Perhaps even by the end of summer...
Needless to say, this is not what happens.
Lenka and her family are sent first to the concentration camp Terezin and then later to Auschwitz.
There are so many heartbreaking scenes in the book. Parents urging a child to leave them behind. In-laws who don't want a new bride to convince their son to stay behind. Sisters who cling to one another, etc.
A lost love (both Josef and Lenka become convinced that the other has died during the war), second loves, and new families. All of the survivors are haunted by the iemotional scars and losses from the war.
It's not a single love story, but different kinds of love stories. The naive love youth, the love of parent/child, the love of husband and wife, of sisters, of friends, of lost love and of second love,
Worth the read, but, again, have tissues handy.
Definitely worth reading... but have tissues handy. There are several truly heartbreaking sequences in the novel. As I stated in yesterday's book post, The Lost Wife, begins with an 85 year old man attending his grandson's wedding where, across the room, he recognizes the bride's grandmother. He approaches her and she insists that they've never met. But he touches her wrist, revealing a Holocaust tattoo, and says, "You were my wife..."
The story then leaps back to 1920s/1930s Prague as Lenka remembers her happy childhood with relatively well-to-do parents who are desperately trying to have a second child. As Lenka grows, so does her interest in art until she eventually applies to art school. One of her classmates introduces her to Josef, a young medical student.
As anti-semitism grows, narrowing their lives and freedoms.. Lenka's (and Josef's ) upper middle class lifestyle is eroded even as the two of them fall into innocent, breathless first love.
It becomes more and more obvious that Czechslovakia will soon fall and Josef's family has the opportunity to acquire visas to escape to the U.S. Josef begs Lenka to marry him, telling her that as his wife, he can get her a visa too. When he's unable to acquire visas for her parents and her sister, she urges him to go ahead without her. Once out of Czechoslovakia, he can acquire visas for herself and her family. They'll be together again soon. Perhaps even by the end of summer...
Needless to say, this is not what happens.
Lenka and her family are sent first to the concentration camp Terezin and then later to Auschwitz.
There are so many heartbreaking scenes in the book. Parents urging a child to leave them behind. In-laws who don't want a new bride to convince their son to stay behind. Sisters who cling to one another, etc.
A lost love (both Josef and Lenka become convinced that the other has died during the war), second loves, and new families. All of the survivors are haunted by the iemotional scars and losses from the war.
It's not a single love story, but different kinds of love stories. The naive love youth, the love of parent/child, the love of husband and wife, of sisters, of friends, of lost love and of second love,
Worth the read, but, again, have tissues handy.
The Lost Wife
May. 17th, 2012 09:08 pmOkay, I just finished The Lost Wife.
Definitely worth reading... but have tissues handy. There are several truly heartbreaking sequences in the novel. As I stated in yesterday's book post, The Lost Wife, begins with an 85 year old man attending his grandson's wedding where, across the room, he recognizes the bride's grandmother. He approaches her and she insists that they've never met. But he touches her wrist, revealing a Holocaust tattoo, and says, "You were my wife..."
The story then leaps back to 1920s/1930s Prague as Lenka remembers her happy childhood with relatively well-to-do parents who are desperately trying to have a second child. As Lenka grows, so does her interest in art until she eventually applies to art school. One of her classmates introduces her to Josef, a young medical student.
As anti-semitism grows, narrowing their lives and freedoms.. Lenka's (and Josef's ) upper middle class lifestyle is eroded even as the two of them fall into innocent, breathless first love.
It becomes more and more obvious that Czechslovakia will soon fall and Josef's family has the opportunity to acquire visas to escape to the U.S. Josef begs Lenka to marry him, telling her that as his wife, he can get her a visa too. When he's unable to acquire visas for her parents and her sister, she urges him to go ahead without her. Once out of Czechoslovakia, he can acquire visas for herself and her family. They'll be together again soon. Perhaps even by the end of summer...
Needless to say, this is not what happens.
Lenka and her family are sent first to the concentration camp Terezin and then later to Auschwitz.
There are so many heartbreaking scenes in the book. Parents urging a child to leave them behind. In-laws who don't want a new bride to convince their son to stay behind. Sisters who cling to one another, etc.
A lost love (both Josef and Lenka become convinced that the other has died during the war), second loves, and new families. All of the survivors are haunted by the iemotional scars and losses from the war.
It's not a single love story, but different kinds of love stories. The naive love youth, the love of parent/child, the love of husband and wife, of sisters, of friends, of lost love and of second love,
Worth the read, but, again, have tissues handy.
Definitely worth reading... but have tissues handy. There are several truly heartbreaking sequences in the novel. As I stated in yesterday's book post, The Lost Wife, begins with an 85 year old man attending his grandson's wedding where, across the room, he recognizes the bride's grandmother. He approaches her and she insists that they've never met. But he touches her wrist, revealing a Holocaust tattoo, and says, "You were my wife..."
The story then leaps back to 1920s/1930s Prague as Lenka remembers her happy childhood with relatively well-to-do parents who are desperately trying to have a second child. As Lenka grows, so does her interest in art until she eventually applies to art school. One of her classmates introduces her to Josef, a young medical student.
As anti-semitism grows, narrowing their lives and freedoms.. Lenka's (and Josef's ) upper middle class lifestyle is eroded even as the two of them fall into innocent, breathless first love.
It becomes more and more obvious that Czechslovakia will soon fall and Josef's family has the opportunity to acquire visas to escape to the U.S. Josef begs Lenka to marry him, telling her that as his wife, he can get her a visa too. When he's unable to acquire visas for her parents and her sister, she urges him to go ahead without her. Once out of Czechoslovakia, he can acquire visas for herself and her family. They'll be together again soon. Perhaps even by the end of summer...
Needless to say, this is not what happens.
Lenka and her family are sent first to the concentration camp Terezin and then later to Auschwitz.
There are so many heartbreaking scenes in the book. Parents urging a child to leave them behind. In-laws who don't want a new bride to convince their son to stay behind. Sisters who cling to one another, etc.
A lost love (both Josef and Lenka become convinced that the other has died during the war), second loves, and new families. All of the survivors are haunted by the iemotional scars and losses from the war.
It's not a single love story, but different kinds of love stories. The naive love youth, the love of parent/child, the love of husband and wife, of sisters, of friends, of lost love and of second love,
Worth the read, but, again, have tissues handy.
The Lost Wife
May. 17th, 2012 09:08 pmOkay, I just finished The Lost Wife.
Definitely worth reading... but have tissues handy. There are several truly heartbreaking sequences in the novel. As I stated in yesterday's book post, The Lost Wife, begins with an 85 year old man attending his grandson's wedding where, across the room, he recognizes the bride's grandmother. He approaches her and she insists that they've never met. But he touches her wrist, revealing a Holocaust tattoo, and says, "You were my wife..."
The story then leaps back to 1920s/1930s Prague as Lenka remembers her happy childhood with relatively well-to-do parents who are desperately trying to have a second child. As Lenka grows, so does her interest in art until she eventually applies to art school. One of her classmates introduces her to Josef, a young medical student.
As anti-semitism grows, narrowing their lives and freedoms.. Lenka's (and Josef's ) upper middle class lifestyle is eroded even as the two of them fall into innocent, breathless first love.
It becomes more and more obvious that Czechslovakia will soon fall and Josef's family has the opportunity to acquire visas to escape to the U.S. Josef begs Lenka to marry him, telling her that as his wife, he can get her a visa too. When he's unable to acquire visas for her parents and her sister, she urges him to go ahead without her. Once out of Czechoslovakia, he can acquire visas for herself and her family. They'll be together again soon. Perhaps even by the end of summer...
Needless to say, this is not what happens.
Lenka and her family are sent first to the concentration camp Terezin and then later to Auschwitz.
There are so many heartbreaking scenes in the book. Parents urging a child to leave them behind. In-laws who don't want a new bride to convince their son to stay behind. Sisters who cling to one another, etc.
A lost love (both Josef and Lenka become convinced that the other has died during the war), second loves, and new families. All of the survivors are haunted by the iemotional scars and losses from the war.
It's not a single love story, but different kinds of love stories. The naive love youth, the love of parent/child, the love of husband and wife, of sisters, of friends, of lost love and of second love,
Worth the read, but, again, have tissues handy.
Definitely worth reading... but have tissues handy. There are several truly heartbreaking sequences in the novel. As I stated in yesterday's book post, The Lost Wife, begins with an 85 year old man attending his grandson's wedding where, across the room, he recognizes the bride's grandmother. He approaches her and she insists that they've never met. But he touches her wrist, revealing a Holocaust tattoo, and says, "You were my wife..."
The story then leaps back to 1920s/1930s Prague as Lenka remembers her happy childhood with relatively well-to-do parents who are desperately trying to have a second child. As Lenka grows, so does her interest in art until she eventually applies to art school. One of her classmates introduces her to Josef, a young medical student.
As anti-semitism grows, narrowing their lives and freedoms.. Lenka's (and Josef's ) upper middle class lifestyle is eroded even as the two of them fall into innocent, breathless first love.
It becomes more and more obvious that Czechslovakia will soon fall and Josef's family has the opportunity to acquire visas to escape to the U.S. Josef begs Lenka to marry him, telling her that as his wife, he can get her a visa too. When he's unable to acquire visas for her parents and her sister, she urges him to go ahead without her. Once out of Czechoslovakia, he can acquire visas for herself and her family. They'll be together again soon. Perhaps even by the end of summer...
Needless to say, this is not what happens.
Lenka and her family are sent first to the concentration camp Terezin and then later to Auschwitz.
There are so many heartbreaking scenes in the book. Parents urging a child to leave them behind. In-laws who don't want a new bride to convince their son to stay behind. Sisters who cling to one another, etc.
A lost love (both Josef and Lenka become convinced that the other has died during the war), second loves, and new families. All of the survivors are haunted by the iemotional scars and losses from the war.
It's not a single love story, but different kinds of love stories. The naive love youth, the love of parent/child, the love of husband and wife, of sisters, of friends, of lost love and of second love,
Worth the read, but, again, have tissues handy.