Berlin had never been so quiet. Cars and trucks lay in useless pieces. Even bicycles were scarce.
the living and the lost by ellen feldman
I have read a lot of books about WWII and the Holocaust. Reading on that particular time in history is an obsession of mine. But, I have read very few books that take place after WWII ends. And I have read zero books that take place in Germany during that time. So, when I read the blurb for The Living and the Lost, I knew that I had to read it.
The Living and the Lost had a medium-paced storyline. There were times where the storyline dragged but overall, the pacing fit the book. There was also a tiny bit of lag in the middle of the book, but that was quickly resolved.
I found it very hard to connect to Millie in the first half of the book. She was so angry and so full of self-hatred that it transferred over to me. I did pity her, and I understood that anyone running from that sort of traumatic situation would have issues. I connected to her after she started dating Major Sutton and started working through her problems. I wish that the connection had come sooner.
I was fascinated with David and how he joined the intelligence community. His portions of the book were gritty, realistic, and in line with what I have read about that type of training. I do wish that the author had written more about what David did because it interested me.
There is a lot of anger in The Living and the Lost. A lot of anger and did overwhelm me during specific chapters. There is also a lot of sadness. There were scenes where I cried (like when Elke was forced to go back with her mother). So, be warned, you will need a lot of tissues.
There is a bit of romance in The Living and the Lost. I wasn’t sure how Millie and Harry’s romance would fit into the book, but the author did a great job weaving it into Millie’s story.
The end of The Living and the Lost was a little anticlimactic. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t what was written….lol.
I would recommend The Living and the Lost to anyone over the age of 16. There is sex (nothing graphic), mild language, and violence.
I have found a few about this time and they were interesting, but most were in the UK, so this is new to me. Too bad it wasn’t a bit better.
I thought it was interesting but the main character was “meh” for me. I wish it was better too.