Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and Alice Hoffman for the opportunity to read and review her latest book. While I wouldn't say magical reasoning books would be on the list of my favorite genres, when written by Alice Hoffman, they deserve 5 stars.
This is a beautifully written, heartbreaking, yet hopeful book of love and loss, mostly the loss of a mother's love. Set during World War II, Hanni is a mother in Berlin who knows that she must leave her daughter, Lea, to give her any chance at life. Hanni's own mother is bedfast and Hanni is duty-bound to stay with her. She wants someone who will love Lea like she does and goes to a rabbi's home for assistance. There, the rabbi's daughter, Ettie, helps Hanni create a magical golem, Ava, who is sworn to protect Lea at all costs. Lea and Ava travel throughout Europe trying to stay alive and together, meeting a cast of characters all doing the same.
Meticulously researched and teaching us more atrocities of this time period, we are also left with the hope that love brings. I loved all the blessings, prayers, thoughts of souls and visions of both protective angels and the angel of death. Highly recommended.
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