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The World That We Knew

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I’m unsure how to start this review. The book started off strong as a standard historical fiction but somehow fell flat. I was never invested in the characters or the plot. I unfortunately would not recommend this book even though I went in wanting so badly to like it.

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The book takes place during World War Two. Lea’s mother, Hanni, knows she must send her daughter Lea, away from Berlin. Ava is a golem, a soulless creature created to act as a guardian to Lea. Ettie, the daughter of a rabbi, is the one who creates Ava, thereby linking the three of them. We hear from each of them with their individual stories. Each story reveals their strength, their love, their humanity, yes, even “soulless” Ava. It’s not often that I care equally about multiple main characters. Once again, Hoffman is the exception to the rule.

As always, Hoffman transports us. Numerous books have tackled the terror of the Nazi regime, yet Hoffman brought up things I’ve never read elsewhere. Her research was intense but is woven seamlessly into the stories. Primarily a story of survival, it also shows us the best and worst of humanity.

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Before I read this book, I would have told you that I absolutely do not enjoy magical realism. But now, I have realized that I only dislike magical realism when it comes out of nowhere and is not well explained. In this book, the magical aspects make complete sense and add to the story. Hoffman takes a story that has been told countless times before and turns it into something new. This story is beautiful, moving, and heartbreaking. If you enjoy World War II stories, but are looking for something a bit different, give The World That We Knew a try.

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I got this ARC as an e-book, which I’m normally not good with. It takes me longer to read, my eyes hurt, I dont like look at a phone that long, I get distracted, you name it. But this book. Man oh man. I could not put my phone down, and finished this book in a couple days. I have always liked Alice Hoffman. Her book The Dovekeepers was one of the first novels I ever read, and really made a lasting impression on me. I read A Marriage of Opposites, and while I liked it, I never loved it. So I figured I’d give this one a go and see what I thought. And (spoiler alert) I was literally blown away.

Some of my favourite quotes include:
“This was the end, this was the beginning, and they had no time for doubt”
“If you are loved, you never lose the person who loved you. You carry them with you all your life”
“If you could love someone, you possessed a soul”

This book was overflowing with love and tragedy and compassion and anger and I felt every single emotion in those words. Hoffman has such an incredible ability to convey such a wide range of emotion in her writing, and this was what I was expecting. Especially since this novel deals with such an inherently tragic and terrible time period.

Every character in this book, whether they were minor characters who the main people met along the way, or Ettie, Lea, Julien or Ava themselves, they were fully fleshed out people who had a distinct tone. There was never any short cuts taken with anyone, and I really appreciated this. For example, a couple that Julien runs into at one point is kind at first but gets distant very soon. Why? Because their son was around Julien’s age and looked similar to him, and had died the previous year. But they still helped him. Little details like this make the book sparkle and immerse you even more into the world.

Another aspect of the book that I loved was the amount of everyday magic in the characters. Ava herself is magic, brought to life through the determination of three women who want to survive the trials they are facing. Her travel is full of magic, but it’s not just her. Ettie and Lea see the angel of death, and must fight it’s constant presence in their lives. The plot itself is engaging, mainly because there is so much going on, and there are also a lot of different characters that we follow. Their interactions, which can sometimes be few or far between, are really special moments that help you understand just how important connections are to those we love.

Overall, I really couldn’t say that I didn’t enjoy anything about this book. 5/5! I look forward to reading more of Hoffman’s work!

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Another amazing book by Alice Hoffman. She has such a way with words. So hearbreakingly beautiful. The story is incredible. Magical realism , folklore .. this book had it all. The descriptions were breathtaking. Ah. So emotional and raw. Truly wonderful and I recommend !

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I love any book by Alice Hoffman and this book is no different. She hit it out of the ball park with this novel. I highly recommend reading this book

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Just incredible. A WWII story done in a way that has not been done. It’s emotional, and magical, and so much more than a war story. You’re raised up with the wins, and crushed low by the losses. It’s not a story, it’s an experience.

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A beautifully written, magical and heartfelt story that I was totally captivated by. I absolutely loved the magical realism aspect to the story.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Canada, and Alice Hoffman for the opportunity to read this wonderful novel. Highly recommend it!

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A beautiful, heartfelt story that will stay with me for a long time. Ever since I read Faithful in 2016 and Dovekeepers in 2017, Alice Hoffman has been one of my favourite authors. She has not disappointed me yet. Actually she continues to "knock my socks off" with her exceptional writing skills.

This World War II story has magical realism added to the horrors and evil encountered by humankind. The fairytale quality explains the sorrow, hardships, and devastation of real life, "but also assure us that once upon a time there was a woman or a girl who managed to rescue herself." This made the story more memorable for me.

I will remember "Lea, a young girl who is sent away from Berlin to ensure she will survive; Ettie, the daughter of a rabbi, who is as brave in the real world as she is in the world of magic; and Ava, a mythic being whose only purpose is to protect the stranger who affects her life in ways she could not have imagined."
-part in quotations from the author in her letter to the reader at beginning of book

In addition to the three mentioned above, I cared deeply for brothers Julien and Victor, who lived in Paris, France; Marianne, their housemaid; Marianne's father; and Dr. Gerard, who was a kind, honest, gentle and caring man. I feared for Victor, Ettie, Marianne's dad and Marianne when they joined the resistance.

I highly recommend this amazing book!

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for a digital ARC of this book. Although I was kindly provided with a digital copy, I chose to listen to the unabridged audiobook The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman and read by Judith Light. All thoughts expressed here are my own.

#TheWorldThatWeKnew
#NetGalley

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RATING: 4 STARS
2019; Simon & Schuster Canada

The World that We Knew is a gorgeous heart wrenching read. This novel is pure Alice Hoffman magic, literally. Hoffman tells a tale set in Europe during World War II, and adds magic realism in a way that give this story a folktale feel. Hanni Kohn sees the the changing times in Berlin, and knows she must get her twelve year old daughter, Lea away from the turmoil. She turns to a rabbi and his daughter, Ettie.

"...Ettie, who offers hope of salvation when she creates a mystical Jewish creature, a rare and unusual golem, who is sworn to protect Lea. Once Ava is brought to life, she and Lea and Ettie become eternally entwined, their paths fated to cross, their fortunes linked." The three find themselves in France where each destinies draws them to their fate.

The World that We Knew is not like all the WW I and II books that are all the rage right now. It is a great mix of fact, fiction and fantasy that takes you away to another place. It still does have the themes of loss, love, death, evil, good, etc. I recommend this one to any reader.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

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There is something about books set during the Holocaust that draw me to them. Maybe it is the power of those stories, the struggles, the hardships, the strength, the friendship and the courage that they portray. The World that we knew is the tale of women connected together in their survive to ensure that their loved ones survive. It highlighted the power of love and the length to which a mother would go to save her daughter.

There is a short German film that I saw couple years back about a German mom whose child has been taken to the train station by mistake. She finds him and brings him back home, for it only to be revealed that this is her neighbour's boy and her son had never left. She did what she could to save her neighbour's child. The World that we knew reminded me of that story - when Henny gets Eti's help to make a female golem to protect her daughter Leah, it spoke to the tough decisions mothers make for their children. Se can't leave her own mother but she can find Leah a companion who will not forsake her. Ava ends up being this companion, a creature made from clay and blood. In their journey from Berlin into France, in the span of about five years, Ava discovers who she is and is forced with her own existential questions. Leah and Ava are only to fo the many characters in this book. Eti, Ava's creator, though separated from the two, has own struggles to overcome and the consequences of her decision. This isn't your casual read. It will tug at heart strings.

The World that we knew is a well researched, moving story with unforgettable characters. I am thankful to the publisher for providing me an advanced copy of this book. My review comes late but I definitely look forward to returning to and rereading this book.

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I'm still thinking about this book. @ahoffmanwriter has such a way of weaving words and making them magical. I was lucky enough to get an ARC from @netgalley too so, thank you.

This story takes place during World War II, in France and talks of a young Jewish girl who is sent away from her mother to keep her safe. She is sent away with a golum who is to be with her until she is finally safe. Along the way she meets many other people and this tells the story of all of them and how their lives interweave.
If you love historical fiction and magical realism, you'll love this book. I would love to hear what you thought of it. 📚❤

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Another Alice Hoffman beautifully written story!
During WWII a Jewish mother is forced to send her daughter away to save her. A rabi's daughter who helps her escape creates a magical golem to protect her. It bonds them together for life. They take us on a journey of hardship, friendship and love.
This novel is original, well-written and captivating! Perfect for fans of historical fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review

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I found this Alice Hoffman book to be slow to start with stilted language and undeveloped characters. I have read many of Alice Hoffman's novels and in general enjoy the genre and her prose style but for me this one missed the mark. It did have moments of surprise and wonder set in a time and place where history is full of horror. As a fan of Ms. Hoffman's fiction I would have like this to have better flow between the stories.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Alice Hoffman for allowing me to read and review The World That We Knew. While I didn't love this book as much as other works by Hoffman, it was still very entertaining.

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Alice Hoffman knows how to write beautiful sentences, evoke emotional imagery, and tell a compelling story all of which she does wonderfully in The World That We Knew.
Hoffman’s book, set during one of the darkest times in humanity, the Nazi regime of WWII, focuses, exquisitely, on the light. That is not to say that Hoffman glosses over the horror of what was going on, but she focusses on the helpers, on the people getting the children out of Nazi territory and on the people trying to get out, on the love and the hope.
This reminds me of Mr Rogers’ famous quote:
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
That’s what this book felt like for me – the people who, regardless of religion, social status, or danger to themselves, worked tirelessly to save Jews from the Nazis.
Hoffman, however, does not shy away from the opposite, what happens when you live in denial and don’t help, as epitomised in the famous quote by Martin Niemöller:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

At Callisto Crate, we focus on strong woman reads and the women and girls in the novel were extremely well drawn and are interesting. We loved their endurance, passion, and tenacity. They explored variations on the themes of love, what a person would sacrifice for love, and even what is humanity without love. There is motherly love, romantic love, love for strangers, familial love, and friendly love, all of which are highlighted in different ways, tugging at the heartstrings.
All of this is done with the backdrop of magical realism, with the golem that a mother makes to protect her daughter and the angel of death hungrily awaiting its due.
The stakes in this book are so high, life or death, survival or genocide, hope or despair, love or loss – huge topics, but told with remarkable skill and sensitivity and gorgeous writing. This can best be summed up with a quote from the book:
“Once upon a time something happened that you never could have imagined, a spell was broken, a girl was saved, a rose grew out of a tooth buried deep in the ground, love was everywhere, and people who had been taken away continued to walk with you, in dreams and in the waking world.”

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What an amazing book about pain and suffering, love loss and hope. Set in the ww11 era, it deals with a delicate subject with finesse, showcasing the strength of women. A must read

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Thanks to Net Galley for the opportunity to preview this book. A very enjoyable book about hidden Jews in Vichy France and a golem assuring a young girl's safety. Strongly recommended.

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The story begins in Berlin at the start of the Holocaust, when Jews were captured, tortured, sent to work camps or gassed to death. Millions of Jews died during the 2nd world war.

Many families tried to save their children by sending them away and Ms Hoffman has crafted a remarkable story of how one Mom (Hanni) searched out how to make a golem to protect her daughter while escaping the fray. She went to the rabbi, but he refused to have anything to do with it. His daughter Etta had overheard how it was done and offered to help. Out of clay and water a mystical woman called Ava was made. Her goal in life was to protect Hanni’s daughter Lea. They were to travel by train to relatives in Paris. Etta decided she would also leave with her younger sister. All did not go as planned. Etta and her sister’s papers were poor, and when the authorities came on the train checking papers Etta realised they had to escape. Escape she did, but her sister was shot......an event that resonated throughout the story.

Lea and Ava escaped to the relatives in Paris, but soon Paris was also being being searched for Jews.
Ava continued to protect Lea, she was superhuman in many ways, but still a golem. Lea often wanted to be rid of her, but Lea had a job to do and she was not to be distracted. They finally had to escape Paris.

This is a story of brutality, generosity, love and amazing courage, with an added mystical characters Ava. She makes the story for me. I highly recommend this book, it is one that will not easily be forgotten due to the appalling, terrorizing treatment of the Jews, the resistance that developed, but also how the author introduced a golem.

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What a beautiful and heartbreaking story. It took a while for me at the start to get into it but soon I was hooked back into Hoffman's magical world. What a terrible time in human history for this story to have been born from, and I hope many people will read it and learn from it, despite being fictional.

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