The Living and the Lost by Ellen Feldman

Another winner in the immersive tales of war sequelae that Feldman does so well.

‘The Living and the Lost’ shows us immediate post-war Berlin through the eyes of Meike, a young Jewish woman working for the Allie denazification program while searching for her remaining kin and stumbling—sometimes literally—across her own half-buried past.
Meike (now called Millie) and her brother David were separated from their parents and younger sister when the family was fleeing to America before the war.

Fostered by an American family friend of their father’s, they became well-educated, well fed naturalized American adults. Now back in Berlin, Meike is working for the Americans and David is serving with them as an interrogator, both trying to sort the ‘good Germans’ from the ‘bad Nazis’ while not quite believing in the existence of the former. Many of their co-workers are German Jews, the lucky few who escaped Europe and are now back with their hopes, their losses, their terrors. The surroundings—half familiar streets and parks, the other half unrecognizable ruins—mirror their internal landscapes.

The imagery is unsparing but never wallows: gaunt survivors both from the camps and in the bombed and crumbling cities; women raped so many times sex has lost all meaning, willing to trade it to anyone for a bite of food or a chance to sleep warm that night; Allied soldiers well fed and hard-hearted against a population that conspired to actively aid or passively look away from atrocities committed in their name; ‘the licentiousness of those who’d gone so numb to pain and death that only a moment of pleasure, or at least gratification, could light a spark of life.”

The strength of the character Meike is that she is at once a recognizable, fortunate Americanized woman with whom modern readers can readily identify and an internally shattered escapee from the Holocaust that rended families, communities, and countries on a scale never previously documented. She walks in several worlds---her post-war current life, her Berlin childhood, her American adolescence, her life as a Jew in each of those countries, her simultaneous and emotionally fractured existence as a guilt-ridden survivor/refugee, a vengeful victor, and a damaged victim of unimaginable losses—and takes the reader with her every step of the way.

It's a fascinating journey both internally and externally. Post-war Berlin is crowded with angry or sullen or defeated Germans, with many thousands of Displaced Persons both civilian and liberated from concentration camps. Housing is in short supply, food scarce, and every commodity imaginable has a price on the flourishing black markets. Surviving Jews burn with understandable rage against the Germans who went along as much as against those who fomented and committed the atrocities. Arrogance and preconceptions from Allied soldiers and civilian advisors often fuel further misunderstanding and resentment from the conquered, the liberated, the shell-shocked, and all the other human flotsam of the war.

The thread of pregnancy and child-rearing is woven into the fabric. Following a time of catastrophic losses of lives each new one feels like it should be celebrated, yet so many are the result of Soviet mass rape, or the unwelcome price of the struggle for food and shelter, relics of wartime affairs that are soon forgotten by soldiers on their way back to the lives they left behind. Babies die, Meike learns, almost as easily in the peace as they did in the war. And in the post-war baby boom is laced with both hope for a new start and terror at making more hostages to a Fate so recently proved not only fickle but utterly merciless.

As in other Feldman novels, the many social and political and personal complexities are captured neatly in vignettes that offer glimpses into the turbulent times and the people wracked and drifting through them, all while supporting the main narrative of Meike’s physical and psychological search. There are both losses and wins along the way, people found and reunited only to face new struggles from which they, or their relationships, may not emerge victorious, or at all. It's a human-scale look at a turbulent time and place—unsparing yet sympathetic—through the eyes of a traumatized but ultimately hopeful survivor.

Highly recommended.

St. Martin's Griffin/ St. Martin's Publishing Group
On Sale: 09/07/2021
ISBN: 9781250821812
#Netgalley #EllenFeldman #StMartinsGriffin #BookReview #Berlin #WW2 #AlliedOccupation #LivingAndLost #Holocaust #hope #survival

The Living and The Lost is the second book by Ellen Feldman that I have read. Like the first one, Paris Never Leaves You, this book is also about survivor’s guilt after World War II. The Living and the Lost focuses on a part of history I knew very little about: the Allied Occupation of Berlin and the part that Jewish GI’s played in the denazification of post-war Germany. There are excellent but disturbing descriptions of the hedonic lifestyles of the multi-national allies in charge of Berlin. Feldman also teaches the readers about Camp Ritchie, a top-secret U.S. Military intelligence training base for foreign-speaking men, mostly Jewish.

Millie Mosbach and her younger brother, David, were able to escape Germany, just prior to World War II. Millie enrolled in Bryn Mawr and did very well. She was able to get a job at a magazine after graduation, but once the men returned, she lost her job. She accepted a post through the U.S. Army to work in her hometown of Berlin in late 1945 in the press and publishing clearance office. She quickly finds her brother, David, who is helping displaced persons. They move into a requisitioned flat together. While she knew her brother was in the military, Millie is unaware of David’s training at Camp Ritchie and doesn’t understand what he does at night when he disappears.

Millie is filled with demons. She feels guilty about her parents and younger sister not escaping to America. As a German Jew, she hates the German people who allowed Hitler to rise to power. She expresses her anger and frustration through a variety of self-destructive ways. Her brother is unable to help her deal with her feelings.

Since she was an emotional wreck, Millie is often cold and uncaring. Because of that, I never felt any real connection to her. I put the book down several times, and it took me over a week to finish it. I did enjoy the ending of the story when Millie stops being lost and is able to live again.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press for my advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5-stars rounded up to 4 since there are many interesting topics covered.

The Living and the Lost, the new novel by Ellen Feldman, follows on last year’s excellent title, Paris Never Leaves You. Each of these books is about the resonance that WWII has had for its’ characters. I highly recommend both.

This novel offers a vivid sense of place, object, plot and character. In particular, watch as protagonist Millie goes to the train station in Berlin on a number of occasions. In terms of objects, consider the breakfront. Think of what the word means; it can be something shattering and a front can be the face that is shown to the world. What is the importance of this article of furniture in the novel? What do readers learn about protagonist Millie through it?

Millie grew up in Germany, made it to the U.S. (at great cost) and returns to Berlin to work post war. In today’s words, readers will identify Millie as having PTSD. This makes her life challenging. Millie’s brother David is her family. In what ways are they the same? Different?

Another important character is Harry. Millie works for him and readers watch as they get to know him. Where will their paths converge? What will their contact offer to each of them?

Throughout the novel, there are scenes of post war Berlin. Who are the victims other than the obvious ones? Will there ever be progress? Will anyone’s family be found post concentration camp?

What was it like to be a survivor in the U.S. during the war? How was it to know that this critical confrontations was not even fully in the awareness of some of the American Jewish characters? What does it mean to have the burden of surviving when others did not?

Think about the title of this novel, The Living and the Lost. While you may assume safely that you know who the living are,wonder, too, about the lost. To me, they are not only those who are dead but also those who have not found their way (yet) in post-war life.

The Living and the Lost is a complex, thoughtful work. I highly recommend it. It would be an excellent book club choice.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

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.

Advertisements

The Living and the Lost is the latest book by Ellen Feldman. In The Living and the Lost Ms Feldman gives us the fictional story of two Jewish children who escape Germany during the war. Now adults, the two return after the war has ended. Ms Feldman does an excellent job of mixing fiction with the facts, and paints such a clear picture you feel you are there with the characters. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy to review.

The post-war setting of The Living and the Lost provides a rarely written about perspective of the aftermath of the Holocaust. As Germany was occupied by several nations, the American’s effort to help rebuild the country was filled with many challenges. Author Ellen Feldman brings the reader into the chaos that existed including homelessness, poverty and crime. Millie is so filled with survivor’s guilt that she is unable to find much joy in her life. She can only see the worst in people as she only sees the worst in herself. While she has survived, Millie, in many ways, is also part of the lost. Author Feldman takes an unsentimental, realistic approach in Millie's journey which includes meeting her match in Major Harry Sutton, a man who is also hiding his own demons.

I enjoyed the author’s last book Paris Never Leaves You and found this book to be even stronger.

What would it be like to be living in Berlin immediately after WW II? In addition to being a German Jew who spent the war in the US. And, you are a captain in the army working on Denazification. Talk about emotional overload. Millie Mosbach is sure she has her priorities straight, but does she really know herself as well as she thinks she does? As with "Paris Never Leaves You," Feldman gives us an authentic heroine who has to make difficult choices. What do you do when the past can't be undone and you are burdened by the choice you made? Did Millie really come back just to help vet the Germans seeking to help purge Nazi ideology? What about her missing family members? What is her brother David doing when he is out late at night? The prose is at times beautiful and at others very grim. Post-war Berlin was messy. Includes Millie's experiences from Kristallnacht through the Berlin Airlift. If you are looking for something different to read about WW II, this is your book.

Thank you to St. Martins and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent, well written, thoughtful story that neither shies aware from horror nor wallows in it. Highly recommended

I haven’t read a book by Ellen Feldman since The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank and I am sorry it took so long. The Living and the Lost is an extremely unique read about post war Germany. It has been awhile since I have gotten so engrossed in a book.

Millie and David are siblings born in Germany. Their family tries to escape to America during WWll. They are the only ones that make it. They return to Berlin after the war for many different reasons, to find their parents and sister Sarah, to help displaced persons and to make sure the Germans that fought for Hitler were punished.

I loved the writing, the unique perspective of the story during a historical time period that has been written about a lot. I feel that when I read about people that survived WWll the main thing that haunts them is guilt. I loved the relationship between Millie and her boss Harry, and how they helped each other work through their guilt, and fears and learn to love life again. I think one of the hardest things to do is forgive yourself, this is something many Holocaust survivors struggled with for many different reasons. Harry was my favorite character, I loved his rational side.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Another must read!

The Living and the Lost takes place right after the end of WW2 in Berlin. The main character, Millie, requested to be posted there in order to work in the denazification department, interviewing Germans to determine whether they were just following the rules set by Nazis, or actively participating in them. Millie’s younger brother David is also posted in Berlin, and both of them are there for the same reason: to find the truth, to forgive, and to maybe find some way of getting revenge. Millie and David were born in Germany, and not long before the beginning of the war their father managed to procure exit visas for the 5 members in their family, but for some reason only Millie and David were able to make it to the US safely, the other three left behind to face the building wrath of the Nazis.

I couldn’t put this book down. I really enjoyed how the author didn’t reveal the whole background upfront, the reader learns more and more as the story goes on. I found each of the main characters well developed and endearing, especially Millie. Millie lives with so much turmoil, so many mixed emotions, that it is impossible to not feel for her. Her obsession with frauleins was a bit much for me, but I really appreciated how Ellen Feldman made Millie into someone who the reader really gets.

I thought the setting of the novel was interesting: a country split into pieces, paying for the terrible, horrific crimes it committed against millions, looking for a way to make it into the future. There are the displaced people struggling to survive in a country that wanted them dead, and US soldiers stationed there making the most of it in any way they can, and the German people who may or may not have been Nazis. Nothing is ever black or white and I think the author did a good job portraying that.

If you enjoy historical fiction based in the 1940’s with a little bit of romance thrown in then this will be right up your street! Millie is definitely not your typical 1940’s romance heroine and I really really appreciated that. It gives the novel so much more depth.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

One of the highest accolades I can offer another person is "Good mind, good heart." I hope for the same from my books: that they are intelligent and factual and filled with psychological insight and true growth, that they have a redemptive arc.

All of Ellen Feldman's books have cleared that bar. The Living and the Lost leapt it by a mile. Of the dozen or so books I've read about post-war Europe, and the three or four others I've read about occupied Berlin, no other delivered as much emotional resonance and historical significance.

The premise is fascinating: That German-born, naturalized American citizens went back to Berlin to help with the "denazification" process. It's a complex story. The main characters are grappling with survivors' guilt. But each of them is a fully-fleshed, complicated, believable human being.

There is, of course, some sadness and horror, but there is hope, too --along with a vivid reminder that America's majority culture has some way to go before cleansing its ethnic hatred.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an advance readers copy.

“How can you live without hope?”
Set in the aftermath of World War II, under the Allied Occupation of Berlin, Germany, Feldman proves that “you didn’t have to be Jewish to rage and ache at the atrocities” committed, and you don’t have to carry the guilt and shame of it for the rest of your life, either. This book was fascinating to me, as it is seeped in historical facts about a time I knew little about. Of course there was denazification and the building of a new Germany post WWII, but the intricacies and details eluded me, until Feldman brought them to life. The story focuses on Berlin in general, but the ideologies and sentiments of the time and country come through.
The cover and description allude to being a romantic historical fiction, and while there’s a bit of romance, I have to disagree that it’s the basis for the novel. Relationships, both familial and simply human, are more prevalent, yet that is what makes it so good. This is a survival story, surviving atrocities, self flagellation, and guilt in order to allow oneself to live the life you were gifted. That it is told through a fictional family and their circumstances makes the facts easier to bear. Fans of ‘Paris Never Leaves You’ and ‘The Nightingale’ will appreciate that this story is a continuation of those, the ‘what came next’ that has been missing in so many WWII set novels of late. This is a fantastic book, but it’s also a book I had to read in increments, as the subject matter is heavy, but that makes it all the more worth it.

The Living and the Lost takes place post-WWII which is a whole new territory for me. After reading so much from during the war, I have to say this was a whole new level of both heartbreak. I feel like the research for this one must have taken so much time and Feldman did a wonderful job.

The writing is beautiful, though I did have a bit of a tough time connecting with Mary. If I was able to form more of an emotional bond I think this would be an instant 5-star read. Other than that, I really have no complaints.

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher and author for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Woah, I’ve read a lot of Historical Fiction over the years, but reading about post WWII was new for me. Ellen Feldman did a fantastic job in portraying the emotions one feels after escaping such a horrific and brutal time in their life. The anger, the rage, the survivors guilt, etc.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Living and The Lost.

This book is a nice twist on the WWII themed books. This one looks at the world after the war and how the effects linger way after the last shot is fired.
This story centers around German-Jewish sister and brother, Millie and David Mosbach, who after becoming separated from their parents and younger sister at a train station as the family attempted to flee Nazi Germany, end up in America, taken in and educated by Russell and Lydia Bennett.
When the war in Europe heats up, David despite his sister's pleas to stay where he is, enlists, going to do his part in freeing the world fromt the evil Mazis.
After the war Millie signs on to return to Germany, attached to the U.S. Military, working as an interpreter and interrogator for the denazification process now going on in occupied Germany. But Millie is there for many of the wrong reasons.
Millie's character is a hard one. I didn't particularly care for her, but then again I didn't have to like her to enjoy and learn from the story.
Millie is filled with hatred for the German people, all German people, and she has thoughts of revenge, vengeance and a whole lot of guilt over a decision she made that she feels doomed her family.
This story shows us the devastating effects of this war, not only on the Jews of Europe but on everyone. The German people had it no better than anyone else in the aftermath of this war. They were subject of rationing, their cities were bombed to the ground and now they were the ones living in a occupied country with the Soviet Union and the USA calling the shots. We get to see just what hardships were endured long after the war ended, And we see not only the physical toil taken on everyone, but also the mental and emotional toil endured by all.
This is a good look at a not to often written about part of WWII, the after effects on both the allies and the axis, opening our eyes to the realization that war reaches far off the battlefields and the repercussions flow through time for years after it ends.
I give 4 stars, only because I couldn't connect with Millie, she continually annoyed and angered me. But despite this the story is very interesting, and attention grabbing.
This book goes on sale September 7, 2021, I recommend it to historical fiction fans of WWII based novels.
Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin Publishers and to Net Galley for the free ARC of this novel, I am leaving my honest review in return.

This riveting book is set in Berlin following the end of WWII, at a time when the occupying forces are trying to restore peace and civility to a decimated city and its people. Millie Mosbach was a teenager when she was able to escape Germany just before Kristallnacht, and she has returned to assist the US Army in their efforts of denazification. The aftermath of war permeates every sentence in this book, and Millie herself is an amazing character: a survivor who still maintains hope, but one who is deeply scarred, suffering PTSD and survivor’s guilt, torn between forgiving what was done to her family and country—and mostly trying to forgive herself. I found it fascinating, sad, and shocking to read about this time in history, with the echoes and horrors of the Holocaust in every thought and action of the characters.

Lots of German Jews returned to Germany after the war to help round up Nazis. Millie is haunted by memories of her parents and little sister, who failed to escape with her and her brother David. Hatred and vengeance consume her.
So many Germans tried to pull the wool over the Allies’ eyes, claiming they were best friends with a Jew; or claiming they were the real victims—look at Dresden, the concentration camps didn’t really happen; or believing Hitler’s lies about what America was really like. Despite non-fraternization rules, many non-Jewish GIs found German girlfriends hoping to benefit from their generosity.
Millie’s journey is rough. Not only does she have to deal with the Germans, but her own survivor guilt. It is hard to imagine the survivors trying to rebuild their lives. We must never forget.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genre so I have read a lot of books revolving around WWII. The Living and the Lost was original in the sense that it shows the aftermath, how people cope after the war, trying to locate loved ones, dealing with the hate towards the entire German population. It depicts how awful it was no matter whether you were a German bystander or a Jew. The ending was a little bit of a let down but I have no idea how else it could have finished.

Thanks NetGalley, Ellen Feldman, and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

I want to start by thanking NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and comment on this historical fiction..
The story is an intense reading of a time after the war. A family leaves for the US and Mille and David make it thru and start an education. They both worry about their parents and sister. However, they both return to a Berlin that is devastated and left with hunger and despair.
They both have to deal with being German and Jewish.. Mille worked in the government interviewing Germans for de-nazification. David join the military as well and knowing German worked in intelligence and helped people escape from Germany.
The emotions described in the story goes from pain, loss of loved ones, fear, shame and anger. There are examples of each one is given. Thru the story with Mille and David.
There is some romance and a touch of happiness which gives you hope.
I enjoyed the book it does describe life after the war which is no less than you expect it to be.

This AMAZING historical fiction read is your chance to see post-WW2 Germany through the eyes of a Jewish woman, Meike “Millie” Mosbach, who escaped with her younger brother, David, in 1938, just prior to Kristallnacht.

Desperately seeking peace, the two arrive in Philadelphia, USA where Millie goes into magazine publishing while David begins intelligence training with the U.S. Army. Haunted by memories and unable to attainable peace, they return to Berlin with the U.S. Army in 1945. Millie, riddled with guilt and vengeful, aids the Army in uncovering Nazis from the publishing industry while David attempts to relocate displaced persons. For both siblings, the faint hope remains that they’ll find their parents and younger sister.

The author masterfully captures the rage and guilt of those who took the opportunity to escape, some with little thought to the repercussions, and the emotions they face upon return. It’s this raw emotional struggle that edges its way in and separates the siblings, despite desperately needing support from each other.
The author explores the horror and denial that leads to psychological scarring that so many of the living and lost experience during wartime. With invisible injuries, wounds are not confronted nor healed and, what we now term, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), results.

The main plot, although horrific and heartbreaking at times, captivated me more than the characters or the subplots. The vivid descriptions placed me in the setting and allowed me to experience their grief and anger in a powerful way. The author successfully interrupted my day and gave me lots to think about, mainly that we remain living AND lost if we don’t address the past so that we can successfully navigate our future. The thought-provoking title is packed with so much meaning and deserves attention.

You’ll need to read this unique look at de-Nazification, the power of hatred, the effect of war on the human psyche and discover if Millie can ever forgive herself.
Publishes September 7, 2021.

I was gifted this advance copy by Ellen Feldman, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.