Cover Image: The Night Travelers

The Night Travelers

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Member Reviews

It is an incredibly powerful story, which brought me to tears many times. I still have a visceral reaction when I replay some of the scenes in my mind, and some images will stay with me for years to come. It is impossible to read this book and not look back on your own life and revisit any judgments you may have made about the decisions earlier generations of women in your life made. It is incredibly well-researched and well-written and invites both internal reflections as well as external discussion. Although the major historical events themselves are familiar, it does not feel like a story we have heard before.

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Four generations of women tell a story in this book.
Ally Keller is a talented poet with a half-black genius daughter Lilith who's at risk for forced sterilization (a practice developed in the US and practiced there until 1979 according to the author's notes). To save her, Ally lets her boyfriend Franz send Lilith to Cuba with Jewish neighbors.
As a young adult in 1958, Lilith doesn't want to dwell on the past. She marries Martin, a Cuban pilot with ties to the Batista government. As the revolution begins, she sends her daughter Nadine to the US through the Pedro Pan movement in an effort to save the girl's life.
Nadine moves to Berlin as a teen with her adopted father and attends the trail of her adopted mother who's accused of war crimes. She eventually becomes a scientist, all the while ignoring her past.
Her daughter Luna cannot resist knowing what happened to her grandmothers. She begins an investigation that uncovers truths about each woman and some of the men in her ancestral line. In the process, she gets to decide how she'll respond to the truths.
The Night Travelers theme stems from a poem Ally wrote. Some of the novel's characters do prefer to work at night, which further supports the theme.
I found this book to move very slowly. Many wordy paragraphs attempt to tell the story ("she was this") rather than show me what is happening through dialogue or active language. As I read, I felt like I was watching the story unfold from a distance. And I didn't particularly care what happened to any of the characters. My emotions dind't get involvde in this story at all. The plot twists also seemed anti-climactic.
I did like the author's notes at the end and appreciate the message that everyone has value regardless of their skin color, skills or nationality.

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What a fascinating story! It has a whole lotta history wrapped up in under 400 pages.

I love to admit this because it’s true but everything I know about history is from historical fiction. Ok maybe not 100% true but it’s my preferred way to keep timelines and overall stories of history straight.

This story covered A LOT. we’re talking Nazis, Cuba, Berlin Wall- A LOT!

And the story of the women. Beautiful.

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I love a multigenerational tale, and The Night Travelers by Armando Lucas Correa delivered on that premise for lovers of historical fiction. This covers the lives of a family of women over four generations, the choices they make, the lives they lead, the events they see, and the bonds that connect them.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

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I thought this book was just ok. Didn't like the ending, it seemed unfinished and as others have commented, I didn't connect with the characters. I also didn't like the trope of all Germans being bad. Not everyone in Germany was part of the Nazi party during WWII, but the book kinda makes it out to be that way.

One plus is that the different POVs were fairly easy for me to follow. Sometimes if not done right, everything can get muddled especially when time differences are involved. There were a few times I was like, 'wait, what???' and had to reread, but for the most part, he did a good job.

Overall, 3 stars, an alright book, wouldn't recommend to friends but probably to patrons since I can't be biased in my recommendations with them.

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I am so in love with this book!! It is definitely my favorite trope with multiple time lines of history. Each family member captured me and I couldn’t help but go through the emotions with them. The writing was really good. I look forward to more from this author. Definitely a recommendation from this reader.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

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Thank you to NetGalley for this ecopy of The Night Travelers by Armando Lucas Correa in exchange for a honest review .This is a story of 4 generations of women from the same family who have to make hard and lasting choices to save their daughters from harm.The story starts with Ally a young German woman who has given birth to her Black boyfriend’s baby.This baby is considered undesirable under the new Nazi regime. She decides to send little Lilith with a Jewish family, , the Herzogs, to Cuba where she has a normal childhood and falls in love with Martin,a pilot for the Batista regime.When Castro comes to power and Martin is killed, Lilith has to make the same hard choice as her mother did .She sends her baby , Nadine, to New York to be adopted by the Taylor family. When shocking secrets are revealed, Nadine returns to Germany to finally find the truth behind her grandmother’s disappearance and betrayal at the hands of someone she loved. With the. help of her daughter Luna, can Nadine finally find closure for her family? Read the book and find out...A very powerful but sad book about the resilience of women when faced with unimaginable decisions.Highly recommend!

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4.5 stars rounded up: The Night Travelers is a family saga beginning in the 1930s when Hitler and the National Socialist Party was coming into power and follows members of the family to Cuba, the US, and back to Germany. It is set over almost 60 years through the Second World War, The Cuban Revolution and the Fall of the Berlin Wall. It begins in 1931 in Berlin, when young single mother and poet, Ally Keller gives birth to a mixed race daughter. The father is a black performer who is taken from the night club one night, never to be seen again. When Lilith is in danger due to Hitler's ideology of Aryan purity, she is sent to Cuba with a couple who become her adoptive parents. Lilith lives a good life, but eventually, the Cuban Revolution hits. Lilith is married to a Cuban pilot who refuses to leave Cuba with Bautista. To save their daughter, Nadine, she is sent to the US with a friend. The final timeline is Nadine and her daughter, now living in Germany searching for information about Ally Keller.

This was a wonderful story. I enjoyed following these strong women and all they did for the safety of their family and children. The love and bond between mother and child is amazingly strong and difficult to break. I grew to care very much for these women, their relationships, the horrors they lived through and their resilience and courage. The secondary characters, (spouses, parents friends, relatives) all played important parts in their stories and showed their love, devotion, bravery and loyalty. It was amazing to see how much happened in the world during these 60 years that effected this family. There were times that the story moved a bit slowly, but the writing was beautiful. the characters and settings well developed and described and the events flowed well. I definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy historical fiction and family sagas.

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The Night Travelers is a story of four generations of women and the sacrifices and impact of those choices has for years to come.

I was not familiar with Armando Lucas Correa so I was not sure what to expect. This is a well-written book that tugs at the reader's heartstrings. The only thing that I wished is for the story to be more in-depth. To cover four generations of one family, I often found myself wanting more.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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This book is a very interesting story of 4 generations of women and covers a span of time from 1931 to 2015. It was very interesting how the story all tied together and held your interest throughout without being confusing. and it shows the true tragedy of war and how it affects peoples lives over the long term.

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Beautiful multigenerational story that had me so emotionally invested in the characters!

This story had me hooked from start to finish. I also enjoyed the historical info that was included that helped to bring life to this book.

Thank you Netgalley for an Advanced copy to review!

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Once again I was excited to read a WWII historical fiction book. This one also involved the Cuban Revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The author has done an amazing amount of research and the information provided is well done. Though I felt that the information from the Cuban Revolution could have been fleshed out a little more because I believe fewer people are familiar with that time period. This is an extremely dark and heavy emotional read. I would encourage you to give it a try, but understand that this is not a light read and may have some triggers that will affect you emotionally.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

For more reviews, please visit my blog at: https://www.msladybugsbookreviews.com/. Over 1000 reviews posted!

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This multi generational story following the lives of four women from the impacts of Nazi Germany, the Cuban Revolution, and the Berlin Wall. I was really excited about this one and it felt like it fell a little flat for me. The ending was very well rounded and was enjoyable but the buildup, particularly the Cuban background was lost on me. I admit I am not knowledgeable in the part of history, so perhaps that is why.

Overall, this was a good book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC in exchanged for an honest review.

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This is a multigenerational story that will have you invested in each character in a matter of seconds. It is heart wrenching, sad, inspiring and hopeful. I have never read a WW2 novel that follows 4 generations through their struggles to find a better life for themselves and their families. Ally and Lilith both had to give up their daughters when their countries became unsafe first because of WW2 and the Eugenics movement and then again during the Cold War and Cuba's revolution. I loved the ending and though it made me extremely sad it was the perfect ending.

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Separated by time but united by sacrifice, four women embark on journeys of self-discovery and find themselves to be living testaments to the power of motherly love. Such a beautifully written story of love and finding oneself!

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The Night Travelers was a very sad book, story after story of many losing their hope and life in a war that was full of inequality, racism, horror, discrimination, lack of empathy, and a bunch of ignorant people acting like animals or better said worst than animals.

This is the story of many, especially women who had to give up their daughters or sons to be able to survive a senseless war without a cause, Ally knows she has to hide her daughter when she finds out she is mixed raced, the Nazis are on the rise hunting anyone who doesn't look like their pretty evil standards.

Havana s living under a communist regimen taking every single thing out of their habitats, they have their own evil going on on the island, at first many were being saved by the government many escaping the flames and war machine of the nazis only to discover that they were not going to be free as they imagine.

Many stories are intertwined and transcend many years and situations, but in the end, all of them behave the same way, committing many atrocities that sooner or later will come to hunt them down, this is the case of Federico Laredo Bru, a Cuban politician who did the worst thing you could ever imagine, I hope he spends eternity in hell!!! Together with the whole Cuban government and the Nazi losers!!! the ignorant Canadian government and also the gringos to all of them for not allowing refugees from WWll to disembark.

Can you imagine sending thousand and thousand of KIDS yes you read that right KIDS!!!! far away from the Nazis to be rejected and denied entrance by every government only to return to the Nazis and be killed!

so yes the book was sad and the story was very sad, I don't hold any candle to anyone involved in this terrible atrocity a story that even Cubans still say "that karma will ever hunt them after Federico's brilliant mistake"

it was a good book but

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books, for the advanced copy of The Night Travelers in exchange for my honest review

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I highlighted this book on my Booktube channel. The video can be accessed here: https://youtu.be/uiqwuZFoM5s

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THE NIGHT TRAVELERS

This book is the story of four generations of women covering the time period from 1930 to 2015, set in Berlin, New York, and Havana. Each of their lives is shaped by major political events of the time, including WWII, the Cuban Revolution, the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is the story of mothers and daughters and their search for understanding.

The story begins in 1931 Berlin with the birth of Lilith, child of Ally and Marcus. She is a mischling; of mixed race. With the advent of WWII and rise of the Nazis, the new racial laws put Lilith’s life in peril. The difficult decisions made to insure her safety ripple on through the next few generations.

With one of the very few fortunate travelers on the MS Saint Louis, the story continues on in Havana. The upheaval in the overthrow of Batista by Fidel Castro again pushes the fate of the next generation. With the birth of Nadine on January 1, 1959, the political involvement of her father has a determining effect on her life path.

Leading up to the birth of fourth generation Luna in 1989 Berlin, events involving Nazi war criminal trials and the reunification of Germany leave their mark on her upbringing. As she matures, a search for understanding leads Luna to delve into her ancestry and many unresolved issues of abandonment and betrayal within the family are confronted.

I thought the author did a wonderful job of painting the political and historical landscape as each woman’s life is seamlessly revealed. I very much enjoyed the emphasis on the historical context and the depth of information presented. I felt as though I could actually feel the pain that these women felt while living through these very difficult times in history. It was a serious but lovely book and not at all sappy.

There were a few times that I struggled to distinguish between the women, as the time and place move around quite a bit. But each chapter is clearly labeled and it was worth the effort. The book also includes a terrific bibliography.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Armando Lucas Correa, and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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A family saga- the story of 4 generations of women in a family. Each family member is stronger than the last. The story goes from Germany in the time of Hitler to Cuba, to New York, and back to Berlin.
Ally has a child with a black man, a musician named Marcus. Marcus is no where to be found when Hitler begins his racial cleansing. Ally gives her little girl, Lilith, to her neighbors, the Hertzhogs, who are off to Cuba to escape the persecution of Jews in Germany. Lilith grows up in Cuba. When there is a revolution in Cuba, she sends her daughter to live with a family in New York. The family moves back to Germany when she is a teenager. She has a daughter. In Germany, she is reunited with individuals that were significant in her grandmother's life.
At the conclusion of this book, there is a wonderful reunion. I won't spoil it! I really enjoyed this book. I was not very aware of the migration of German Jews to Cuba. Lots of great historical details in this book. Don't miss this one!

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A multigenerational tale of love, loss, heartache and hope. Captivatingly written, even when exploring topics you think you may have already read a million times, there's always a special story to span generations to breathe new life and evoke emotion. 3.5 stars

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