Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of The Story of the Forest by Linda Grant. I enjoyed the storyline which includes the history and culture of a Jewish family from Latvia who immigrate to Liverpool with the goal of arriving in America. I was drawn in from the very beginning of this book., but as time went on it did not continue to hold my attention. I enjoyed Ms. Grant's writing style and look forward to reading other books by her.
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This novel gave me a different view of WWI. I've never read a story by Linda Grant before. I will read some of her older novels now.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it had everything that I was looking for in the historical fiction novel. I thought the use of the Jewish elements worked with this story, I was invested in the history of this family and appreciated getting to learn about the author's history. I thought it was beautifully done and glad I read this.

A very entertaining tale of a Jewish family whose lives have been dictated by dreams, life hazards, lack of money and of course antisemitism. A powerful start got me hooked straight away reflecting what the later generations wonder about their earlier family. Yes, emigration whether to Russia, England, Israel or the USA has made it difficult to stay close to the acual events experienced by this family who didn't/couldn't contact each other. This is true for so many Jewish people spread all over the world!I found it very interesting to view the characters: all women are very strong headed while the male characters appear as rather dull, weak even absurd in some cases. I wonder why? Is it because they misled/led their female counterparts as to crucial life decisions? The writing style is very lively. It does give the feeling one actually hears the (fairy?) tale being told. That might be the moral of this story.
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I am leaving voluntarily an honest review.