Meryl Ain

Thank you to the author for this book.

I read The Takeaway Men in 2021 and really enjoyed it. I was concerned that I wouldn't remember the characters but thankfully she had a list of them in the front of the book which was nice since I needed to familiarize myself to them again (or at least some of them).

Set in the 1960's and ending in the early 1980's it mostly focused on the twins, Johanna (JoJo and Bronka) and their lives with their family and friends also and the upheaval of both John & Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King's assisination, and politics. JoJo and Bronka are definitely opposites from each other in personality and lives.

I do wish there was more scenes with JoJo later on. It was mostly Bronka, probably because she was unmarried and looking for a job in journalism. She finally found it and finally moved out of her parents house right before she turned 30 which is what she wanted to do anyway to have her own life.

A lot of Jewish history, including the Nazi's and concentration camps, which is always hard to read about.

A solid 4 stars once again and a fascinating read.… (lisätietoja)

This book is a sequel to her novel “The Takeaway Men,” but you do not need to read the first book in order to understand this one.

Set in the late 1960s through 1980, this coming-of-age story follows the Lubinski twins, Bronka and JoJo. One twin fulfills her dream, while the other twin is forced to rethink her life.

It took me a little while to get into the story. But when journalist Bronka is sent to cover a story on a German enclave on Long Island with street names that honor Nazis, it got my full attention.

This book is an example of how decisions made by previous generations carry down and impact the later generations, often tearing families apart. It clearly showed the impact of the Holocaust on the children of the survivors. Like “The Takeaway Men,” this book also tries to cover a lot of territory – a Catholic priest who was born a Jew, the son of a Nazi, Nazis living in plain sight in the US, and Nazi hunters. It is also the time of Vietnam war protests and marches for women’s equality.

I received an advance copy of this book. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.… (lisätietoja)

Thank you to the author for this book which I won on her Facebook page.

I'm a lover of Jewish fiction and this one was so good. It's hard to me to say it was enjoyable since it covered the atrocities of the Nazis, and everything else to do with the prison camps.

I loved the family of Aron, Judy, Bronka and Johanna. The twins were so fun to read about especially when they were growing up in the 50s since I was born in 1958 and the things they were interested in and Hebrew school, which brought back memories. The girls learned about Hitler from their friends and the book The Diary of Anne Frank from their friends.

There were many more characters in this book, too numerous to mention but do have to mention Izzy & Faye, whom they lived with and Aron's relative.

The ending was sad but it finally brought the book to closure about Judy's former life and how she met Aron. They were always afraid to tell the truth but the letter that was sent to Judy finally brought it to closure.… (lisätietoja)