Book Review - The World That We Knew

The World That We Knew: A Novel by Alice Hoffman It is Berlin 1941 and Hanni knows she must save her daughter from the Nazis. She goes to a rabbi but it is his daughter who creates a rare and unusual golem to protect the daughter and get her across the Swiss border to safety. So begins a tale of good and evil, love and loss, and desperation in one of the darkest periods of history. The travelers go to Paris to distant relatives and their lives become entwined. The resistance plays a role and shows how so many people worked to save Jews while others worked to murder them. Add to that the mystical golem and the crane, angels including the Angel of Death who is a surprisingly sympathetic, and you get a heartbreakingly beautiful and painful telling of the Holocaust. This is one of the best books I’ve read this year. Carol Lloyd is the Director of the Churchill County Library and is in awe of writers who can weave a tale that is both poignant and beautiful.     Sign up to receive updates and the Friday File email notices. Support local, independent news – contribute to The Fallon Post, your non-profit (501c3) online news source for all things Fallon.