Author: Ayelet Waldman
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Publish Date: April 1, 2014
Source: HF Virtual Book Tours
Why You're Reading This Book:
- You're a historical fiction fan.
- You like stories about family secrets.
- You like memorable characters.
From Goodreads.com: "In 1945 on the outskirts of Salzburg, victorious American soldiers capture a train filled with unspeakable riches: piles of fine gold watches; mountains of fur coats; crates filled with wedding rings, silver picture frames, family heirlooms, and Shabbat candlesticks passed down through generations. Jack Wiseman, a tough, smart New York Jew, is the lieutenant charged with guarding this treasure—a responsibility that grows more complicated when he meets Ilona, a fierce, beautiful Hungarian who has lost everything in the ravages of the Holocaust. Seventy years later, amid the shadowy world of art dealers who profit off the sins of previous generations, Jack gives a necklace to his granddaughter, Natalie Stein, and charges her with searching for an unknown woman—a woman whose portrait and fate come to haunt Natalie, a woman whose secret may help Natalie to understand the guilt her grandfather will take to his grave and to find a way out of the mess she has made of her own life.
A story of brilliantly drawn characters—a suave and shady art historian, a delusive and infatuated Freudian, a family of singing circus dwarfs fallen into the clutches of Josef Mengele, and desperate lovers facing choices that will tear them apart—Love and Treasure is Ayelet Waldman’s finest novel to date: a sad, funny, richly detailed work that poses hard questions about the value of precious things in a time when life itself has no value, and about the slenderest of chains that can bind us to the griefs and passions of the past."
My Two Cents:
"Love and Treasure" is really a story about how we as humans cope when things seem incredibly hopeless. It is also the story of priorities and whether or not those things that we treasure are really all that meaningful in the face of danger. I had been wanting to try some of Waldman's books for awhile and so I was happy to be a part of this tour. This was a great and powerful book to start with.
The book opens on Jack, an old man, and his beloved granddaughter. Jack is convinced that she worries much too much about him as he is dying from cancer. He has one request for her, which is to find the owner of a necklace with mysterious beginnings. Natalie, the granddaughter, takes her job very seriously and is determined to put together the pieces of her grandfather's mystery; she only hopes that she can do it in time! The story is told from both the past and the present perspectives and when they meet, it makes for a fantastic collision that I really enjoyed reading.
I really enjoy reading both fiction and non-fiction about World War II and I love when I find books that shed new perspectives on events during that war. I hadn't read much about the Hungarian Gold Train and found the historical details that Waldman wove into this book about that to be absolutely fascinating. You can see what so many people during that time were going through with getting all of their worldly possessions taken away. It is hard to imagine how they must have felt during that time period.
This book had a lot of drama and nice pacing that kept me wanting to read more about Jack's time over in Europe during World War II. There is mystery and romance alongside a healthy dose of drama and intrigue throughout the book. This book only made me more anxious to read more by Waldman in the future!
Follow the Rest of the Tour:
Tuesday, May 27
Review at Kinx’s Book Nook
Wednesday, May 28
Guest Post at Passion for Novels
Thursday, May 29
Review at Mari Reads
Review at A Bibliotaph’s Reviews
Friday, May 30
Review at She Reads Novels
Review at Dianne Ascroft’s Blog
Monday, June 2
Review at Flashlight Commentary
Thursday, June 5
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book
Friday, June 6
Interview at Oh, For the Hook of a Book
Monday, June 9
Review at Closed the Cover
Tuesday, June 10
Interview at Closed the Cover
Wednesday, June 11
Review at A Bookish Girl
Review at Peeking Between the Pages
Friday, June 13
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews
Monday, June 16
Review at So Many Books, So Little Time
Guest Post at Historical Fiction Connection
Wednesday, June 18
Spotlight at Let Them Read Books
Thursday, June 19
Review at Book Nerd
Friday, June 20
Spotlight at Curling Up with a Good Book
Monday, June 23
Review at 100 Pages a Day
Tuesday, June 24
Review & Giveaway at Luxury Reading
Wednesday, June 25
Review at Lit Nerd
Thursday, June 26
Review at The Little Reader Library
Friday, June 27
Review at Man of la Book
Monday, June 30
Review at A Bookish Affair
Review at Just One More Chapter
Interview at Layered Pages
Tuesday, July 1
Interview at Jorie Loves a Story
Wednesday, July 2
Review at From L.A. to LA
Review at Mina’s Bookshelf
Thursday, July 3
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Review at Seaside Book Corner
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews
Follow the Rest of the Tour:
I haven't read anything on the Hungarian Gold Train, so I can't wait to make time for this one.
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