They Went Left

Monica Hesse

Apr 2020 · Sold by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

About this ebook

In the rubble of a broken continent, a girl must solve a mystery whose answers could rebuild her family—or break her completely, in this New York Times bestselling, critically acclaimed tour de force historical novel from Monica Hesse, author of Girl in the Blue Coat.   Germany, 1945. The soldiers who liberated the Gross-Rosen concentration camp say the war is over, but nothing feels over to eighteen-year-old Zofia Lederman. Her body has barely begun to heal, her mind feels broken. And her life is completely shattered: Three years ago, she and her younger brother, Abek, were the only members of their family to be sent to the right, away from the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Everyone else—her parents, her grandmother, radiant Aunt Maja—they went left.   Zofia's last words to her brother were a promise: Abek to Zofia, A to Z. When I find you again, we will fill our alphabet. Now her journey to fulfill that vow takes her through Poland and Germany, into a displaced persons camp where everyone she meets is trying to piece together a future from a painful past: Miriam, desperately searching for the twin she was separated from after they survived medical experimentation. Breine, a former heiress, who now longs only for a simple wedding with her new fiancé. And Josef, who guards his past behind a wall of secrets, and is beautiful and strange and magnetic all at once.

But the deeper Zofia digs, the more impossible her search seems. How can she find one boy in a sea of the missing?
 

Ratings and reviews

The war may be over, but for many people, the war still haunts them. Zofia Lederman's body has begun healing. She worries that her mind will never heal. She feels that her life is shattered and doesn't feel she is qualified to pick up the pieces. Her brother is missing. She has no idea where to begin finding him. Journeying out on her own to find him, she soon discovers that just because the war is over doesn't mean that the hate and discrimination is. She also discovers that she is not the only one suffering and looking for loved ones. I want to start by saying that this is not a book to pick up if you're looking for a light-hearted and fluffy read. It's very intense. It's deep. It's a book that has the power to stick with you and truly makes you think of how things were for Jews back then. Most people think that just because the war was over that everybody got a happily ever after. That's very far from the truth. This book demonstrates that. It's dramatic. It's raw. It's true. It's captivating and well worth the read. I read somewhere a criticism that Zofia was a very unreliable narrator. I disagree with this statement for the grounds that it's written from her point of view. It wouldn't be authentic if you weren't following the story as if you were her. I do want to say that I'd of liked to see another point of view here. Or maybe flashbacks splashed in for context. I really enjoyed hearing Zofia's story. Don't get me wrong. I just wish that some things were from another perspective. Other than that, I can't think of anything I disliked about this book. This book is narrated by Caitlin Davies. She did a beautiful job. I'm curious to know how many times she had to set it aside because the emotions were so overwhelming. She really stepped into Zofia's role. She became Zofia so much. It made the story even more intense and emotional than it already was. I feel like it connected me to the story. Well more so than I already was. I really enjoyed this story so much. It really hit me in the feels so much. I know that this will be a book that sticks with me for a long time. I'll most likely end up reading it a few more times as well. This book is very deep and thought-provoking. It inspires you to truly think and experience how life was like for those who survived. It also shows that there will always be tragedy and fortune. Sometimes they interconnect so much that it's hard to fully see what's what. I whole-heartedly recommend this novel.

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About the author

Monica Hesse is the bestselling author of Girl in the Blue Coat, American Fire, and The War Outside, as well as a columnist at the Washington Post. She lives outside Washington, D.C. with her husband and their dog.