Those Who Save Us

Jenna Blum

May 2005 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

For fifty years, Anna Schlemmer has refused to talk about her life in Germany during World War II. Her daughter, Trudy, was only three when she and her mother were liberated by an American soldier and went to live with him in Minnesota. Trudy's sole evidence of the past is an old photograph: a family portrait showing Anna, Trudy, and a Nazi officer, the Obersturmfuhrer of Buchenwald.

Driven by the guilt of her heritage, Trudy, now a professor of German history, begins investigating the past and finally unearths the dramatic and heartbreaking truth of her mother's life.

Combining a passionate, doomed love story, a vivid evocation of life during the war, and a poignant mother/daughter drama, Those Who Save Us is a profound exploration of what we endure to survive and the legacy of shame.

Ratings and reviews

I liked the story, but felt the end dropped off. Also, not sure what's going on with authors not using quotations when people are speaking, but it is rather annoying when they are missing. Without that visual cue, some things are missed and I had to back track several times. This is the 2nd book, by 2 different authors, that I have come across like that. If this is a "trend", I feel I won't keep reading that author.

Such a great read. I always enjoy a good historical fiction novel. But I did feel at times there was some unnecessary information on certain aspects of the story, where other more important information could have been put in its place but really an overall good read.

I don't understand why authors think it's better to leave the reader hanging. I understand the idea of the reader coming to their own conclusion but I would much prefer closure with the characters I come to care about than to just be left wondering.

About the author

JENNA BLUM is the New York Times bestselling author of The Stormchasers. Jenna is of German and Jewish descent and spent four years working for Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation, interviewing Holocaust survivors. She teaches fiction for Grub Street Writers. Please visit Jenna at www.jennablum.com, on Facebook and on Twitter: @jenna_blum.