EARLY SUMMER READS - posted 7.8.2025

I've been reading lots and lots and LOTS of books this spring/summer, as I recover from June 2nd surgery. I have more books to read and lots more reviews of books to write of books I've read. This list is rather varied, but I continue to read and review books about the Holocaust, as included here.

The Teacher of Auschwitz   -   Wendy Holden     

Fredy Hirsch. Not a name you are familiar with, but by the time you finish reading this book, you will wish that you could have been in the presence of this remarkable young man who impacted the lives of hundreds of Polish, Czech, and German Jewish children during WWII. Fredy took it upon himself to be the gentle and kind entertaining teacher these children deserved and desperately needed. His story reveals how he risked his life, over the 5 years of the Nazi regime, to protect these children in the Nazi ghettos of Terezin, Czechoslovakia and Aachen, Germany and in his final home in Auschwitz. A powerful true story of the kind of human being we can only wish world rulers emulated

The Glassmaker   -   Tracy Chevalier

This brilliant new book by historical fiction writer-extraordinaire, Tracy Chevalier, immerses the reader in the flourishing Venice and Murano glassmaking industry, starting in the 13th century and through its demise over the centuries. The eldest daughter of a Murano glassblowing family, Orsola Rossa, teaches herself the art, against the wishes of her family and community, because women of that time kept the house operating, not the business. Chevalier takes liberty with time, "skipping like a stone through the centuries," as we follow the Rossa family from 1486 through the plague that ravished Italy, to the destruction of the industry when Napoleon and then the Austrians overtook Venice and Murano, and beyond. Those skipping stones show Orsola aging at a snail's pace as she lives to tell her story through those early days to modern, post-Covid life. I relished being taken into this world, past and present, rooting for Orsola along the way.

The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau   -   Kristin Harmel         

A unique diamond-studded bracelet is at the core of the mystery that unfolds around a decades-old murder in Paris just days before it fell to Germany. The story's protagonist, Colette Marceau, a Robin Hood-like person whose mother taught her to steal from the rich to support the poor, is a jewelry thief during WWII who funds the Resistance by stealing off of Nazis the jewels they stole from the homes of the Jews they sent to the camps. This couldn't-put-it-down story is full of twists and turns that culminate in a perfect ending, complete with characters I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with. 

Wayward Girls   -   Susan Wiggs

A story too horrific to be true, but, sadly, it is based on a true story . . . and probably many like this that have never been shared. Six girls are abandoned by parents or caretakers to a Catholic reform school "Our Lady of Charity Refuge and Sisters of the Good Shepherd" run by nuns in Buffalo, New York in the 1960s, when promiscuous behavior and teenage pregnancy were huge no-no's. Condemned into forced labor in the reform school's laundry by the wickedly repressed nuns, the school is anything but charitable or a safe refuge: the girls are beaten, starved, locked up in solitary confinement, mentally abused, and treated with unimaginable hatred. Stained by their vile treatment, the book is about their struggle to trust each other, and, over time, their realization that they need to work with each other, rather than against, to protect each other and figure out a means of escape. A deeply disturbing, well-written story about courage in the face of evil and unspeakably sanctioned mistreatment.

Queen Esther   -   John Irving

In his 16th - and first novel after a 40-year break from publishing - John Irving returns to the St. Cloud, Maine orphanage featured in his classic "The Cider House Rules." In "Queen Esther" the orphanage's doctor takes in a Viennese-born baby, whose Jewish father died aboard ship from Vienna to Portland, Maine and whose Jewish mother was murdered by anti-semites after she debarked in Portland in the early 1900s. Adopted by a non-Jewish family, typically idiosyncratic in the Irving-style, Esther, as she was named by her mother, grows up obsessed with her Jewish identity and the anti-semitism inherent worldwide. Her obsession leads her back to Vienna and eventually to Israel, where she becomes a hero, revered for being a warrior for Jewish rights. Irving's unique voice is as strong as ever, as well as his skill at creating delightfully quirky characters he manages to pull from his brilliant mind.

Blonde Dust   -   Tatiana De Rosnay

I had to read this book because the author of the bestselling "Sarah's Key," Tatiana De Rosnay, is one of my all-time favorite writers. We learn very early on that the blonde in De Rosnay's latest book's title is Marilyn Monroe. The story takes place in the Mapes Hotel in Reno during the filming of "The Misfits" in 1960. Having no clue who Marilyn Monroe is, a young chambermaid, Pauline, is given the job of cleaning Monroe's hotel room. Over the weeks of filming, Pauline witnesses Monroe's angry, depressed, and drunken behavior as her marriage to Arthur Miller falls apart during Miller's constant rewriting of the script during the filming of "The Misfits." Pauline and Monroe develop an unexpected friendship that reveals a fabricated side of Monroe not seen by the public, a side full of empathy and kindess that leads to changing the course of Pauline's life.

My Name is Emilia Del Valle   -   Isabel Allende

Allende's historical novel opens in San Francisco in 1866 with the birth of Emilia del Valle, the offspring of a handsome and charming Chilean aristocrat who impregnates an Irish nun. The nun is taken in by a poor caring man who marries the nun and becomes father to the baby girl Emilia. Maturing into a free-thinking young woman and a talented writer, Emilia travels solo to South America in search of her birth father and Chilean identity. A civil war is brewing at the same time that she convinces a newspaper editor to hire her as a reporter. As the country falls into a violent war, Emilia finds and meets her dying father. Caught in the middle of a civil war as a reporter, she puts her life in danger, while at the same time dealing with the truth of her identiy and destiny as the offspring of a very wealthy man. Here is Isable Allende at her best writing about war-torn Chile and a fearless woman who doesn't stop at the word no.

Still Life     -    Sarah Winman    

I love this book so much — and have recommended it to so many — that I decided I needed to read it again! A character-driven love story to Florence and its oh-so Italian inhabitants. Sarah Winman's saga spans 40 decades, featuring captivating bohemian people whose lifelong friendships are the backbone of this lovely novel: good luck not falling in love with each and every one of them, to wish you were seated at their table dining on every delicious meal they cook together, and to fantasize that these are the people you would love to call "family." If you aren’t already a fan of her writing, Sarah Winman’s "Still Life" will win you over!