“I’m always conflicted,” Charlotte continued. She was rambling, she knew, but the answer to Jack’s question was not a short or simple one. “I mean, I’m the descendant of Holocaust victims. My mom’s whole family died here. But when I came back, I found that the truth was so much more nuanced than I ever expected. The people you wanted to call evil had humanity and the heroes were flawed. There was gray everywhere. That’s what I found so appealing about the work. The broad brushstrokes of history were misleading. I really felt that by studying and recasting things in a finer light, I was doing more of a service to the truth and to those who died. But as for Roger…” She paused, turning to face him. “It’s too soon to tell, I think.”
(from The Things We Cherished, page 105)
The Things We Cherished is the fifth book I’ve read by Pam Jenoff, and she hasn’t let me down yet. Each of Jenoff’s novels tells a unique story somehow connected to World War II. In The Things We Cherished, Jenoff takes readers back and forth in time as her main character defends a man accused of war crimes.
Set mainly in 2009, the book follows attorney Charlotte Gold, who abandoned a budding career at The Hague to become a public defender in Philadelphia who deals mostly with troubled youth. After a sudden request from the man who broke her heart, Charlotte finds herself overseas and working with his brother, Jack, on a war crimes trial involving Roger Dykmans, a financier accused of informing the Nazis about his older brother’s plan to save thousands of children from the Theresienstadt concentration camp, resulting in their deaths. When Roger refuses to help Jack and Charlotte produce evidence to prove he is innocent, the pair go off in search of a valuable anniversary clock that somehow holds the key to Roger’s story. Their rush to build a case pushes them closer together, and Charlotte learns why Jack and his brother, Brian, parted ways years ago and that they both must move beyond the wounds of their pasts.
In alternating chapters, Jenoff takes readers back in time to follow the history of the clock, from its creation in Bavaria in 1903 by a farmer looking to escape the pogroms against the Jews by selling his beautifully crafted clock and moving to America with his pregnant wife to East Berlin in 1961 during the erection of the Berlin wall, when the clock is stolen by a young woman running away from her drunk mother, a dead-end life, and political oppression. Although I really enjoyed reading about the history of the timepiece and the troubled times that each of the owners endured, I kept wondering how these individual stories were going to be connected to Roger and the alleged betrayal of his brother, Hans. I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between this aspect of the story and E. Annie Proulx’s Accordion Crimes, which deals with the trials and tribulations of the various people who own a particular accordion and the accordion’s travels over many years.
The Things We Cherished was an enjoyable read, if any novel dealing with the Holocaust can be considered such. I liked Charlotte, who has a big heart when it comes to her clients but feels lost in terms of relationships and her career. However, Jenoff barely scratched the surface when it came to developing the characters of Charlotte and Jack. Charlotte is the main character, but she takes a back seat to the historical aspect of the story, which seems to be Jenoff’s passion. It didn’t bother me that Roger’s tale of love, loss, and betrayal in Breslau during the war took center stage because I found it very interesting, as I did with the rest of the stories centered on the anniversary clock. But the movement from the past — where readers are placed right into the emotional turmoil — to the present — where information about the Holocaust is simply stated by characters and Charlotte and Jack’s interactions have little time to develop before readers are moved back into the past — would have been more effective had Charlotte’s story been infused with the same intensity.
Still, I found The Things We Cherished hard to put down, and I feel that it gave me a good sense of what it was like living in Germany before, during, and after the war and the pressure endured by the attorneys working on war crimes trials as they rush to achieve justice before it is too late. It’s definitely a novel worth checking out if you are interested in WWII history.
Check out my reviews of other books by Pam Jenoff:
Disclosure: I received a copy of The Things We Cherished from the author and Doubleday for review purposes. I am an IndieBound affiliate and an Amazon associate.
© 2011 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
I’ve never read anything by Pam Jenoff, but this book has me intrigued. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your review and will add this book to my list. Thanks, Anna!
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Thanks, Beth! I’ve enjoyed all of her novels so far, so you definitely should read one.
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Sounds interesting and I’m looking forward to reading this.
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I can’t wait for you to read it so we can discuss!
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I just recently finished this. It was my first read by her and I look forward to reading more. I have another one on my TBR pile and then I think the library has mostly everything else.
P.S.: I am not sure how long it is going to take for me to get around to reviewing it, so I just wanted to tell you that Resistance was well worth the read. I finished it yesterday. Very readable and a perspective on WWII that I have never experienced before.
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Thanks for letting me know about Resistance. I sure hope to read it at some point. Looking forward to you thoughts on both of the books.
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A new author for me – and am intrigued by the reviews of this book.
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I hope you give her books a try!
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I just got another of her ARCs yesterday. She has been incredibly prolific lately!
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You’ll have to let me know the title. I didn’t know she had another book coming out so soon!
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I love the cover and the title of this book and was interested in it based solely on those two things, but now I think maybe I’ll try a different book by this author first. Great review, Anna!
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Thanks, Aarti! I really liked this book, but my favorite of Jenoff’s novels is The Kommandant’s Girl.
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I have been to Theresienstadt Mostly books like this just deal with things you can’t even imagine, or want to imagine.
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So true! At least in this book, Jenoff doesn’t go into detailed descriptions of the camps, so it makes it easier for some readers to handle.
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This does sound interesting – too bad the characters aren’t better developed. I think I’d still like to try it.
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It’s definitely worth reading, as I really enjoyed it. I just think more could have been done with the main characters, but that just goes to show how much I liked them.
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I am becoming a little pickier with my WWII reads, just because I’m yearning for a story I’ve not heard before. But this one sounds like it meets the criteria. I have a thing for clocks too, so that really caught my eye!
BTW, I saw the comment about Resistance. Excellent book.
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I’m always on the lookout for unique WWII stories, too. But unique or not, if the summary really grabs me, I’m going to read it. Usually I find some new nugget of information.
I guess I really need to read Resistance then!
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I can see I’m missing out on a terrific author. The Things We Cherished sounds like a compelling and wonderful book. Charlotte sounds intriguing and extremely likeable to me and I like that the story takes us into the past. I’m becoming more interested in WW II the more books I read about it. I would love to read books on different aspects of that time by the same author so I think it’s time for me to check out Pam Jenoff’s books. Thank you for mentioning her other books and how much you enjoyed them,
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I really liked Charlotte, too, even though I found myself more interested in Roger’s story. I really do hope you get a chance to read one of Jenoff’s novels.
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This sounds great! The concept of jumping between the present and the past kind of reminds me of Sarah’s Key. I’ll read anything set in WWII so I need to add this to my list!
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I can see that comparison, too. And, as you know, I’m a sucker for a good WWII novel myself. 😉
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I have been meaning to read Pam Jenoff for a while now. I recently borrowed the first book by her so hopefully I will actually get to read it!
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I hope you have a chance to as well! Hope you enjoy her books as much as I do.
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Great review Anna. I’ve been meaning to read one of her books for a while now and it sounds like she really does a good job with historical novels.
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Thanks, Iliana! Jenoff really does have a passion for the WWII era and it shows in her novels. Hope you get to read one of them soon.
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5 books in and still writing winners? 😀 This sounds like an author I need to check out and another book of hers that I should read!
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I do hope you enjoy her books as much as I do!
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I’ve never read any of Jenoff’s books but this one caught my eye. Apart from the lack of character development it still sounds great because of the storyline. Thanks for a great review!
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Thanks!
I probably should have expressed myself better in my review. It’s not that Charlotte and Jack are not developed; I think Jenoff could have done more with them. But that’s not to say they aren’t interesting, though. And I did really enjoy this book!
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I’m reading this one now. It’s my first book by Jenoff and I am enjoying it.
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Great! I’ll keep an eye out for your review.
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