I
finished The Girl They Left Behind last weekend and I’m still thinking about
it. Set in WWII, this novel tells the
story of a young Romanian girl who is left on a door step alone in the night as
Jews are being massacred across Bucharest.
Adopted by a wealthy middle-class family, Natalia is raised by a loving
family, but she often wonders why she was left alone by her biological
parents. Anton and Despina are loving
parents, but they face many trials after the war. Romania switches its allegiance to the Allies
after being run by the Nazis for the majority of the war. It seems like life will get better after the Allied
victory until the iron curtain falls on Romania. At that point, the communist chip away at all
that Anton built from scratch rising from a penniless orphan until he was the
owner of a chain of stationary stores.
Slowly all is taken away from him, including his purpose and his
dignity. The family struggles to
survive. Will Natalia ever find out what
happened to her biological parents? What
has happened to Victor, the young man Anton helped in his out when he was
struggling?
I
really enjoyed at the end of the novel that the author had based this entire
novel on her mother’s experience being abandoned and adopted during the
execution of Jews during WWII in Bucharest.
The author spent her childhood growing up in Bucharest before the family
moved to the United States. She lovingly
wrote of Bucharest and provided background history on events. I looked up even more as I was reading the
novel as I know little to nothing about Romania and its involvement in
WWII. It was fascinating to learn this
part of history that was new to me.
This
really has had me thinking about communism as well. It seems strange to me to take someone who is
a productive member of society and leave them with nothing to do once you’ve
stripped them of their status and ability to work. It also seems like wealth was just redistributed
to other people.
I
enjoyed the story and read this book relatively quickly. I loved reading about Natalia and her
family’s trials and tribulations. I with
there would have been more at the start of the novel about her biological
parents and their journey. The romance
also fell very flat for me in this book.
I just wanted to read about Natalia and her family as that was the true
love story of the novel.
Favorite
Quotes:
“For
an instant, he recognized it, that same shred of hope that had risen above all
else in his own wretched heart, a trace of resignation in the path that left no
other options open.”
“You
made my life truly beautiful.”
Overall,
The Girl They Left Behind is a fascinating look into WWII and its aftermath in
Romania and how it impacted one family.
Book
Source: Review Copy for being a part of
the TLC Book Tour. For more stops on the tour, check out this link.
GIVEAWAY
One lucky winner has a chance to win a copy of The Girl They Left Behind by Roxanne Veletzos . If you would like to win this book, please leave a comment on what interests you about this book. What is your favorite WWII book? Have you ever visited Romania or read any books on Romania?
As part of your comment, you must include an email address. If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner.
For an additional entry, blog about this giveaway or post it on your sidebar. Provide a link to this post in your comment.
I will be using random.org (or a Monte Carlo simulation in excel) to pick the winners from the comments.
This contest is only open to addresses in the United States.
The deadline for entry is midnight on Friday November 9th!
Please make sure to check the week of November 12th to see if you are a winner. I send emails to the winner, but lately I've been put in their "junk mail" folder instead of their inbox.
Good luck!
