![The World That We Knew: A Novel](https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/f/570/137/9781501137570.IN.0.m.jpg)
The World That We Knew: A Novel
by Hoffman, Alice
- Used
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- VG/VG
- ISBN 10
- 1501137573
- ISBN 13
- 9781501137570
- Seller
-
San Francisco, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Simon & Schuster, 2019-09-24. hardcover. VG/VG. 6x1x9. Signed 1st edition, 1st printing, Simon and Schuster hardcover w/ DJ, 2019. Book is VG, w/ clean text, tight binding. DJ is VG, w/ light edge/shelf wear (no tears or chips). Signed by author (and inscribed to previous owner) on title page. Free delivery confirmation.
Reviews
On Sep 24 2019, a reader said:
The World That We Knew is the twenty-eighth stand-alone novel by best-selling American author, Alice Hoffman. By 1941, life is difficult and dangerous for Jews living in Berlin. Widow Hanni Kohn knows they must escape, but her mother's paralysis means she can't leave. To send her beloved twelve-year-old daughter, Lea alone to family in Paris would be folly, so she uses her last resort, precious family jewels, to pay for a protector.
Ettie is the eldest daughter of a rabbi, and has surreptitiously absorbed his teachings and rituals. When her mother unreservedly refuses to help Hanni, Ettie claims to know how to create a golem. Her price: passage on the night train to Paris for her sister Marta and herself. The golem that the women create is unlike any other: a woman whose only mission is to keep Lea safe. But a golem which exists too long becomes too powerful, and when Lea later learns what she must ultimately do, she is torn.
In Paris, Lea and her "cousin", Ava join the household of Professor Andre Levi, whose maid, Marianne, has just abandoned her post to return to her father on his farm. Ava's powers allow her to easily fill the role, but her surveillance of Lea cannot prevent the close connection that forms between her and young Julien Levi, no matter who disapproves. But Paris, too, is becoming unsafe for Jews, and Ava removes Lea to another shelter. Lea barely has time to implore Julien "Stay alive." Who knows if they will ever see each other again.
This is a story that spans the years of the Second World War and ranges from Berlin to Paris to several parts of country France. Information about the golem and other mystical aspects is seamlessly integrated into the narrative. The cast of characters is not small, but many of them connect and reconnect, if only fleetingly. These represent the many real-life brave, generous, ordinary people who had a myriad of reasons to help the persecuted and resist the oppressor.
The circumstances of minor characters are often detailed using a small vignette of their lives. Where they encounter Ava, Hoffman uses the golem's power of knowledge to note the fate of their loved ones and she frequently takes the opportunity to include the staggering statistics about the incarceration and death of those persecuted by the Nazi regime. To make it more interesting, she throws her characters the occasional dilemma.
Of course, among the many deaths, Hoffman realistically does not spare all of her protagonists for a Hollywood happy-ever-after. But rather than concentrating on atrocities, Hoffman makes this a moving and uplifting tale by showcasing those kind and charitable characters, giving them a starring role. Readers should be ready for some lump-in-the-throat moments. A stirring and thought-provoking read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Simon and Schuster
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Colewood Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- SKU1021880
- Title
- The World That We Knew: A Novel
- Author
- Hoffman, Alice
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - VG
- Jacket Condition
- VG
- Quantity Available
- 1
- ISBN 10
- 1501137573
- ISBN 13
- 9781501137570
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster
- Date Published
- 2019-09-24
- Size
- 6x1x9
- X weight
- 23 oz
Terms of Sale
Colewood Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Colewood Books
Biblio member since 2018
San Francisco, California
About Colewood Books
small bookstore with lots of signed first editions
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- VG
- Very Good condition can describe a used book that does show some small signs of wear - but no tears - on either binding or...
- VG/VG
- Very Good Condition book with a Very Good Condition dust jacket. Very Good Condition indicates a used book that does show some...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...