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Overview
Pam Jenoff, whose first novel, The Kommandant’s Girl, was a Quill Award finalist, a Book Sense pick, and a finalist for the ALA Sophie Brody Award, joins the Doubleday list with a suspenseful story of love and betrayal set during the Holocaust.
An ambitious novel that spans decades and continents, The Things We Cherished tells the story of Charlotte Gold and Jack Harrington, two fiercely independent attorneys who find themselves slowly falling for one another while working to defend the brother of a Holocaust hero against allegations of World War II–era war crimes.
The defendant, wealthy financier Roger Dykmans, mysteriously refuses to help in his own defense, revealing only that proof of his innocence lies within an intricate timepiece last seen in Nazi Germany. As the narrative moves from Philadelphia to Germany, Poland, and Italy, we are given glimpses of the lives that the anniversary clock has touched over the past century, and learn about the love affair that turned a brother into a traitor.
Rich in historical detail, Jenoff’s astonishing new work is a testament to true love under the worst of circumstances.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Two lawyers argue, fall in love, and unravel a tragic historical mystery in Jenoff's (The Kommandant's Girl) solid latest novel of lovers and loners struggling to find happiness despite social injustice and complicating emotions. Prompted by ex-boyfriend Brian Warrington, Philadelphia public defender Charlotte Gold goes to Germany to help defend octogenarian financier Roger Dykmans, on trial for allegedly collaborating in the Nazis' capture of his heroic anti-Nazi brother, Hans. Working with Brian's own estranged brother, Jack, Charlotte discovers she and Jack share an idealistic approach to law and a mutual attraction, even as they disagree over how to handle the case, at the heart of which is the tale of two brothers in love with the same woman and a crucially important family heirloom. Jenoff interweaves generational narratives: the clockmaker with dreams of taking his wife away from pogroms to safety in America; the rising tide of anti-Semitism; Roger and Hans as young men hoping to save lives amid Nazi atrocities; and Charlotte, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, herself entangled with two brothers. Unlike much romantic historical suspense, this is quiet and credible—even the surprise twists—further cementing Jenoff's reputation for adeptly using the harsh realities of WWII Europe as a context for a timeless love story. (July)Library Journal
Philadelphia public defender Charlotte Gold is thrown for a loop when her old boyfriend, Brian Warrington, shows up in her office. They had met at The Hague ten years earlier prosecuting Bosnian war crimes—then Brian broke her heart. He's now a New York attorney, and he needs Charlotte's forensics skills on a high-profile case involving Roger Dykmans, a man accused of collaborating with the Nazis now being tried in Munich. Charlotte warily agrees, but Brian misses the plane, leaving Charlotte on her own in Munich. Oddly, her contact there is Brian's estranged brother, Jack, whom Charlotte had always found intimidating. Together, they must prove Roger's innocence, the key to which could be a magnificent antique clock. VERDICT Jenoff's (The Kommandant's Girl; A Hidden Affair) heroine falls in too easily with the man who did her wrong and is hesitant and indecisive about nearly everything involving the Warringtons. Far more intriguing is the story of the clock and its provenance, but Jenoff pins her tale on a near impossibility. The author might know her European history, but she hasn't quite figured out how to tell a convincing tale. If her other books circulate well, you should probably consider getting this one, too. [See Prepub Alert, 1/9/11.]—Bette-Lee Fox, Library JournalKirkus Reviews
Charlotte Gold, a Philadelphia attorney with an expertise in war crimes who escaped the big bad world of legal firms to work as a public defender, is talked into helping defend aged financier Roger Dykmans, who is being held in Germany as a Nazi collaborator. As she unravels mysteries from the past, she discovers important truths about herself.
The younger brother of Hans Dykmans, a Schindler-like hero, Roger is an uncooperative client, leading Charlotte to search the dark mysteries of the past in Germany, Poland and Italy. Her partner on the case is the starchy Jack Warrington, younger brother of Brian, the slick lawyer who broke Charlotte's heart years ago by leaving her for another woman when Charlotte was caring for her ill mother, but who shows up out of the blue to ask her to drop everything and go to Europe. Jenoff, a Holocaust authority herself (The Kommandant's Girl, 2007, etc.), moves between past and present to trace the events leading to Roger's arrest. His reticence is tied to his star-crossed love affair with his brother's wife Magda, who would perish in a concentration camp. At the center of the mystery is a rare clock crafted by a Bavarian farmer in 1903 who sold it hoping to use the proceeds to save his pregnant wife from an earlier campaign against European Jews.The book boasts a sure grasp of period details, and shows a subtle hand in depicting the Nazis' slowly intensifying threat. But the unlikely romance of Charlotte and Jack struggles to rise above standard romance-novel fare, and Jenoff's matching threesomes are a bit schematic.
It would help if the men were more appealing. Still, askillfully rendered tale of undying love, unthinkable loss and the relentless grip of the past on the present.