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Title: muted heartbreak
Review: Those Who Save Us is set in Germany during the Holocaust, but is told from an unusual perspective; that of a young Aryan girl, Anna, as she does what she must to keep her daughter Trudy alive. Interspersed with Anna's story is the story of Trudy as an adult. The reader is introduced to Anna through Trudy's eyes, and it is not a sympathetic view. Anna's story is revealed to the reader long before Trudy reaches the same knowledge, and so Anna gradually becomes the more sympathetic character. This is not an easy book; Anna's story is heartbreaking, and as with any book dealing with the Holocaust, the subject matter is deeply disturbing. However, there is something about the style of Jenna Blum's writing that gives this book a dreamlike quality, affording the reader a bit of distance from the horror and heartbreak.
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