Review: To Find My Mother

Synopsis:

A HARROWING AND YET UPLIFTING STORY OF SURVIVAL AND LOVE

Best friends Jana and Eva are carefree eight-year-olds in Prague-until Nazi occupation tears their lives apart. 

As their mothers are taken away and the girls face the horrors of war, survival becomes all that matters

In Theresienstadt, two desperate women make unimaginable sacrifices to one day find their children. 

But will love and hope be enough to help them reunite?

Shop The Book: To Find My Mother
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I debated over whether to pick this one up because I knew going in that it was likely to be an emotionally devastating read. But ultimately I felt like the story needed to be told on behalf of everyone in real life who would never get to tell theirs. That felt like reason enough. Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources for having me on this tour.

The Story

To Find My Mother follows Jana and Eva, best friends who are carefree eight year olds in Prague until the Nazi occupation tears their world apart. Separated from their mothers, the girls face the horrors of war while their mothers make unimaginable sacrifices in Theresienstadt trying to survive long enough to find their way back to their children. It is a story of survival, of love, and of what people are capable of enduring when the alternative is unthinkable.

Content warnings: violence, death, abuse, racism.

Reading Experience

This was a quick read. Every chapter confronted the devastation of the Jewish people and the horrendous treatment they endured, and while that was genuinely hard to stomach it also kept the pages turning. I could not look away even when I wanted to.

I wish this book had had even more emotional depth. It is a heartbreaking story and the characters cried and screamed and broke apart in all the ways you would expect. But I did not quite get the feeling of being fully inside the story with them the way I normally do with emotionally heavy plots. There was something I cannot fully put into words that created a slight disconnect for me, a distance between the reader and the devastation that I wanted to be smaller.

Characters

The characters we follow are mothers and daughters, separated by the Nazis and fighting everything the world threw at them just to stay alive and find their way back to each other. They are surrounded by genocide, hatred, abuse, and circumstances so horrific they nearly broke them at every turn. They had to make decisions against their own values and do unspeakable things just to live another day. That weight is real and present throughout the book.

Themes and Tone

The synopsis describes this as a harrowing and yet uplifting story of survival and love, and I want to be honest about where that description sits with me. I appreciate that the story found its moments of connection and resistance and humanity. But I personally believe that historical fiction set during this period should be gut wrenchingly honest about how harrowing it truly was. There was nothing uplifting about that time in history. Husbands were taken, tortured, and murdered. And so when a romantic storyline began to develop, including with men who were acting as underground informants and resistance helpers within the Nazi structure, it did not sit well with me. I can appreciate the reality that there were men on the inside working against the regime. But the romance that grew from that felt wrong to me in this context. That is a personal response and I want to be clear that the synopsis does signal it, so I was prepared for what I was coming into.

Final Thoughts

To Find My Mother is a story that deserves to be told and I am glad I read it. As much of a gut punch as it already was, I personally felt it could have been even harsher, even more emotionally raw, if only to give a fuller voice to all of the people who deserve to be heard and never will be. I would recommend this to fans of historical fiction set during World War Two, particularly those who appreciate stories of survival and resistance. Just go in knowing the romance element is present and decide for yourself whether that works for you.

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this virtual book tour Rachel’s Random Resources .

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Mary was brought up in Leicestershire where her family settled when she was six months old, Mary now lives in Blackpool with her beloved husband Roy. Their children have long flown the nest and are living happily with their partners and have extended Mary and Roy’s happiness by giving them eight wonderful grandchildren, and umpteen great grandchildren, all of whom are a joy to them.

Mary began writing in the 1980’s but didn’t find success until she self-published on amazon in 2011. Soon after she was thrilled to be spotted by Pan Macmillan who have since published 24 of her books, including the bestselling Jam Factory Girls series. Her latest being ‘A Lasting Promise’ and ‘Her Hidden courage’.

Soon after being published by Pan Macmillan, Mary was approached by Sphere, a subsidiary of Little Brown Books. Joining them she wrote 12 novels under the pseudonym of Maggie Mason. Including the bestselling, The Half Penny Girls. Her latest Maggie Mason is: A Daughter’s Dream, with one more to come in 2027 yet, untitled. 

Mary has now come full circle and is returning to publishing herself with the help of her son, James Wood, as she now cares for her beloved husband and needs to set her own, achievable deadlines, but remains ever grateful to both of her publishers and for all they did for her.

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