Sofía Segovia

Arno Schipper and Ilse Hahlbrock grow up, unaware of each other, in different parts of Prussia during World War II, and take flight with their families when the region ceases to exist as a part of Germany at the end of the war.

Tears of Amber

Stephanie Ridiculous

Vivid, wrenching, and so so sad. A beautiful written novel, so compelling that I stayed up until 2am two nights in a row to finish!

Veronica Zarate

There is SO much to say about Tears of Amber that it will definitely not fit into this IG description. I love this book so much and can't wait to read it again!

Tears of Amber is told from the perspective of 2 Prussian families & their experience through the entirety of WWII. These families are forced to make life-changing transitions at each turn with all members - old & young - learning to make sacrifices, adopt new perspectives, and live through conditions that many of us today could not possibly imagine surviving. From the perspective of a farmer's family, hanging on to the importance that the Reich placed on their land to a cabinetmaker's family who must scrounge around for every bit of sustenance before & after their patriarch is sent to war. The Hahlbrocks & Schippers learn that hardly anything is ever as it seems, that hardly anything is guaranteed, & that the hope a family provides one another is one of the most powerful instruments in surviving a war.

The majority of WWII stories are, understandably, told from the Jewish perspective. Tears of Amber, giving the German perspective, beautifully & heartbreakingly illustrates how the overarching effects of WWII adversely impacted the lives of those who blindly supported the Reich as well, whether out of sheer patriotism or because they just hoped everything would turn out alright in the end. Far & away from the propaganda & military enforcement of the Vaterland, many of us will never understand why Hitler seemed to have such a devoted national following. Tears of Amber provides an interesting juxtaposition between those who proudly stared in awe of Hitler as he marched & those who did it only out of fear. Those who didn't hesitate to help neighbors in need as opposed to those who were quick to shutter their homes for fear of appearing mutinous. How, in the end, the imminent threat of death or loss of family overruled any sense of propriety or civility. And how the end of the war left those in ruin to re-learn or appropriate the rules of a new society. Regardless of their support of the Reich, or lack thereof, no individual was spared from the ruin & suffering that WWII left in its wake.

Tears of Amber

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