The Lost Letter is a book set in both 1938 (Austria, World War II) and 1989 (Los Angeles). Katie Nelson is a woman who lives in Los Angeles in 1989 who is going through a divorce and caring for an elderly parent. She has a stamp collection of her father's that she is getting appraised. Her father was recently moved into a care facility and has early dementia. The stamp appraiser finds an unusual stamp in the collection on a letter that has never been opened. Both Katie and Benjamin are determined to find out what happen to the intended recipient of the letter and to find out why the stamp is unusual.
Austria, 1938 Hitler and his troops have entered Austria and it is a dangerous time. We meet Kristoff, a orphan who is a apprentice to a master stamp engraver. His mentor and teacher is Jewish.. Kristoff lives with the family, finally feeling a sense of belonging. On Kristallnacht, Kristoff's mentor goes missing, but first he gives Kristoff the studio where they work, knowing that Jews would not be allowed to own a business. Kristallnacht, or Reichskristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, where the Nazi's arrest tens of thousands of the Jewish people and send them off to concentration camps. Many were also killed that night. Houses, towns, synagogues were burnt to the ground. It is no longer safe for the family. The Nazi's come and force Kristoff to engrave stamps for them, at the same time is he is helping Elena, this mentors daughter forge papers and help with the resistance in Austria.
This book was so good. Suspenseful, sad, mysterious. Infuriating, but when aren't Nazi's and their destruction/murder not infuriating? The characters in this book were well developed, easy to like and root for. The ending was both lovely and a bit heartbreaking. It wasn't predicable to me and I felt the way the stories from both eras wove together was beautiful.
Jillian Cantor
Hardcover/Ebook: 336 pages
Publisher: Riverhead Books (June 13, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399185674
ISBN-13: 978-0399185670
Would I read it again? Yes
Would I recommend it to adults? Yes.
What about teens? This book doesn't have graphic violence or sex in it, but it isn't a clean read.
Would I recommend it to adults? Yes.
What about teens? This book doesn't have graphic violence or sex in it, but it isn't a clean read.
4 out of five stars.
1 star – didn’t like it
2 stars – it was OK
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing
I received this book FREE from First to Read. I was under no obligation to give a positive review. All opinions are my own.
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