Review: The Sweetness of Forgetting by Kristin Harmel

The Sweetness of Forgetting by Kristin Harmel
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: August 7, 2012

Hope McKenna-Smith has hard time the last few years.  She divorced her husband, lost her mother to cancer, is dealing with a moody 12 year old daughter, struggling to keep her bakery afloat, and is watching helplessly as her grandmother succumbs to Alzheimers.  When her grandmother presents her a list of people to locate in her native Paris and a check, she thinks it's just senile ramblings.  Giving in to her daughter's nagging, she agrees to attempt to find information about her grandmother's family.  Little does she know how delving into her grandmother's past will change and enrich her life.

Digging into her grandmother's past leads to a French organization which archives family histories and stories of Holocaust survivors and those who perished. Realizing she has Jewish heritage and seeing relics of the Holocaust gives Hope a renewed sorrow for those who suffered and shines some light on her grandmother's personality.  She also finds out about the alliance between Jews and Muslims which helped her grandmother to survive.  Hope cannot even fathom the choices her grandmother had to make and the consequences of those choices.  Each new piece of information Hope unravels gives her life own life greater meaning and appreciation for the events of her past..

The Sweetness of Forgetting is a great book about the way our choices can affect future generations.  Rose's decisions trickled down to her granddaughter Hope.  Hope's journey changes her and lets her know it's ok to travel the road less traveled. She is finally able to stand up to her exhusband and as she learns about the past she gains appreciation for her past and the rich history of her family. 

**This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.**

Review: City of Women by David R. Gilham

City of Women by David R. Gilham

Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books

Published:August 7, 2012

When her husband gets drafted into frontline service, Sigrid Schröder joins the ranks of the husbandless wives. Berlin is drained of its men and has become a city of women, children, the elderly, and the disabled. Living with her crotchety mother-in-law, Sigrid uses the cinema as a refuge from her mother-in-law's contempt and harassment. In the cinema, she meets a mystery man and has a strange encounter with her neighbor's duty year girl, Erica Kohl.   

In Berlin, everyone has their secrets and Sigrid's are piling up.  Her deepening relationships with the man from the theater and Erica gives her reason to live outside the boundaries of appropriate behavior for a good German woman. Sigrid starts to realize that complacency in the current situation is the same as being a active perpetrator of atrocities. While trying to keep all her selves separate and coming to terms with possible consequences of her actions, she is blindsided by her husband's return from the frontline.  As her secrets start coming to light, Sigrid starts acting rather than reacting to the changes around her. 

City of Women provide a peek into the intimate life of a German women. Sigrid goes from oblivious to the reality of the war to actively following her ideals.  She begins to question the government and the complacency of her countrymen.  She changes from toeing the line and staying under the radar to actively taking risks and actively working for change.  The book was a great, if a little dense, read.  It was a little hard to follow the chain of events but overall the story was very coherent and precise. 

**This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.**