Daughters of the Occupation: A Novel of WWII

By Shelly Sanders

Book Overview

Inspired by true events in World War II Latvia, an emotionally charged novel of sacrifice, trauma, resilience, and survival, as witnessed by three generations of women.

On one extraordinary day in 1940, Miriam Talan's comfortable life is shattered. While she gives birth to her second child, a son she and her husband, Max, name Monya, the Soviets invade the Baltic state of Latvia and occupy the capital city of Riga, her home. Because the Talans are Jewish, the Soviets confiscate Max's business and the family's house and bank accounts, leaving them with nothing.

Then, the Nazis arrive. They kill Max and begin to round up Jews. Fearing for her newborn son and her young daughter, Ilana, Miriam asks her loyal housekeeper to hide them and conceal their Jewish roots to keep them safe until the savagery ends.

Three decades later, in Chicago, 24-year-old Sarah Byrne is mourning the untimely death of her mother, Ilana. Sarah's estranged grandmother, Miriam, attends the funeral, opening the door to shocking family secrets. Sarah probes Miriam for information about the past, but it is only when Miriam is in the hospital, delirious with fever, that she begs Sarah to find the son she left behind in Latvia.

Traveling to the Soviet satellite state, Sarah begins her search with the help of Roger, a charismatic Russian-speaking professor. But as they come closer to the truth, she realizes her quest may have disastrous consequences.

A magnificent, emotionally powerful story of family and the lingering devastation of war, The Daughters of the Occupation explores how trauma is passed down in families and illuminates the strength and grace that can be shared by generations.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0063226669
• ISBN13: 9780063226661
• Release Date: May 2022
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Atrocious editing on an otherwise interesting story...

If I could review the story separately from the editing, I would. The editing in this book is so incredibly bad that it became distracting and frustrating. I find two examples just by dropping the book open to a random page (p. 166.) They include, "We're upstairs. In the loft." and "Five children. Miriam couldn't begin to understand..." In addition, this editor misuses hyphens throughout the book. Neither "sage green" nor "flint gray" should be hyphenated, and this is just scratching the surface. It seems that sentence structure, grammar, and usage are not important to this editor and the story suffers. As an editor myself, I do understand the crucial role these structures are to creating a picture in the reader's mind that will bring an author's story to life. Unfortunately, I was simply not able to grasp the author's intention with what seems like an interesting story. The dance between author and editor was absent here.