Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me the opportunity to review this book.

I really don't want to give a lot away about this book. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. I'm usually not a fan of magical realism but it works here.

We meet Hanni who has to make a decision for her daughter based off of love and survial. She enlists the help of a local Rabbi but winds up working with his daughter instead to keep her daughter safe.
Its a powerful book and questions how far people who go to fight for what they believe in.

I began reading _The World That We Knew_ on Yom HaShoah, it was an unintentional pairing and one I believe brought an extra layer to this magical realism tale set in 1940s Germany. The woven stories of Ettie, Lea, Ava, and those that they love transcends the horrors of the time without making light of any one choice or its ripple effects. Hoffman's characters make realistic choices amid the brutality.
While _The World That We Knew_ is set in a time of intense horror, it is a story of sacrifice and kindness. It is a story of love and truth. It is a story that needed to be written and needs to be read.

I've grown weary of WWII literature, but i cannot resist the lure of Hoffman's magical realism. In addition, I also lost my mother early in my life, to suicide,so i was drawn to the mother/daughter element.
Hoffman's blend of magic and reality, along with her usual deft narrative style, is flawless.
My one observation--not necessarily a criticism--is that it reads more like her YA movels than her adult ones.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

How does Alice Hoffman continue enthralling readers, novel after novel? With a brilliant mastery of character, a glorious sense of pacing, and a creative imagination that makes a moment in time spring to life. THE WORLD THAT WE KNEW is as powerful and captivating a read as any of her previous novels--the characters will haunt you.

I did not think I would read an Alice Hoffman novel that rivaled The Dove Keepers but well, I was wrong!!! The World that we Knew is a historical fiction novel set in WWII with a slight fantasy twist that only Alice Hoffman can pull off and deliver a story that is both beautiful and emotional. I have read very few books that can stir such emotion in me. The writing is so beautiful and flows to the point at times I could call it poetic. As I read the final words of this amazing work, all I could think was, oh how I was going to miss Lea and Ava.....#AliceHoffman#TheWorldThatWeKnew#Netgalley

I would rate this at least 4.25 or 4.5. A truly great read! A book about love, loss, good and evil. Ms Hoffman’s adept skill was able to incorporate two of her very different types of genres in her novels: the magical/mystical of Practical Magic and the strength and courage of women in times of adversity of The Dovekeepers. I was not a big fan of Practical Magic, but she truly succeeded here. A mother’s love for her daughter, Ettie, to survive the horrors, tragedies, and devastating torture of the impending doom and destruction of Nazi Germany while sacrificing her own life is the core of this novel. But it also is a story of salvation provided by Lea, the daughter of a rabbi in Germany who concocts a magical creature, a biblical golem, against all risks and in contravention of her parents to protect Ettie. It’s the stories of Ettie and Lea, the good, against the evil, and the intertwining of their lives. Well written, well defined characters, and engaging. Bravo! I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

4.5 stars, rounded up

What would you do to save your child? If you, like Hanni in Berlin in 1941, knew that your 12 year old daughter could never survive the onslaught that your gut tells you is coming, would you be brave enough to send her away? Could you send her alone? Or would you, like Hanni, find a way to ensure a protector for her, whatever the price? The path that Lea, Hanni's daughter, must take to make it safely to end of the war will lead her through Paris streets and countryside convents, beekeeper's cottages and the terror of not even being sure you are worth the sacrifice that's been made.

Lea is not the only main character in this story, but she is a thick strand of color in a tapestry made by people trying to survive, people trying to love, people bent on revenge and, in this story, even one that's not really a person at all. If you like your stories with magical realism - if you like the world to have a spark of life that's all its own, with animals and angels and the fates having a mind of their own, then this story of love and survival in the midst of war is for you. It touched my heart, it hurt me, the emotions of this story rang true. I liked that it was a twist on the World War 2 Novel and I liked that faith could make magic. In my mind, I can still see some of the images that Hoffman created and for a story set in a time of such horror, the ones for me that really stick out are the ones were she has laid bare our humanity and made us want to grasp it with both hands.

If I could list the most masterful storytellers on one hand Alice Hoffman would be among them. I was first enchanted by her writing in the Dovekeepers followed by Practical Magic and most recently the Rules of Magic. The World that we knew fits seamlessly into the category of majestic and the lineup of Alice Hoffmans writing. Centered in 1941 in Berlin during as we all know a time of crisis we get to know a remarkable cast of women. This book touches on tough topics such as love and loss but does so with elegance and majesty.

There are some stories, no matter how well written that will just not be a readers cup of tea. This was that story for me. I couldn't really connect on a level enough to really love this novel.

Alice Hoffman is synonymous in the literary word with “magic”. As an avid fan of hers, I was overjoyed to receive an advance copy of <i> The World That We Knew</i>. However, this is one of the few of Hoffman’s novels where magic is not the focal point in the story, which is why I found it so hard to engage.

Set in WW2, a Jewish mother begs her rabbi’s daughter, Ettie, to create a magical creature (a golem) to protect her daughter on her journey to France. Ettie creates Ava and sets out on her own journey, while Ava and Lea continue on their own.

The characters seem very one-dimensional to me, though I feel the most depth was given to Ava, which was interesting. Hoffman doesn’t fail to deliver when it comes to amazing prose and descriptions that make you feel as though you are right there in the middle of the scene with the characters.

Berlin 1941, the Natzi regimes persecution of the Jewish community is nearing its height. Hanni Kohn makes the difficult decision to send her 12-year-old daughter Lea away to save her from the camps. Hanni seeks out a renowned rabbi known for his ability to create a mystical creature known as the golem to protect her daughter as she travels to France. When Hanni is turned away, Ettie, the rabbi's young daughter offers to perform the ritual in exchange for safe passage out of Berlin for her sister and herself. Together the women create a female golem Ava, a creature whose creation will ultimately link the women in their journeys.

The World That We Knew is a magical realism novel which combines the reality of the horrific events surrounding the Holocaust with a magical element, a creature created to serve and protect. Alice Hoffman is one of my favorite authors so I was very excited to get a chance to review this novel and it did not disappoint. This novel is filled with courageous characters willing to sacrifice everything for those they love. The story incorporates several storylines that all intertwine as each of follows each of the girls as they seek safety in a time of war. This story is beautifully written with a compelling plot and well developed characters who will steal your heart. I loved every page of this novel and didn't want it to end...a must read!

The World That We Knew
Alice Hoffman
#TheWorldThatWeKnew #NetGalley
Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this one! I received this copy from NetGalley for an honest Review:
I am still reeling from this story...it has been a long time since a book as grabbed me by the heart and didn't let go.
What does it mean to be human? What price would you pay for your daughters, your sons? How can people be so cruel? How can they be so loving? The atrocities of the Holocaust, the price paid for being different, the intolerance of one race over another still has the ability to make my skin crawl and my heart break...it is something we should NEVER forget. In a world that seems upside down today, we should all take a moment to remember the lives lost and the horrible things that were done. But amidst all of the horror there were those who loved, who took unbelievable chances to help & save so many.
This story made me cry, made me mad, made me hopeful & made me remember what true love means, what love can endure...what love means.
I Loved This Book, every word!

I really didn’t know what to expect from this book so I was wonderfully delighted. If you enjoyed PRACTICAL MAGIC and THE RULES OF MAGIC you will also enjoy THE WORLD THAT WE KNEW. Hoffman puts her twist on the Jewish mystical story of the golem.

My heart was captured by all the main characters – Ettie, Lea, Marianne, Ava, Vincent and Julien. I rejoiced in their raw moments of happiness, loved their moments of tenderness, and had my heart broken several times. Good vs evil – an ever-ending struggle for all humanity. Five very brave young people who are determined to conquer evil. Hoffman’s characters must make decisions not only for themselves but for all those they love, sometimes having to sacrifice themselves. A story of love and loss, what it means to be a mother.

A quote that stuck with me: “People are so breakable, and so easy to lose.”

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the advance copy. Opinions are all mine.

It's 1941 in German, and Hanni Kohn is left to care for her invalid mother and her 12-year-old daughter Lea after her husband is killed by the Nazis, and they way it's looking, they're all going to die. But Hanni has word of a rabbi with special knowledge to protect her daughter, so she goes to his wife to try to get his help. Instead, his daughter, Ettie, is the one who knows the words to protect the future. Ettie, along with her sister and Hanni, create a golem, a Jewish mystical creature with great power and strength but no soul. But this one is a woman, who they name Ava, whose only purpose is to protect Lea and bring her through, alive, to the other side of the war.

To be honest, this book sat on my to-be-read pile longer than it should have. I have a shelf full of nonfiction about the Holocaust, and I usually think good fiction about the Holocaust is few and far between, and using the death of 6 million as a plot device isn't something I can get behind.

But i was wrong in waiting so long to read it, and I couldn't put it down once I started it. Alice Hoffman successfully treats Jewish mysticism and folklore, and the Holocaust itself, respectfully. And she makes what the Jewish people went through more relatable to everyone as she frames it in a way that makes it about what a person, a parent, would do and sacrifice to save their child, their future. If more "regular" people could have empathized during the Holocaust -- just like if more "regular" people could empathize now with the blatant U.S. government-perpetuated racism and bigotry -- who knows how many more could have been saved.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book. My opinion has not been influenced.

The World That We Knew is a haunting story of bravery and survival during one of humanity's darkest times-The Holocaust. Unlike many stories of this period, The World That We Knew does not take place at one of the infamous concentration camps like Auschwitz-the plot centers on several individuals as they desperately try to escape the Nazi regime. There are plenty of references to death trains and camps, and while you might think the narrower scope of The World That We Knew might not fully encompass the horror going on-the opposite is true. By focusing on specific acts of heroism- especially one mother's "Sophie's Choice" to save her daughter- The World That We Knew personalizes the unspeakable evil of this time in a way that a story with mass executions on every page might not. And because this is Alice Hoffman, The World That We Knew has her trademark element of the mystical-in the form of a golem. In the Jewish faith a golem is an animated being usually made from clay, magically brought to life. Hoffman's golem Ava is sent to protect Lea as she travels from Berlin in the hopes of finding safety in Switzerland. It seems wrong to use words like beautiful, stunning, inspiring and spectacular to describe a novel about depravity unlike the world has never known-but they all apply. The World That We Knew is full of heartbreak and hope, despair and determination, and of course life and death. It is a magnificent story that only Alice Hoffman could create. Nobody deserved the tragedy that befell six million Jews-and untold numbers of survivors. Novels like The World That We Knew make sure we know who they are, and won't be forgotten.

The World That We Knew is about World War II and the persecution of Jews but told mostly from the perspective of children who grow to young adults during the telling of the story, and suffer innumerable losses. The story takes place in Germany and France in both cities and countryside. The premise is a bit fantastical...that a golem, Ava, could be created by a young Jewish woman, Ettie, in order to protect another young woman, Lea, at the bequest of her mother, Hanni, who knows she will be unable to escape with her daughter before being sent to the concentration camps. The story follows Lea and Hanni as they struggle to survive, but also Ettie as she forges her own way. I've read a lot of books about World War II, but this was different with the somewhat supernatural element of the golem. Thoroughly engaging and beautifully written about how powerful love is.

Such a wonderful book! Alice Hoffman's wonderful magical realism is set in WWII as a young Jewish girl's mother conspires to create a golem to keep her daughter safe through the war. We follow Lea and Ava's journey along with the journeys of others as they fight to survive the evil that was the Holocaust. It saddened me to read about the Jewish refugees turned away and the way that the newspapers called the Jewish people animals during that time because I see that happening now, in the US in some stories about immigrants. "That was how evil spoke. It made its own corrupt sense; it swore that the good were evil and that evil had come to save mankind." I hope that history is not repeating itself again. I am sure that many people will enjoy this story.

After the death of her husband outside a Jewish hospital in Berlin, Hanni Kohn sets this story into motion when she makes the hardest decision a mother must make - to send her daughter away, hoping she’ll make it to safety. Hanni seeks help from the local Rabbi, but ends up working with his brave and determined daughter, Ettie. Together, the two women create a Golem from clay and water, a strong woman they name Ava, to care for and protect Lea in Hanni’s absence. Ava and Lea take Ettie and her sister with them on a treacherous journey towards freedom. Along the way, they endure evil as well as kindness, hardship as well as an abundance of love and compassion. Alice Hoffman has written a magical tale which comes alive in the deep friendships and love these characters develop for each other, in the sense of respect and reverence for nature they experience, as well as in the hope found in morality and goodness discovered in unexpected places. This is a lyrical, evocative story which explores the question of just how far we would go to protect the ones we love, how far we would go to fight for what we believe in, as well as what we would be willing to risk for others whose lives have become dependent on the kindnesses and sacrifices of strangers.

First, thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I am a fan of Alice Hoffman and enjoyed several of her books that I have read. I was excited to hear she had a new title coming out this year and was really interested in it after reading the summary. I am a big fan of historical fiction and I enjoy books with a little super natural whimsy added in. This book wove both together in an interesting and captivating story set during world war II about three women doing everything they can to survive. I enjoyed the narration and perspective jumping between the three main characters and watching how they wove together throughout the book. The idea of a golem come to life to protect Lea was far-fetched, but based on Jewish lore so it fit with the story and was interesting. I enjoyed reading this and would recommend it to friends.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks NetGalley!

Alice Hoffman is a brilliant author. That is a fact.
This genre isn't the normal style i'd go for. But I"m glad I did.
To be honest, there were times I had to read the chapter slower to fully "understand" the folklore a bit more.
Worth the read.