Nearly every mother has had that sinking feeling at least once: You’re in the mall or the grocery store; you look down, and your child, who was right there just a second ago, is gone. Whether that moment lasts mere seconds or much longer, that horrible, stomach-falling sensation can never be forgotten. And it lasts until your child is found.

Imagine feeling that way for years.



In Those Who Are Saved, historical fiction writer Alexis Landau’s second novel, a split-second decision ends up putting Vera an ocean apart from her four-year-old daughter Lucie.

For the complete review, click on the link below.

Thank you Net Galley.
This novel was beautifully written but I found myself not total engaged in the story.

Once again, here is a fascinating work of fiction on the Holocaust. Vera, the main character, must make the ultimate, heartbreaking decision. A mother will do anything to save her daughter from possible death but, in doing so, she must entrust her child to someone else. Of course, the intention is to reunite but there are numerous obstacles to overcome. Is there any decision more impossible to make? The author does a superb job of exploring a topic that has been explored countless times. Yet, she adds a twist to the story that reveals insight in such an enveloping way.,

Please see my full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3861102019. Excellent story of how difficult and almost impossible decisions during war shape everyone involved.

A mother who must make a decision that could save her daughter or put her at greater risk. Vera and her husband are being forced into a internment camp as the Germans take full occupation of France. Vera has heard how horrible the children are treated so she is going to leave her four year old daughter Lucie with her trusted governess.
Poor Vera thinks that she is only going for a short interlude to this camp. After a time, the couple escape and manage to get to the United States. They are in California where her husband is working, but Vera is only thinking of how can they get their daughter safely out of France. Things start to deteriorate and spiral between the couple and Vera meets Sasha.

Sasha is consistent with Vera in the belief that there is a probability her daughter is alive. It’s been four years since the day she made the decision to part with her Lucie.

The author has written a emotional book about a mothers love and the choices and decisions one makes to keep them safe. I found the book slow and not cohesive that I had to read some sections over.
However, overall the storyline was good, but I wish there was more of Sasha and his family dynamics. I think there was parts that could have been tightened in order to allow more space for that.

I would still recommend this book.

Max and Vera are Russian Jews living in France. They have a daughter, Lucie who was born in France. Seeing how the war is going they have Lucie Baptized in the Catholic faith in hopes that by her being born in France and being " Catholic" that it would keep her safe. So when they realize they need to leave France, they leave Lucie with the governess and escape ultimately to America and California. All of this makes for an interesting story. Vera feels extreme guilt for leaving her daughter behind, and that guilt wats at her until one day she leaves her husband and decides that as soon as the war is over she is going to go get Lucie.

Enter Sasha, a veteran of WW2 and a character that I am still trying to figure out. He has a story, and eventually he meets Vera, becomes infatuated and decides he will help her find her daughter. He never knew his father and his mother never spoke of him. Sasha's story is convoluted and just never seemed to flow.

And that brings me to the last few chapters of this book. This is where the story really picks up. Sasha's mother passes away and his step father gives him a letter from her. The letter basically tells him the story of his father. By this time Vera is in France looking for her daughter, Lucie and Sasha decides to join her. The last few chapters of this book were amazing...UNTIL THE ENDING!!! I had to back up and make sure I didn't just read it wrong... I didn't. It ended abruptly and left me frustrated. 3⭐

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin/ Putnam for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

WWII. Vera and Max are assigned to a concentration camp. They leave their 4 year old daughter Lucie, with her entrusted nanny. Vera and Max escape to California and spend years trying to get back to Lucie. Story is heartbreaking and probably a very true picture of families separated during WWII. Thanks t the publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Vera Volosenkova and her husband, Max, are Russian-born Jews who settled in Paris. In May 1940, they are enjoying a holiday in their second home on the seaside, Sanary-sur-Mer. Vera and Max have a daughter, Lucie, whom they cherish. Unfortunately, German forces are closing in, and Vera and Max must decide what to do. In "Those Who are Saved," by Alexis Landau, the author traces the journey that will ultimately bring Vera and Max to California. Although they manage to escape, there were impediments to bringing a four-year-old with them on what would be an arduous road to freedom. Therefore, Max and Vera entrust Lucie to the care of her governess, Agnes, who will remain in France. Max and Vera plan to come back for their little girl in the near future, but much to their chagrin, the war drags on much longer than they had anticipated.

Another key character is Aleksander (Sasha) Rabinovitch who, as a boy, emigrated to America with his mother. After Sasha's stepfather, a successful entrepreneur, gives his stepson an opportunity to manage a branch of his business in New York City, Sasha moves to the west coast, where he hopes to make it as a screenwriter. When he meets Vera, Sasha feels an instant attraction to this beautiful and exotic woman. Landau follows the fortunes of Vera, Sasha, and Lucie, each of whom is destined to endure a great deal of emotional pain.

Landau is a capable storyteller who touches on the impact of loss on a once solid marriage; the accomplishments of Jewish expatriates who became prominent members of American society; and the pandemonium that followed Germany's surrender, when traumatized survivors of the Holocaust—including many orphans—had to rebuild their shattered lives. "All Who are Saved" has its weaknesses. Max's character is not well fleshed out and the book sometimes veers into melodrama. However, at its best, this is a poignant work of historical fiction that demonstrates the power of love and determination to overcome seemingly impossible odds.

Vera and Max are Russian émigrés living in Paris with their 4 year old daughter. Once the Nazis enter the country their wealth and social standing cannot help them, and thus begins a journey where choices are made that will mark each one of them for the rest of their lives. When the couple are ordered to present themselves at an internment camp for foreign nationals they decide to leave their daughter with her governess Agnès, with the plan that they will hide in Agnes’ remote hometown until Vera and Max can safely return to collect her. Vera and her friend Elsa are able to escape from Gurs, the internment camp, and thanks to Elsa’s husband they are able to secure US visas for the four of them. Vera and Max spend the war safely in California, while Lucie is stuck in France, no one knowing when and if they will ever see each other again.

Those Who Are Saved was a slow burner for me. It took me a while to get into it, but once I did I was hooked. This isn’t your average WW2 historical fiction romance, it’s a deeply researched historical novel based on a lot of facts, and explores the choices that we make, and the consequences of those choices, during times where we really have no choice at all. There are several narrators in the novel: Vera, Lucie, and a man named Sasha, who emigrated to the US as a little boy, and who has a chance encounter with Vera on the day of the Pearl Harbor bombing. We see the war through the eyes of a little girl who is kept hidden from the worst of it, despite it happening on her doorstep. We see the war through a woman whose heart aches for her child, both trapped in different places across the world. And we see the war through the eyes of a man who returns to European soil for the first time since he left as a child, fighting to make it back home again and continue his dream of writing and directing in Hollywood.

The war is the backdrop of this novel, the foreground being the intricate development of the characters and the way they try to live with the lives that they now live, and the choices that they have made. Relationships fall apart and new ones are forged, bonds are broken but forged back together again. The writing is absolutely beautiful, Alexis Landau has this way with words where they seem to paint an image in watercolor, infusing emotions and perceptions into every page.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book.

It's WW II, the Germans have occupied France, and Vera and Max have left their daughter Lucie with a trusted family employee when they are ordered to report to a detainment camp because they are not citizens of France. At the same time, in the US, Sasha is struggling to sell his work in Hollywood. These lives will intersect and their stories- Vera, Sasha, and Lucie- are told alternately. I'm going to be the odd one out on this. Early on the occupying Germans were described as elegant in their gray green uniforms (I'm curious why an editor didn't cut this description). More importantly, I kept questioning things like- how did they pay to get over the mountains and then later to the US? Keeping in mind that they were first sent to detainment camps, escaped from those camps, and then did a mountain trek, how could Vera have her pearls? Lucie's story felt sugar glazed given the conditions in the region. Sasha's story is interesting but...Vera's hunt for Lucie after the war felt compressed. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. I very much wanted to like this but felt that there was a better more emotional book in here.

Max and Vera, two talented, wealthy Jews make a tough decision to send their child, Lucie away with the nanny while they briefly enter a concentration camp. Because of some well connected friends, they’re able to escape to America and make a new life in California. Vera can’t cope with being away from their daughter, so she goes in search of Lucie. This story is heart wrenching and well written. I will say there are a couple of loose ends I wish I would’ve been able to see come together. I also wish Vera’s search of Lucie would’ve had more of the story. It felt rushed. Overall, this was a good book that I would recommend to a friend.

Every time I read a book about World War II I learned something new, and am reminded of the atrocities most of us born post-war cannot even fathom.

The story is told from three points of view: Vera, a woman who must leave occupied France and decided to leave her daughter with her governess to keep her safe; Lucie, her daughter, who was four-years-old when her parents left; and Sasha, a Hollywood writer and director who enlists in the army the day Pearl Harbor is bombed, who has parent issues of his own, and connects with Vera.

Most of the story is about Vera wondering if Lucie is alive and safe, and hoping she can be reunited with her someday, as well as the new life she is building for herself after escaping Europe.

One of the things about World War II that I hadn't thought much about was the displaced children, some of whom were never reunited with their families. Whether they were Jewish or parents of Resistance fighters or any number of other reasons they had to be hidden and given new identities, the tragedy of children being separated from their parents at such a scary time is almost unimaginable.

Then, after the war, the struggle to reunite the families is heartbreaking at times -- from both the parents' and children's points of view.

One thing I found especially interesting was the role The Hotel Lutetia played in reuniting families because when I visited Paris many years ago that's where I stayed. You can read more about the hotel and its history here.

Those Who Are Saved by Alexis Landau is an excellent historical fiction book which highlights the struggle of French Jews during World War II. Vera is a wealthy Russian Jewish emigre who is living in Paris during 1940 with her successful composer husband, Max, her daughter, Lucie, and a longtime governess, Agnes. Vera has had few hardships to this point, but is forced with the unbearable decision to leave her daughter or take her to an uncertain future in an internment camp. Agnes is much beloved and was Vera’s governess before she became her daughters’ governess. They devise a plan to take Lucie to safety with Agnes caring for her.

What then transpires is a difficult journey that almost breaks all involved. The decision to leave Lucie at just four years old behind has unbelievable ramifications. But the lives of all require them to adjust to their new circumstances in order to survive. This book is told in three voices; Vera, Lucie, and Sasha a young Jewish man who is making his way in Hollywood.

These characters will become real to you, too. Despite their many challenges they found ways to face their challenges with courage. The ending of the story was a bit rushed but it did not detract from the outstanding storytelling by Landau.

I was provided a free advance reader copy from Penguin Group Putnam in exchange for my honest review from Net Galley. The opinions shared in this review are my own.

It’s 1940, France, and all foreign nationals in Paris who do not have French citizenship must report for internment. What would you do if the choice you made to save your child from the camps backfires? What if the one place where your child should be safe is attacked by the Nazis? Those Who Are Saved is the story of one Jewish mother’s grief at leaving her child behind. Told from three points of view - Vera (the mother), Lucie (the daughter) and Sasha (Vera’s boyfriend) - the chapters alternate among these three, describing Vera’s guilt and grief over her decision; Lucie’s confusion as to why she was left behind; and Sasha’s varied experiences, ultimately focusing on his falling in love with Vera. Those Who Are Saved is a heartbreaking novel, in part because it details how Vera’s efforts to locate Lucie after the war are obstructed by Sister Ismerie at the convent where Lucie was hidden. At times Vera’s grief makes this novel difficult to read. Have a box of tissues nearby towards the end.

Thank you Net Galley, Penguin Group Putnam and author Alexis Landau for the ARC of this book in exchange for my opinion. I have read a lot of books from the WWII genre. This one unfortunately failed to engage me as much as I had hoped. The storyline that a Russian Jewish immigrant to France would have to leave her child in the care of someone else to save her, intrigued me and I had high hopes for the subject. Unfortunately I never really felt connected to any of the characters. I think the book spent too much time in California where the characters end up after the War. The ending seemed rushed and I would have liked more of the story to take place with her actual search for her child in France instead of the lead up to it.

Written from the perspective of a wealthy family during WWII and after. Russian Jewish emigres who fled to France at the fall of the Czar are now forced to flee the Nazis. The mother a popular author and the husband a famous composer, they decide to send their 4-year-old daughter to hide with the French governess when they are interned, believing it to be short-lived and safe. When they escape internment and go to America, they are forced to leave the child behind. They live in relative luxury in California while experiencing the angst of not knowing about their child. Well written, well researched, and good character development and interaction. I like the author’s skill and style.

This was a beautiful and heartbreaking story of a Russian Jewish family living in France, but not French citizens, who had to make some tough decisions prior to the full occupation of France during WWII. As a parent, I cannot imagine have to make the decision that Vera and Max had to make about Lucie. It was absolutely heart wrenching to read through on top of all of the other atrocities of the Holocaust and WWII. Although I enjoyed the ending, it did feel very abrupt. Thank you to Netgalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the ARC.

Times of war force people into agonizing decisions with haunting repercussions. In her uneven yet hard-hitting sophomore novel, Landau (The Empire of the Senses, 2015) introduces Vera Volosenkova, a wealthy Russian Jewish immigrant in 1940 France. After receiving notice to report for internment, she and her husband, Max, worried about conditions in the camp, place their four-year-old daughter, Lucie, into her governess Agnes’ care. They assume they won’t be away long, and Agnes “can always bring Lucie home with her to Oradour-sur-Glane,” Vera reasons. Nearly five years later, in California, Vera contemplates her broken marriage and stalled writing career. She and Max were unable to reclaim Lucie before escaping, and Vera constantly second-guesses her choice. Subsumed by anxiety and feeling lost, Vera begins an affair with a Hollywood screenwriter, Sasha, a kind man with a complicated past. The plot feels fragmented and slow midway through, and anyone familiar with French WWII history will guess the basic outline. Landau confidently illuminates her settings and her characters’ psyches, though, and Vera’s unwavering resolve to find Lucie amid the chaos of postwar France feels arrestingly real.

(Reviewed for Booklist, Jan. 2021)

I felt a little short changed while reading. I kept going, waiting, hoping that the story would come together. Sadly, it did not even though there was so much potential to make this another excellent WWII tale.

While this book did not do it for me, I encourage you to pick this up when it becomes available.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Group for this advanced readers copy. This book is due to release in February 2021.

Little Golden America

This story tugs at the heart. In dire circumstances choices need to be made, do we always make the right ones? What if our choices come back to haunt us? In an effort to keep her child safe, this mother sacrifices years of her life with that child. The guilt stays with her until she makes it right in her heart.

Max and Vera and their four year old daughter are vacationing with friends when the Nazi's occupy France. Vera is a Russian Jewish Immigrant to France. When the Nazi's occupy France a notice is received that all foreigner's must report to an internment camp. Vera makes the choice to leave her daughter Lucie with the governess instead of subjecting her to the camp. Max and Vera escape from the camp and are able to make their way to America, but they could not go and retrieve Lucie.
After reading the newspaper where the town Lucie was in with the governess is burned to the ground and all the residents perish Max believes Lucie is lost. Vera will not give up searching for her. Their marriage dissolves. Vera meets a Jewish American filmmaker named Sasha and together they go to France after the war to search for Lucie. What will they find? Is Lucie gone forever or did she manage to escape and if so will they find her?

The story is about choices and regrets. It is about feelings and wounds left after the war. It is a story of the aftermath of war. Those returning from camps in their changed bodies and minds. It is about the facing of the horrors of the horrors of war after the war. Families searching for information and sometimes it is heartbreaking. No one escapes the consequences of war it changes people and nations.

This was a good book to read it brought it home as to the horrors of war and the power of a mother's love. A belief in a better life and a new start. I would recommend it.

Thanks to Alexis Landau, Penguin Group Putnam books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy for an honest review.