The Living and the Lost by Ellen Feldman is a story that takes place in post-war Germany. This is a unique viewpoint which has not been explored until now. This is the second book by Ms. Feldman that I have read. As with ‘Paris Never Leaves You’ this story shows Ms. Feldman’s exceptional writing ability. Her use of imagery gets the reader involved in characters almost immediately. All of the main characters struggle with their own issues and are definitely emotional survivors. This allows the author to craft a heroine who is unique and burdened by the choices she has made in the past. Ms. Feldman uses a realistic brush to create her characters. At times the reader will find themselves not feeling very sympathetic toward the protagonists and at other times sadness and sympathy comes easily.

The plot is complex and moving. The description of post WWII Germany is heartbreaking. The amount of poverty, prolific crime, black markets and homelessness is a part of Germany’s history that is rarely explored. The destruction and devastation left behind in this war torn country is a new viewpoint for WWII readers. The present is woven through the past and there are stories within stories. Through the use of flashbacks, which are strategically interspersed through the story, the reader is gently guided to the story’s conclusion.

This is a story worth reading. Once again Ms. Feldman has written a thought provoking story that will have you examining the living and the lost. I can’t wait to see what the author has in store for us next.

I would like to thank the author, St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to read this book as it was a different spin on the recent wave of WWII era novels. Told from the viewpoint of a German Jew who escaped with her family prior to the start of the war, it provided a different focus. That being said, I couldn't really empathize with Millie (Meike). Her character lacked some depth and some warmth, and so because of that I couldn't really engage in her story, or her past. For this alone I lost interest in the book, but pushed myself to finish it in case my opinion changed, which sadly it didn't. I finished it, but it did feel like a chore.

As children, Millie (Meike) Mosbach and her brother, David escaped from Nazi Germany leaving their parents and younger sister behind. Now, they are both back in Germany. Millie working in denazification and David helping displaced people build new lives during the day and secretly engaging in more dangerous activities at night. Haunted and shamed by her past, the hardest person for Millie to forgive may just be herself. This is a poignant novel about the destructiveness of hate. Both hatred for one's fellow man and hated for one's self. Millie's journey in this novel shows us that is only when we move past hatred can we truly begin to heal.

This is not the type of book that I usually read, but I found it fascinating. The characters are very complex, and it is set in the WWII era. Millie and her brother David were sent to America, leaving their parents and younger sister behind. David grew up to join the American Army. When Millie was of age, she had a career as a journalist. She then went back to Germany in the post-war era to help with the denazification of Germany and hoped to find out the fate of her family. Both are filled with hate of the Germans. Millie sees everything in black and white but learns that things are more complicated than she thought. Her superior Major Sutton helped her see beyond her own perception while dealing with issues of his own. You cannot help but feel for all the characters for what they had gone through and what they face in this new Germany.

Also reviewed on Kobo under the name IrishEyes430

In THE LIVING AND THE LOST, Ellen Feldman has provided an uncommon look at life in post-WWII Berlin, mainly through the eyes of two German Jews that barely escaped to the US as teenagers just as things were deteriorating. Meike “Millie” Mosbach left her job in publishing to return to Berlin to help with the “de-Nazification” process in the attempt to rebuild Germany. A civilian attached to the military, she is surprised to find her brother stationed in Berlin, reuniting them as they become roommates in her requisitioned apartment. Millie’s reasons for returning to Berlin are multiple, and she obviously has trauma related to her memories and past, not to mention questions about her brother and his activities. Then there is her boss, Henry Sutton, who has his own secrets and way of accomplishing things.
Feldman created characters that give the reader a look into how emotionally difficult the War was on those Jews that escaped, as well as those that survived. She also did an excellent job at showing the disparity between the lives of the Germans and the Allies (British, American, Soviet) that were there to help get Germany back on track. The scenes and the plot were both realistic and heartbreaking. No matter how many times I encounter the atrocities and their results, I am beyond horrified each time.
Feldman has created an interesting and engrossing story with realistic characters dealing with their traumas and try to find their way to a future as the world around them is rebuilding.
Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of the novel. All opinions are my own and freely given.
#thelivingandthelost #ellenfeldman #stmartinspress

Thanks to #NetGalley for the E-book Arc in exchange for an honest of review

The Living and the Lost is a well crafted novel about Post WWII Germany. A topic that is often glossed over, or missed entirely in literature. The experiences of the powerfully crafted characters and setting is quite unsettling and moving. The fresh examination of perspective from the characters opens the reader to experiences that were never widely discussed. Opening readers to a fresh look at a well documented time. I highly recommend it to those that enjoy Historical Fiction

I received this an ARC through Netgalley. The Living and the Lost explores how allied troops were involved in Germany post war in trying to help get newspapers and other organizations up and running. It follows the story of a brother and sister who had lived in Germany, but managed to get to the States. You get to follow Mille on a discovery process of how she handles past demons and her path to forgiving herself.

This is a gritty, tell it like it is type of book. Post War, in a divided Berlin, a brother and sister are working in the American sector. But they have history in Berlin, they used to live here , they are German Jews who escaped and are now back. They are trying to find out what happened to the rest of their family, confronting ghosts of the past and survivor’s guilt in the process. I like the different post-war setting and perspective.

Title: The Living and the Lost
Author: Ellen Feldman
Genre: Fiction, historical
Rating: 4 out of 5

Millie Mosbach and her brother David escaped to the United States just before Kristallnacht, leaving their parents and little sister in Berlin. Now they are both back in their former hometown, haunted by ghosts and hoping against hope to find their family. Millie works in the office responsible for rooting out the most dedicated Nazis from publishing. Like most of their German-born American colleagues, the siblings suffer from rage at Germany and guilt at their own good fortune. Only Millie’s boss, Major Harry Sutton, seems strangely eager to be fair to the Germans.

Living and working in bombed-out Berlin, a latter day Wild West where the desperate prey on the unsuspecting; spies ply their trade; black markets thrive, and forbidden fraternization is rampant, Millie must come to terms with a past decision made in a moment of crisis, and with the enigmatic sometimes infuriating Major Sutton who is mysteriously understanding of her demons. Atmospheric and page-turning, The Living and the Lost is a story of survival, love, and forgiveness, of others and of self.

Millie was hard and unlikable enough at the beginning that I almost stopped reading, but she grew on me. This was set in post-WWII Berlin and offered a different view of the war---from someone who escaped before it got very, very bad, but who nonetheless did not escape unscathed. Solid writing and characters, and I enjoyed how all of them had such different layers. They weren’t all just one thing. That made for a nuanced and complex read, perfect for savoring.

Ellen Feldman lives in New York. The living and the Lost is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

I really liked The Living and the Lost. I enjoyed learning about Millie's life as she went back to Berlin to lay the past to rest. A very interesting story about the Allied Occupation of Berlin and the part that Jewish GI's played in it and the war. One of my favorite parts of the story is about Millie's cousin Anna. I enjoy this Authors work and will continue to read her books.
#TheLivingandtheLost #NetGalley

I give The Living and the Lost 4 stars for its interesting story.
I would recommend this book to Historical Fiction fans.

I can't wait for this book to be released so I can recommend it to all my friends and the members of our WW2 Facebook group. It is incredible. You feel every emotion and the agonizing choices some of the characters had to make as children and the repercussions those actions had on their futures was so well told. Fieldman has a real way of getting inside character's emotions and transporting you back to historic times. It was vivid and so real, I had to stop reading to catch a breath more than once. You could smell the diseased bodies or those reeking from a lack of soap. The horrors of war were described but not in a "oh lets see how much we can shock the reader now" way. The only downside for me personally was the language. I dont like f bombs in books. It's a personal preference. Were they "right' for the characters to use? Yes maybe but I still find they pull me out of the story. But the story telling is so fabulous, I would still recommend this book. Five stars is too low.

Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin for an advanced copy of The Living and the Lost.

I loved the premise of this book in Allied Occupied Berlin after WWII and seeing the rebuilding of Berlin, the different sectors emerging and the start of the Cold War. There need to be more books on this time period.
Millie and her brother are German Jews who were able to escape to the US in the 1930s and are back in Berlin working for the US Military, but they are haunted by ghosts and trying to find out about their family.

The book had a wonderful view of the trauma of the war on many angles. The US/Allied military, the German citizens, the Displaced Persons and other returning from the concentration camps and the different emotions such as hate, guilt and blame on all sides.

Millie isn't really a likable character, but you want to figure out why she is so cold and miserable and why she is doing what she is doing. The writing is a little slow in parts, but the psychological aspects of the characters and the descriptions of Berlin and the aftermath had me hooked.

If you're a WWII Historical Fiction fan looking for a different angle I highly recommend this!

This book got to me. It was hard to read, not at all because it wasn't good. In fact, it was so realistic that I had to put it down and get back to my life.

This book is strong and is full of the issues that were existing right after WWII in Germany. It is told from an American perspective and will sweep you back to 1945. I loved it! It has stuck with me. The characters were so real to me that they're alive in my head. I love it when a book does that. The author did a fantastic job of bringing the book to life!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

Set during the chaos of the Occupation in Berlin in 1945, readers meet Millie Mosbach. She is a Jewish woman who escaped Germany and came to America with her brother, David, years before. A job in the denazification office of the military has brought her back to Berlin. In and during this difficult time, she confronts her past.
In this is complex and moving story the past plays an important role on the present. The characters are three dimensional and they are a varied group, each with their own story. Their perspectives are vividly presented. Skillfully brought to life is Millie, the intriguing protagonist. She is a woman with a life defining secret who is looking for answers. Her relationships with those around her are intense and often complex.
This is a totally engrossing novel. I didn't know much about the Occupation before reading this book, but that has now changed. The author has crafted and brought to readers a memorable story that is well worth reading. Highly recommended.

The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The Living and the Lost is an amazing new novel, beautifully written and heartbreaking. I recently watched a new series on Netflix called The Defeated. and what most intrigued me was that it was about a period in history that I knew next to nothing about. Specifically, it takes place in Berlin just after WWII when the city has been divided into four sectors: The Americans, the French, the British, and the Russians. It was a time of chaos and lawlessness. Coincidentally, I then started in on a new book from my TBR pile, and found myself back in this same Berlin.

In this novel, we meet a brother (David) and sister (Millie). They were German Jews who were able to immigrate to America at the start of the war. As young teens, they were taken in by a couple in Philadelphia who raised them and educated them as their own. Now adults and with the war over, the two return to Germany in hopes of finding their parents and sister who were unable to escape. David returns as an Army officer in a unique role because of his German heritage. Millie is attached to the Army (but not in it) and placed in an office which has been set up to bring journalism back to Germany. The idea is that you can't build a new, democratic state without the free press and publishing. But in this world, how do you staff something like that? The Germans left in the city, who have the expertise, are also suspect as to what role they might have played in the war. Millie's role, under the supervision on one Major Harry Sutton, is to weed out those Germans who might be trusted to be placed in newspaper publishing. Her role is called "denazifier."

At its core, The Living and the Lost is about finding closure after a horrifying experience. Millie is driven back to Germany by pure hatred. It is nearly impossible for her to see anything redeeming in German people, even children, because of this hatred. David's feelings are a bit more nuanced, but he too burns with hatred. The story which author Ellen Feldman so beautifully weaves takes the reader on Millie's journey. The writing is so descriptive that I felt Millie's hatred and her pain and, eventually her redemption story. There is a paragraph near the end of the novel when a colleague is trying to convince David to work with him at Columbia University that summed it all up beautifully:

"It's time to understand not only what happened but why and how it happened. To make others understand. Thinking is better than killing, David. Knowledge is better than anger. Understanding is better than revenge."

I can't recommend this novel highly enough. It is a fascinating period in history and a story that is heart wrenching in its honesty. My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me an eARC of this very special novel.

I feel like this book gives a new look at Germany post-WWII, At times I felt very emotional about it and that I was in the middle of the story with them. I enjoyed watching Millie's character grow and learning more about her and David's story. It was really interesting to see how the two German Jewish Siblings handled being back in Germany.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good fiction book.

The Living and the Lost is a fascinating book that explores the issue of survivor's guilt. The novel follows Millie as she returns to Berlin from America following World War II. Visa's were obtained for her family of five and they all went to the train station together en route to their ship to America. Tragically only Millie and her younger brother David board the train and immigrate to America. After college the siblings return to Berlin and work for the U.S. Army there. Millie helps people wherever she can but she also struggles to fight off her recurring visions of the family she left behind. Millie meets a man who wants to help her overcome her internal struggle. Will Millie continue to live in the past or choose to embrace her future? A definite must read.

Returning to Berlin was always in the back of Millie Mosbach’s mind, ever since she and her brother David escaped right before Kristallnacht, leaving their parents and younger sister behind. Working for the United States government, in the denazification unit, gives Millie a chance to search for answers to the family’s fate, but discovering that David was also in Berlin had Millie feeling conflicted. David didn’t seem to have the same need for revenge on the Nazis, although Millie wondered what he was doing during those nights he disappeared, eventually assuming he had found a German girlfriend. Millie’s boss, Major Harry Sutton, a well-educated man with a British accent, tried to help her acclimate to the demands of the job, telling her not to become emotionally invested in the client stories, but Millie is overwhelmed with the incredible sadness and destruction that is all around her, and is tormented by the ghosts of her childhood in Berlin.

I’m fascinated by this period in history, and thoroughly enjoyed The Living and the Lost, for its portrayal of a different perspective. Millie and David managed to escape for the United States, both were well educated at American colleges, and both chose to serve their adopted country and return to Berlin. I found Millie interesting, alternating between courageous and confused, wanting to help Jewish people who had been displaced but seeing the ghosts of her past everywhere, even in a breakfront that looked suspiciously like the one the family left behind when they fled Berlin. The strong storyline and realistic characters that Ellen Feldman has created make this a compelling read, difficult to put down.

A new and unsettling perspective

I especially enjoy historical fiction. This book covers the rarely discussed aftermath of WWII in Germany, as the US and other countries try to vet Germans and help survivors. Such an unsettling perspective with an overarching air of distrust. Totally absorbing. Read it and think about the aftermath of other wars.

Thank you to the publisher who lent me a time-constrained e-arc via Netgalley. This review is optional and my own opinion.

Ellen Feldman's The Living and the Lost is a must-read! Although WW II historical fiction is a popular genre that is inundated with authors, Feldman's historical fiction stands out for its portrayal of the female protagonist - Meike “Millie” Mosbach - who flees Germany at the tender age of sixteen. Ultimately, they reach the United States and settle into their new lives. Millie begins her career in the publishing industry, while her brother enlists in the army. After the war ends, Millie returns back to Germany to find her estranged loved ones who were separated amidst the chaos of the war as well as helps to weed out Nazis from the publishing industry in post-war Germany.

Feldman's meticulous focus on details and construction of endearing characters makes this book a one-of-a-kind read. I would recommend the novel to anyone who is a fan of historical fiction and enjoys authors such as Kristen Harmel and Pam Jennoff. However, unlike them, Feldman's treatment of the female protagonist stands out as being unique. The author is deeply interested in exploring the after-effects of a country that was plagued with fascism. As we see post-war Germany through Millie's eyes, it's clear that the post-war trauma continues to haunt perhaps even more strongly at the end of the war.

Indeed, as Feldman's title suggests that in post-war Europe, those who did survive the war were haunted by its impact of their lives - they were in many ways lost and continuing to find their bearings in its aftermath.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced reading copy of this timely and valuable novel. The novel went on sale yesterday, Septemebr 7th, and is available for purchase!!