A poignant family story of survival and new starts, love, and forgiveness.

The Lubinski family – Aron, Judy, and twin daughter JoJo and Bronka seem to be adapting well to their new home in America, but both parents are hiding secrets. Their daughters have no knowledge of the atrocities their parents endured in war-torn Poland. They know nothing of the difficult decision their parents made to leave a displaced persons camp in Germany to start a new life in New York City.

The book has an interesting, diverse cast of characters. The majority have, in some way, been impacted by the Holocaust. Some can’t stop talking about it; others prefer to keep it in the past. Aron never talks about his life in Poland and is still plagued with nightmares; often cranky and unaffectionate. Dyta is seen as a Jewish super-mom, but she is terrified her shocking secret will be revealed. JoJo is eager to fit in, while Bronka is very analytical.

I experienced feelings of compassion, frustration, and anger while reading the book. Judy (real name Edyta, nickname Dyta) seemed to bear the brunt of the backlash that came from the revelation of some of their secrets.
What would happen when all their secrets would be exposed? Are they wrong in trying to shield their daughters?

I give the book four stars because of its abrupt ending. I thought the author tried to cover a lot of territory, thus glossing over some topics after throwing them in the mix. A lot was going on at that time – the threat of Communism and nuclear war, the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and former Nazis living among them. However, the book was still an excellent read and hauntingly reflects the prejudices Holocaust refugees encountered upon their immigration to the US.

A story that takes place after World War II has concluded and this young Jewish family is moving to the United States to join family that is already there and start a new path in a very foreign place. I have read many many books set during the World War II and this one was just an ok one. I didn't connect with any the characters and had no drive to find out what was coming next and that for me makes or breaks a book for me.

While I know an author doesn't have much influence on the title, for me this one didn't set this book up well and I think another character should have been the main character with this title on the header.

i read this book mostly on audiobook and while I enjoyed the narrator, and that she tried to do a few different accents and voices to cover some of the characters. She was entertaining and while I didn't enjoy the book, I would listen to her read another book.

That was beautifully written. I could not put this book down! This is a story about learning a new culture. Starting a new life in NY from Poland and all the struggles related. Highly recommended!

I was very excited to read this book because it took a different take on World War 2. A family immigrating to the United States after the war. I wanted to like this book but it was just too slow and I didn’t like the narrator.

Every once in a while, you read a book that mirrors your family's story so well. That's this book "The Takeaway Men" by Meryl Ain for me. This is the story of an immigrant family coming from Poland after the Holocaust, twin girls born in a displaced persons camp, and trying to build a new life in America in the 1950s and early 1960s. The twin girls are coming of age, dealing with antisemitism, trying to understand their parents, their place in Judaism and what being an American means to them. The story is split between the parents and girls with discussions of mental health, communism, and war - sometimes graphic.

My grandparents came to the US in 1950, my oldest aunt having been born in a Displaced Persons camp in Austria and my dad the first person in his family who was born in America. My dad too learned about the Holocaust when the Adolf Eichmann trial happened in the early 1960s, his parents also reluctant to talk about what happened during The War, and was trying to find his place as an American. He told me about how he tried this pasta with red sauce at a friend's house, told his mom and she put ketchup on pasta - not knowing what spaghetti sauce was. It was just a piece of his immigrant story, and some of the stories in this book are the same ones I heard from my dad.

I highly encourage you to read this book. It is so nice to read a post-Holocaust story, a Jewish immigrant story, and I felt so connected to these characters. I was so sad when it ended, and I think it'll end up on my favorite books of the year list.

I am so glad I listened to this book - it deals with families in 1950's America some immigrants (and impacted by the war) and some Americans. It was very well researched and then got me thinking about the events in America at the time.

I would fully recommend this book.

I was given a copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

A Jewish family fled Poland after the war and take refuge in America. Aaron who lost his entire family, his wife Dita, a convert Jew who saved Jews in Poland during the war, and their twin girls who were born in a Displaced Persons Camp.

This book centers around the twin sisters, Bronka and Johanna who were just toddlers when they arrived to Bellerose, New York in 1951, until their teenage years. The story is how their family as immigrants and their neighbors cope after the war and the holocaust, and in the middle of the cold war.

Meryl Ain wrote a beautiful captivating historical fiction.
Though I don't appreciate the mention of Israel as a place for glorification. IT IS A STOLEN LAND!

And I mostly enjoyed listening to the narrator.

This was very slow for me and I didn't like the narrator all that much, which put me off immediately. I felt that some parts were overworked while some stayed a bit flat and altogether, I expected more from the description.

Highly recommended for fans of WWII historical fiction. This book takes a different twist on the genre, by following one family as they make a new life for themselves in America after the war. Recommended for fans of Send for me. Good on audio, this book was an entertaining edition to the genre. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ALC!

This book follows a polish/Jewish family as they immigrate after the war to New York. The twins born on the Fourth of July slowly grow up and face many obstacles during this time. Finally they learn of their parent’s story during the war. It is heroic and devastating at the same time.

This book moved very slow to me and included a lot of extra detail I get like was unnecessary. I do enjoy the way the story came together in the end.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the ability to read and review this book.

The synopsis of this book sounded really promising and I was interested in seeing what this book entailed. However, I did not enjoy the narration of this book. The audio was difficult for me to listen to. Maybe if I read the book my opinion would differ.

I was so excited about this book! The description was everything.

I am sad to report that this book was just ok. I was very bored. I felt as if the story dragged on and on. I thought the narrator was good, I just think the story itself could have used some work.

I thought that the story could have been interesting, perspective of a life after the Holocaust. However, the writing was chaotic and I did not enjoy the narrator. The overall story line was lacking.

This audiobook had a slow start, 20% of it at least, but if you are a fan of Holocaust stories it’s worth persisting, especially as this one is based on life after The Holocaust. The narrator’s voice was fine, in my opinion. My thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to review.

I really struggled to get into this book. The narrator is not right for this text. The high pitched cheerful voice takes away from the story line.

I love that the author wrote this text about the aftermath of the Holocaust and shows a very unique perspective of two people's lives after the camps.

𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦.

If you are a fan of Historical Fiction like me you need to read this book. Most of the stories I’ve read focus on what happens during war but this book focus on the struggles of life after the Holocaust. The Takeaway Men is a story that will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you NetGalley, OrangeSky Audio by Findaway and Meryl Ain Author for this gifted copy.

𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦: 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘞𝘞𝘐𝘐, 𝘈𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘍𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

I am a historical fiction junkie!! I have read many books set in WW2 and books that provide insight into the Holocaust, but I have never read a book that goes into details about the struggles of life after the Holocaust....... and that is where this story begins.

The story centers around twin sisters, Johanna and Bronka, who at age four, immigrated to the States from Poland in 1951 to Bellerose, New York with their parents. Through research and exquisite writing, Meryl Ain follows this family, giving us intricate details of how the family adjusted to the American life in this Queen’s neighborhood. Ain’s has a way of carrying you back in time. You feel like you are one of the families living in the neighborhood going about your day-to-day activities along with refugees of Chinese, Italian, Irish, and Jewish descent.

The book will spur on emotions within you as the author illustrates how even though the Holocaust was over, it had a lasting impact on survivors and even their dependents for decades.

The Takeaway Men is a story that will stay with you for a long time and have you reflecting on the blessings you have in your own life.

Narrator, Seen Annis, (@senn_narrator) does a fantastic job of telling this important story and bringing the characters to life.

Bronka and Johanna are twin girls born in a DP camp following World War II. As toddlers, they and their parents move in with a distant cousin in New York City. The girls struggle balancing American culture with their Jewish household and neighborhood. When they get older, they learn about the Holocaust and wonder about their parents' part in it.

It was an interesting story to read about life after the Holocaust. However, I think I would have enjoyed the book more if it had exclusively focused on Bronka and Jojo's family rather than several families in the neighborhood. Covering several families over almost 20 years made it hard to see more than just a snapshot for most of the story lines.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

In a Nutshell: I don’t think I would have finished this book if I were reading it. Having an audiobook makes to easier to trudge on, no matter how bored you are.

Story:
1947. Aron and Judy Lubinski are moving to the US along with their three year old twin girls Johanna and Bronka after the WWII to escape the continuing persecution of the Jews in Poland. There, Aron is welcomed with open arms in the home of his cousin Izzy and his wife Fay. Izzy also finds a job for Aron, thereby making his transition to his new life a little smoother. Aron is a deeply religious man and strictly follows all traditional Jewish customs. For their own reasons, Aron and Judy don’t reveal anything about the Holocaust and its impact on their family to their girls. But as the years pass, their curiosity and their peers make them realise that there is a lot left unsaid by the parents.
Along with this main story arc, there are multiple side arcs related to Fay’s daughter Becky from an earlier marriage, their neighbour Leonore and her affairs, and an ex-Nazi soldier working for a local delicatessen.

This should have been a book I relished. I love the historical fiction genre and books set around the Holocaust survivors have their own appeal to the reader in me. But this book missed the target entirely.

The writing is very flat. I didn’t feel anything for any of the characters in spite of their supposedly tragic circumstances. The story seems to move from one subplot to the next without any eye on the overall story development. It gets its act together (to a certain extent) only in the last 30% or so, by which time it is too late. It felt as if the book wanted to cover X number of topics and jumped from one topic to another in the hope of ticking the checkboxes of the topic list. In the process, all the shortlisted topics were touched upon but none of them were covered deep enough to make a mark. I also feel that the story wasn’t very indicative of its time period. Somehow, it didn’t feel like historical fiction except in connection to the Nazi atrocities and the psychological aftermath. The rest of the scenes could have taken place in any era and the plot would have remained the same. That is not a good sign.

The character development is also very poor. There is no consistency in their portrayal and no logical explanation for their behaviour in many cases. None of the character actions (once they came to America) made any sense. The excessive secrecy over Judy’s background seemed utterly illogical. The end leaves many character arcs abruptly chopped out, so we never know what happens to Becky and we can only guess at Leonore’s future. What irked me even further was the excessive stress on the physical appearance of the characters, especially but not only while introducing them in the plot.

On the positive side, I did learn a lot about orthodox Jewish customs and a little about life in 1960s America. (I am so sorry but I can’t think of any other positive point.)

If I have to pinpoint one specific person for the big disappointment this book has been, it would be the person in charge of writing the book summary on Goodreads. Let me copy it here for your reference:
“With the cloud of the Holocaust still looming over them, twin sisters Bronka and Johanna Lubinski and their parents arrive in the US from a Displaced Persons Camp. In the years after World War II, they experience the difficulties of adjusting to American culture as well as the burgeoning fear of the Cold War. Years later, the discovery of a former Nazi hiding in their community brings the Holocaust out of the shadows. As the girls get older, they start to wonder about their parents’ pasts, and they begin to demand answers. But it soon becomes clear that those memories will be more difficult and painful to uncover than they could have anticipated. Poignant and haunting, The Takeaway Men explores the impact of immigration, identity, prejudice, secrets, and lies on parents and children in mid-twentieth-century America.”

Now let me analyse this sentence by sentence.
“With the cloud of the Holocaust still looming over them, twin sisters Bronka and Johanna Lubinski and their parents arrive in the US from a Displaced Persons Camp.” – They move to America two years after the end of WWII. So the cloud looming over them is not the Holocaust but the antagonism of the Polish Christian population against the remaining Jews.

“In the years after World War II, they experience the difficulties of adjusting to American culture as well as the burgeoning fear of the Cold War.” – The difficulties faced by the twins are hardly covered in the book. In fact, they adapt to America very easily because they were just three during their move. Only Aron faces a little difficulty but not as much as hinted in this sentence. His cousin Izzy’s presence makes everything so much easier as Aron gets a readymade house and job. That is hardly the typical experience of most immigrants.

“Years later, the discovery of a former Nazi hiding in their community brings the Holocaust out of the shadows.” – This is barely present for a few chapters in the middle of the book. It’s not a main plot point at all and is over even before we realise it.

“As the girls get older, they start to wonder about their parents’ pasts, and they begin to demand answers.” – This is the only line that is consistent with the plot.

“But it soon becomes clear that those memories will be more difficult and painful to uncover than they could have anticipated.” – Exaggeration. The memories were painful, yes. But there was no reason to keep it so secret when Aron and Judy were not at fault and ther girls were so mature and understanding. The parents anticipated pain and that’s why they kept the memories a secret, not the other way around.

“Poignant and haunting, The Takeaway Men explores the impact of immigration, identity, prejudice, secrets, and lies on parents and children in mid-twentieth-century America.” – Not at all poignant, not haunting except in a couple of scenes. The Takeaway men MENTIONS immigration, identity struggles, and parental secrets without making us feel for any of those issues. Nothing is explored in detail.

Because of this summary, I had assumed this to be the story of an immigrants struggle in a new nation while dealing with the psychological demons of the past. But there’s hardly any struggle in the story. Whatever is there is created by Aron and Judy’s decision of not telling their daughters the truth about their past. The blurb also makes it sound as if this family of four will be the key focus of the book. But no, there are myriad subplots about their cousins, the neighbours, some friends. Basically, whoever could be added to lengthen the story. Let’s not forget the title: ‘The Takeaway Men”. These hardly appear in the story, whether you take them to mean the men who take away a neighbour for investigation or the Nazis who took away the Jews from their families. Why is this the title then, I fail to understand.

As I said, the only reason I completed it was because I was listening to it. The audiobook was narrated by Senn Annis and she does well with her enunciation and accents. Though her voice was a little too high-pitched for my liking, that’s a matter of my preference and doesn’t indicate any shortcoming from her side. She really narrated the book pretty nicely. But she couldn’t save the book because the content itself couldn’t be salvaged. The additional positive was that the audiobook is just about 8 hours 40 minutes long. So it’s comparatively short and can be completed quickly.

Maybe those who don’t read a lot of historical fiction will find this book a heart-warming and eye-opening read. But to avid historical readers, I would not recommend this book. It’s an overly simplistic portrayal of a Jewish family’s experience in a new country. I’m very sorry to be so reproving of a debut work, but I can only hope that the author finds the critique constructive. My best wishes to her for her future writing projects.

Thank you, OrangeSky Audio and NetGalley, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Lubinski family is shrouded in secrets. Aron Lubinski owes his life to his wife, a gentile who hid him during the Holocaust. Aron, a devout Jew, is plagued by thoughts of someone finding out his daughters were birthed by a Gentile and not a true Jew. When the war ends, they decide to leave Poland behind for America with their two young daughters.

It is in America, living with Aron’s cousins Izzy and Faye, that the Lubkinskis along with their twin daughters Bronka and Johanna make a new life for themselves. Judy, Aron’s wife and their girls do their best to fit in and become “real Americans” while Aron struggles with his tortured past. The onset of the cold war and McCarthy’s Red Scare raids cause Aron to fear for his new-found freedom.

Told over several decades, The Takeaway Men, is a book about power. Political power, religious power, as well as the power of love and family. Meryl Ain sheds a necessary light on the men and women who survived the Holocaust, and how the war continued to impact the reminder of their lives and the lives of their families.

An intricate tangle of emotions, this novel illustrates the Holocaust’s lasting impact, not only on the survivors, but also on future generations. We read how those who witnessed the atrocities felt, and we even read about those who were not affected, but heard rumors felt.

Thank you to Netgalley, Orange Sky Audio and of course Meryl Ain for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own. The Takeaway Men is out now.