An interesting story surrounding the persecution of the Jewish people in Latavia. The story had a great plot and a hint of mystery as to what happened to the women during the war. A great read.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I adore historical fiction, and this is such an interesting premise. I recommend because of the story itself, writing style, and its ability to transport you into a different world/time period.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for the ARC. This book caught my eye because it's about another part of WWII history that I was unfamiliar with, the Latvian Holocaust. The book has a dual timeline that keeps the book going and interesting. In 1940, we start with Miriam in Riga. She gives birth to her second child literally the same day that Soviets invade Latvia and take control of Riga, its capital city. Because their family is Jewish, first their business is taken away and their home. Then the Nazis arrive and Miriam's husband is killed. Things get worse for the Jews and Miriam makes the heartbreaking choice to leave her children with her longtime housekeeper and nanny. She leaves with her parents, forced to move into The Ghetto.

Conditions are appalling, starvation and random killings constantly. Miriam and her parents have only been there a short while when they're forced to march. Her mother is too weak to walk and is shot with her dad in quick succession. Miriam continues on in shock because it's her only choice. She has learned to keep her feelings buried to survive. What follows is the massacre at Rumbalu forest. Miriam miraculously survives and scavenges on what she can find while laying low. Eventually she finds help and is hidden along with other Jews for about 10 months until Latvia was liberated by the Soviets. It's appalling when she's questioned by the KGB and they don't believe her words. They want to rewrite history by accusing the Jews of working with the people who murdered them. Nazis blamed the Jews for killing Latvians that the Soviets had executed.

Miriam finds her daughter Ilana and they reunite soberly because her son Monya was given away and adopted out of necessity and fear. It's been 3 years since Miriam was gone. They try looking for Monya but eventually travel to America through the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. The rest of Miriam's story is played out with her granddaughter Sarah.

Sarah lives in Chicago in the 70s. She just lost her mother Ilana. Her mother was a complicated woman, prone to keeping everything to herself and she had a strained relationship with her mother, Miriam. Sarah tries to reunite with her grandmother Miriam and finds her to be quite stubborn and distant. Sarah is determined to find out why her mother and grandmother didn't have a relationship. She slowly breaks down Miriam's walls and finds out she is Jewish! She was raised Lutheran and had no idea. She discovers bits of her grandmother's past in Liga and that her son Monya has been missing this whole time. Sarah decides to take a risk and travel to the Soviet Union.

Through complications, briberies and a lucky fellow traveler, Sarah is successful at locating her uncle Monya. In Liga, things are censored. The news is only what they want you to hear. It's a Communist country and the people seem miserable. The tourists can only take pictures of certain things. There are so many rules about religion and everything that shortly after finding Monya, Sarah is imprisoned by the KGB. She is lucky to be sent directly home where she tells her Grandmother the good news. She found Monya! Yes, he was adopted. No he's not a practicing Jew. His name has changed. Miriam seems pleased but also saddened by the news because he isn't free. And he didn't believe what Sarah told him about his real family.

Through the dual timelines, I was struck by the stubborn but strong nature of each woman. Miriam, Ilana and Sarah. We don't get to understand much of Ilana's life other than part of her childhood but we see similarities in how the War changed things. It changed and forever altered lives. The ending was one of quiet closure and hopefully Sarah and her grandmother's continued relationship. I didn't find this book as touching personally as other WWII novels but it was still an interesting read. In the words of Simon Dubnow, "Jews, record and write."

Daughters of the Occupation by Shelly Sanders is a wonderful dual timeline, WWII-era historical fiction novel that is inspired by true events surrounding the atrocities that occurred within Latvia during the war.

This is such a beautiful and descriptive, yet haunting and devastating novel.

The author takes us between the occupation of Latvia starting around 1940, and weaves that story line with the 1970s. This is not just a dual timeline, but also a generational story of one family’s collection of women (and well the family in general) and what they experienced, and how it shaped their existence for generations to come.

The strength, the courage, the fear, the loss, but within that, the hope and love exhibited by the full cast of characters: Miriam, Sarah, Ilana, Monya, Roger, etc. Their respective storylines and how each viewpoint and character added to the overall story was just stunning.

The dual timeline was nicely done and added a bit of complexity, continuity, mystery, and suspense to the overall plot.

A unique book that I will remember for a long time.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 5/3/22.

I loved Miriams story line. I thought she was so strong, resilient character. I wish that there was more about Ilaynas story and her background. I really thought that the part with Sarah going to Latvia drug on a bit more then needed.
The story, while haunting, did not gut punch me like other Holocaust stories do. I think it was because the emotions were after the fact, the witnessing of horrible crimes were glazed over and then reflected upon, instead of actually being right there in the moment.
Overall a great book about Latvia's Holocaust, I just wanted more. I wanted to know more about Monya and his present life.
How Miriam and Ilyana got out of Latvia. I guess I just didn't want the story to end.
Overall, its a great book, that needed a bit more work.

Even though we've been getting a lot of WWII fiction lately there hasn't been much of an overlap or a repeat of the subject. This one is no different. The only thing that is the same is the dual time and the family saga. But you can't wrong with a family saga. And I'm pretty sure that this is the first one I've read set in Latvia. So it's nice to read more WWII fiction set in Eastern Europe.