The conclusion section of this book is what got me. After reading about the hardships and positives of these women, it was so intriguing to hear the personal story of the author and her family.

I was a little surprised at the depth of research and detail that this book provided. It is not simply the story of Jewish war brides, but rather an examination of the whole period in history and how such marriages came about. If you're looking for background knowledge on this topic, this would be an excellent book to read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It should be of interest to many.

Facing the harrowing task of rebuilding a life in the wake of the Holocaust, many Jewish survivors, community and religious leaders, and Allied soldiers viewed marriage between Jewish women and military personnel as a way to move forward after unspeakable loss. Proponents believed that these unions were more than just a ticket out of war-torn Europe: they would help the Jewish people repopulate after the attempted annihilation of European Jewry.Historian Robin Judd, whose grandmother survived the Holocaust and married an American soldier after liberation, introduces us to the Jewish women who lived through genocide and went on to wed American, Canadian, and British military personnel postwar. She offers an intimate portrait of how these unions emerged and developed—from meeting and courtship to marriage and immigration to life in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom—and shows how they helped shape the postwar world by touching thousands of lives, including those of the chaplains who officiated their weddings, the Allied authorities whose policy decisions structured the couples' fates, and the bureaucrats involved in immigration and acculturation. Moving into their husbands’ families’ households, many Jewish war brides told heartbreaking stories concerning the suffocating presence of their in-laws, their feelings of foreignness, and their desperate longing for their murdered family members. At the same time, they also talked of hope and possibility. As spouses of current or former military personnel, they had access to unique educational opportunities and support systems, faced fewer difficulties becoming naturalized, and more easily arranged for family members’ sponsorship and emigration. Survivors’ guilt, grief, and apprehension co-existed with the exhilaration of starting a new life in a new land.Gerda Weissmann Klein and Lala Fishman were Jewish war brides who married Jewish servicemen,and subsequently wrote memoirs of their experiences during the Holocaust.

This is such a moving book. I really enjoyed reading and learning all about the Jewish war brides and their struggles and triumphs after the war.
This is very well researched, as Judd's grandmother was one of these brides, but you can tell that Judd did a lot more research to support the stories.
I enjoyed reading this and think it would make a good book club read, as it has a lot to discuss and take away from it.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!