A very good story, and very interesting.
The setting is France during WWII, a little after and also in the late 1960's.
Jews are fleeing France and they are fleeing towards one of the free zones in France. Claudette, a young seamstress has a chance to help a Jewish peddler and his son, like the peddler had helped her when she was younger. Claudette and the son, in their short time together, fall deeply in love, before he is forced to leave. Unfortunately, once he is gone, she finds she is pregnant. Part of the story tells of her struggles to honor her lover and to keep her baby safe.
As so many Jews were forced from their home and gathered by both the Nazis and the French, many families became separated; sometimes leaving children behind and in the care of others.
After the war ended, and the Jews are looking to settle in Israel, there is a quest to find these missing children and reunite them with either relatives, or at least people of their faith. Youth Aliya was formed to find these children, and this is where we meet Uzi Yarden and follow his journeys and mission.
In the 1960's, Israel is collaborating with the French to build ships for their armed forces. The area around Israel is hostile and alliances are shifting. The political climate in France is also changing, and at risk are the ships near completion. A team from Israel goes to France to make sure the job is completed, with or without France's approval.
The story goes between these three times, and weaves a fascinating connection. ( )

Carner has once again given us a complex and compelling story of ingenuity, courage, love, and loss. Her latest novel spans the depths of WWII, to post-war France, and on to the 1969 daring escape of the Israeli boats of Cherbourg. Heartbreaking choices and the rescue of Jewish orphans make this well researched book a must read.

There were several interesting historical events in this book. It touched on the Youth Aliyah, the sinking of the Dakar, and the Sa'ar boats built in France. The settings and descriptions were vividly rendered. I had trouble connecting with some of the characters, though.

At times, Claudette's storyline struck me as farfetched. Also, she seemed almost childlike to me. I found Sharon's story more interesting, but I couldn't understand why she didn't tell Danny upfront what she wanted to know and why. Also, I was uncomfortable with her digging around in someone else's private life, especially after they had already asked for her to stop. Of the three characters who had a featured point of view, Uzi was seen the least, but he had the most character growth. I also found it interesting to read about his assignment and its many challenges.

Thank you to BookClubGirls and NetGalley for the early read. ( )

dual-time-frames, grief, grieving, historical-novel, historical-places-events, historical-research, history-and-culture, Israel, Jews, relationships, Youth-Aliyah, orphaned, IDF, 1940s, 1960s

This ambitious novel tackles some of the answers to the questions of "what happened next". What happened to the supposedly orphaned children housed with (hardly) Christians, How did Jews escape the illegal embargo placed upon emigrés by the English and French. And how did a people survive the intense grief of survivor's guilt and the uncertainty of the fate of their loved ones. It is a novel written about two time periods: The 1940s and the 1960s. It's an amazing read, but best read in segments in order to have a better understanding of the meaning of history.
I requested and received an EARC from William Morrow/William Morrow Paperbacks via NetGalley. ( )

This well researched novel links together three time periods - 1942, 1946 and 1969. The author does a fantastic job of linking together the people in each time period and the result is a story that won't be forgotten.

1942 - Claudette is a seamstress who is disabled and unable to walk to school. She was basically illiterate until a Jewish peddler taught her to read and became her friend. After her grandmother dies, she goes to a French chateau in the Loire Valley as a seamstress. She begins to get very worried as she hears about the German Army invading France because she knows that they often killed invalids. When her friend, the Jewish peddler and his son show up at the chateau, she hides them for a few days and also has an affair with the son. After he leaves, she finds out that she's pregnant but refuses to tell anyone that the baby's father is Jewish. When she escapes to Spain with the Duchess and family, she makes a devastating decision to leave her baby behind with a nursemaid so that he'll remain safe. Will she ever see her son again?

1946 - Youth Aliya, a group of Israeli agents is combing the French countryside in search of Jewish orphans to send to Israel. During the war, Jewish children were often left with Christian families for safety and the parents never returned from the camps to claim their children. Youth Aliya was working to teach these children about their Jewish history and to help them regain their pasts. During this time period, the British were not allowing boats into Israel so the groups had to make secret and often dangerous trips to Israel to take their children to their new homes. Claudette is not aware that her beloved son has been rescued by this group and adopted by an Israeli couple.

1969 - twenty-year-old Israeli intelligence officer Sharon Bloomenthal, still grieving the loss of her boyfriend in a drowned military submarine, is recruited by naval officer Daniel Yarden to assist with the Cherbourg project - an Israeli military action involving the escape of the five missile boats from the French port of Cherbourg. The boats had been paid for by the Israeli government but had not been delivered due to the French arms embargo in 1969. When Sharon learns that Danny came to Israel with the help of Youth Aliya, she tries to find out if he knew her deceased mother who arrived in Israel at the same time. In trying to find out information about her mother, she discovers a secret about Danny and works to solve the mystery of his past.

As with many of the untold World War II stories, many of the people in the story were based on real people and real situations. I learned so much in this book -- I had never heard of Youth Aliya and wasn't aware of their work to find abandoned Jewish children and send them to Israel and I wasn't aware of the escape of the five boats in 1969. The characters were all well written and believable. Be prepared to shed a few tears -- some sad tears for the children that were left behind in France but also happy tears for the new lives they were able to begin. If you read WWII fiction, this is a definite MUST READ! ( )