The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman

ISBN-13: 9780425244135
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Publication date: September 2011
Pages: 352
Source: Publisher

The Lost Wife opens with the ending, where readers get to read about the reunion of a pair of long lost couple being separated from WWII as they meet by chance when attending the wedding of their grandchildren. The subsequent chapters then bring readers to pre-war Prague and introduce us to these star-crossed lovers and how they fall in love and the difficult situations they encountered while they tried to escape the horrors of the war.

Josef Kohn and Lenka Maizel meet each other through his sister. Lenka and Veruska are classmates in an Arts Academy and Josef is a medical student then. They fell in love shortly but their hopes for the future was shattered when the Nazis invaded Prague. With the pressure of the war and not to mention that they couldn't bear to leave each other, they decided to get married. Josef's family even have plans to leave Prague and through Josef's cousin's assistance, they managed to get tickets to America but the sad truth is, the cousin could only sponsor Lenka but not her family considering she is Josef's wife and it is natural that they are to leave together.

However, Lenka refuses to leave her family despite Josef's begging. Josef has no choice but to leave with his family without her, but he promised her that he would try every means to get them to leave Prague. With this promise and hope in mind, they separated but fate got into their way and each believed the other was dead under some unfortunate circumstances.

Despite the sad belief, Josef and Lenka couldn't stop thinking of each other as they grit their teeth and try to move on with their life. Lenka faces fear and death every day, as she and her family are being transported to the concentration and labour camps and are forced to work for the Germans, be it hard labour work, painting postcards or even drawing plans for the Germans. However, Lenka's nightmare doesn't end there for they are later transferred from Terezín to Auschwitz where they are faced with more brutality treatments. Lenka is lucky to survive but her family and many of her friends aren't that fortunate as they are either gassed or shot to death.

At its core, The Lost Wife is a heart-wrenching love story that tells not only the unforgettable relationship between Josef and Lenka but also the love within family and friends as well. Through Alyson Richman's skillful writing, I felt every emotions evoke in me (I still do) as I read about Josef's and Lenka's love story as well as the misery and pain the characters have to face and endure during the Holocaust. This story has the ability to smile and cry at the same time; and what I liked most about this story is aside from the love story between Josef and Lenka, it is the courage and the resilient spirit of Lenka which what makes The Lost Wife such a memorable reading experience for me. On the other end, I was also moved by Josef's patience and determination of seeking Lenka throughout the years without fail (and his letters to Lenka, in which most of them are returned mails, made my heart melt).

Finally, and most important of all, this story reminds me again the history of the Holocaust and the horrors behind all. Needless to say, The Lost Wife will stay in my mind for a while.

Wordless Wednesday

Chinese New Year is especially early this year (23 - 24 Jan) according to the lunar calendar. I love shopping for this occasion, but I hate the crowd! Here are a few pictures of the decorations at the mall. And oh, this year is the Year of the Dragon!

Live to Tell, Lisa Gardner

Lisa Gardner writes psychological thrillers that show some of the darkest places that the human mind can go.  Most of her novels, whether stand alone or part of her D.D. Warren series, explore the complicated relationships we often have with our parents, spouses, or children.  Live to Tell is no exception.  In this fast paced, fairly creepy thriller, D.D. Warren and her team are called in to investigate the apparent murder/suicide of a family of five.  However, there are things about the scene that don't add up, and it soon becomes apparent that what was staged to look like a family annihilation was in fact the cold-blooded murder of a happy couple and their children.  When another family is killed in a similar way, D.D. knows that they are looking for someone truly disturbed, who appears to be reenacting a family annihilation from the past.  Tying all of the victims together is a child psych unit for the most acute cases-children who have psychoses so severe that they are a real danger to themselves and their families.  Danielle Burton, one of the psychiatric nurses, was the lone survivor of a family annihilation herself, and soon D. D. come to believe that she may be the key to solving the whole  case.

A word to the wise-this book is not for the faint of heart.  The description of he troubled children and the things they are capable of was chilling.  As horrific as the crimes themselves were, reading about a little boy who is so cunning and violent that he lies in wait for his mother in order to follow through on his threat to kill her was worse.  But the setting of the locked children's psych ward was fascinating, and the mystery itself had enough twists and turns that there is more than the slightly creepy draw of the psychotic children.   This popcorn comes with a side of crazy, but it is an enjoyable ride nonetheless.

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. This month's Mailbox Monday is hosted by Alyce of At Home with Books.

Here's what I bought and received from The Book Depository - 2 more books by Daphne du Maurier. I just love her writing!

1) Jamaica Inn

2) Frenchman's Creek

What books came into your house last week?

Reading Challenges for 2012

Last year hasn't been a favourable year to me, at least when reading is concerned. Thus, I make it a point to read more books this year and unlike the past years, I won't be participating in too many reading challenges but the following three challenges fall into my most-read category so needless to say, I'm a participant for these three. Here they are:

Merely Mystery Reading Challenge 2012

Here are the rules:

The Merely Mystery Reading Challenge will last the entire year (January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012), giving participants a chance to read at their own pace. In addition, to make things easy, participants can complete one of two levels. One is for those of you who want a more relaxed challenge while the other is for those more serious about exploring the various sub-genres (click here for more info on the sub-genres):

Down on Her/His Luck Gumshoe - Read two or more books falling into any of the above sub-genres. Each book can be from the same sub-genre or can be varied among the different sub-genres. You pick the combination and the number of books.

Shamus Who Has Seen It All - Read at least one book from each of the sub-genres for a total of 12 books. If you are feeling ambitious, read more than one book from each sub-genre.

Making a reading list ahead of time is not mandatory, but it'd be great if you could share a few of the titles you are considering reading.

*Audio books and graphic novels are welcome.

*Crossover books from other challenges are okay.

*Cross-genre books are perfectly fine.

For this reading challenge, I'll be choosing the option of "Down on Her/His Luck Gumshoe".

Romance Reading Challenge 2012

Here are the rules:

1. The challenge runs from January 1st, 2012 through December 31st, 2012.
2. "Romance" isn't limited to steamy Harlequin novels. There is a huge selection of books in this category such as contemporary romance, historical romance, romantic suspense and paranormal romance to name a few. As long as the story has romantic love between the two main characters your selection will fit this challenge. The novels do not need to have a happy ending either, there can also be unrequited love.
3. Choose at least 5 novels to read. You can change your choices at any time. Crossovers between other challenges are fine. All kinds of books count such as eBooks, Audiobooks ... etc. If you are looking for suggested reading see Best Romance Novels Today, Romance Novels on Wiki or Best Romance Stories. In Naida's opinion, you can't go wrong with Jane Austen, Nora Roberts, Nicholas Sparks and Georgette Heyer.
4. Read the books at your own pace in 2012 then post the link to your review(s). You don't need to have a blog, posting your reviews on Goodreads and LibraryThing counts as well.

2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge

Here are the rules:

• Anyone can join. The challenge runs from January 1st, 2012 through December 31st, 2012.
• You don't need a blog to participate.
• Non-Bloggers: Post your list of books in the comment section of the wrap-up post on The Eclectic Bookshelf.
• Audio, eBooks, paper, re-reads all count.
• No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.

There are four levels:

The Mini YA Reading Challenge – Read 12 Young Adult novels.

The "Fun Size" YA Reading Challenge – Read 20 Young Adult novels.

The Jumbo Size YA Reading Challenge – Read 40 Young Adult novels.

The Mega size YA Reading Challenge – Read 50+ Young Adult novels.

For this reading challenge, I'll be choosing "The Mini YA Reading Challenge".

Well, I hope that I'd be able to complete all the reading challenges this year. What reading challenges did you join?

Wordless Wednesday

I hope you all had a wonderful holidays! Here are a few pictures I took when we visited the East Coast Park during the New Year's Eve.

A Duty to the Dead-Popcorn from World War I

Take a soldier's dying wish, an independent battlefield nurse, a decades old secret, and a madman in an asylum, put them together into a deliciously engaging story, and you have A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd.

Here's what Goodreads has to say about the plot:

           England, 1916. Independent-minded Bess Crawford's upbringing is far different from that of the usual upper-middle-class British gentlewoman. Growing up in India, she learned the importance of responsibility, honor, and duty from her offi­cer father. At the outbreak of World War I, she followed in his footsteps and volunteered for the nursing corps, serving from the battlefields of France to the doomed hospital ship Britannic.
         On one voyage, Bess grows fond of the young, gravely wounded Lieutenant Arthur Graham. Something rests heavily on his conscience, and to give him a little peace as he dies, she promises to deliver a message to his brother. It is some months before she can carry out this duty, and when she's next in England, she herself is recovering from a wound.
        When Bess arrives at the Graham house in Kent, Jonathan Graham listens to his brother's last wishes with surprising indifference. Neither his mother nor his brother Timothy seems to think it has any significance. Unsettled by this, Bess is about to take her leave when sudden tragedy envelops her. She quickly discovers that fulfilling this duty to the dead has thrust her into a maelstrom of intrigue and murder that will endanger her own life and test her courage as not even war has.

I loved the character of Bess.  She was independent and strong-willed, traits I especially like in my heroines.  But what really made the book for me was the very British-ness of is all.  You've got the references to serving in India that always remind me of The Secret Garden, family estates, the whole upstairs/downstairs vibe, the country rectory, and the whole asylum thing.  Plus lots and lots of tea.  Todd brought a Victorian sensibility to the Edwardian era-change the war they are fighting and the reference to motor-cars and this book could have taken place 50 years earlier.

One of the things that drew me into the novel was the examination of the family dynamics that led to the tragic events that unfold.  So much of British upper class life was kept under wraps out of propriety's sake that figuring out exactly what is going on in any given family is a bit like opening one of those gifts within a gift-you know, where someone wraps a small box inside a larger box and so on-except usually what is discovered when you get to the final layer of these family dramas is not nearly as nice as a present.

This is the first of a new series by Todd with Bess as the main character, and I look forward to following her on many more mysteries.