2019 Book Review #16: In Another Time

 

A new-to-me author who writes a fantastic story.  Based on history yet totally fictional.

STORY SUMMARY

It is Germany, 1931.  Hitler is just beginning to rise to power in Berlin. Max Beissinger who now owns and operates his family's bookstore in Gutenstat because both parents are dead, meets a young Jewish girl named Hannalie (Hanna) Ginsburg.  Hanna studies violin at the local Lyceum and practices many hours a day.  She is basically a violin prodigy.  She lives in another area of Gutenstat which is a suburb of Berlin. She is still a young adult living with her older sister Julia who is engaged to be married to Friedrich, and their Mamele (mother) who is ill with a heart condition.

Max and Hanna begin a love affair that will last over the course of five years, but their love is tested when Hitler does indeed rise to power.  Germany is becoming a dangerous place to live.  Hanna doesn't believe anything bad will happen to the Jewish people or to Germany.  Her whole life is wrapped up in her violin....which is her first love...and in Max the young man she loves at night after classes and practicing all day.  Little does Hanna know though....Max has a secret.....and Max is determined that this secret will help him save Hanna once Germany does become too dangerous for her.

Now it is Germany, 1946 and Hanna wakes up in a field with her violin in its case next to her.  She is disoriented.  She has absolutely no memory of the last 10 years.  She also has no idea or information about where Max could be----she doesn't even know if he is still alive.

She makes her way to London where Julia and Friedrich have moved to and where they live in the West End with their two little boys Lev and Moritz.  Julia has never believed Hanna will do anything as a violinist and Friedrich gets a part time job for Hanna in the local hospital where he works.  She is now a typist and hates it.  Yet she continues to practice her violin believing, like Max always said, that she would one day play in orchestras.  The days become weeks, then months, and then years.  She lives in London, then Paris, then Vienna, and finally America.  Stuart, her friend from Paris, is now conducting an orchestra in NYC and has asked her to be his first violinist.  She continues to be haunted by her past.....with memories still unknown and she is also haunted by the fate of the only man she has ever truly loved....and cannot ever forget.

Will she ever recover her memory....and will Max and she reunite?

MY THOUGHTS

This story is told in basically two voices:  Max back in the 1930s/1940s and Hanna's mostly in the 1950s.  Each chapter is a different voice.  There is one other character whose voice we hear in just one chapter.  Max's friend Elsa who is married to his best friend Johann.  I still haven't figured out why Elsa gets a voice in this story.  After typing up this review I will be going back to that chapter to see if I can figure it out.

This book centers around time.  It has to do with Einstein's real theory about "wormholes" and going into the future.  Yes, this was a thing with Einstein (I double checked with my very smart husband and also googled it).  It makes for a rather fantasy/mysterious type element to the story.  It's quite brilliant but at the same time, utterly sad.

The main themes in this WWII novel are survival, love, friendship, passion, and music.

It's got great character development and the setting is spot on.  I love that there's no doubt in Hanna's mind that one day she will play in an orchestra.  She is a survivor and that does come out towards the end of the book.

There are some excellent historical details in this book, yet the author does acknowledge in the author's notes, that this book is definitely fiction, including the town of Gutenstat.  The book burnings, Nazi activity, and the prisoner/ women's orchestra  are all based on historical fact.

The basic emotion running through this book is hope.  It is quite a unique approach to the twist of a German boy and a Jewish woman longing to be with another yet history and circumstances dictating otherwise.  The ending is something I was not expecting so I'm thankful this book isn't predictable.

It's a gripping story with a lot of romance, a bit of the mysterious and fantastical, along with history and even some suspence.  I highly recommend this gem of a book.  It's quite different from other historical fiction stories set in the same time period.

Time plays an important aspect in this book.  It was actually very compelling and kept me up late at night turning yet another page.

There were two quotes from the book that sort of sum up parts of the story that I really liked. The first one was first said by Heinrich Heine, 1797-1856 (long before any hint of Hitler and WWII)

"Where they burn books, they will in the end, burn human beings too." (pg 306 In Another Time by Jillian Cantor, copyright unknown)

"None of us know the future, Max. We can only hope for the best while preparing for the worst, right?" (pg 287 In Another Time by Jillian Cantor, copyright unknown) 

I am planning on finding her other novels at the library.

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.