The Things We Cherished

May 2, 2011
Two lawyers argue, fall in love, and unravel a tragic historical mystery in Jenoff's (The Kommandant's Girl) solid latest novel of lovers and loners struggling to find happiness despite social injustice and complicating emotions. Prompted by ex-boyfriend Brian Warrington, Philadelphia public defender Charlotte Gold goes to Germany to help defend octogenarian financier Roger Dykmans, on trial for allegedly collaborating in the Nazis' capture of his heroic anti-Nazi brother, Hans. Working with Brian's own estranged brother, Jack, Charlotte discovers she and Jack share an idealistic approach to law and a mutual attraction, even as they disagree over how to handle the case, at the heart of which is the tale of two brothers in love with the same woman and a crucially important family heirloom. Jenoff interweaves generational narratives: the clockmaker with dreams of taking his wife away from pogroms to safety in America; the rising tide of anti-Semitism; Roger and Hans as young men hoping to save lives amid Nazi atrocities; and Charlotte, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, herself entangled with two brothers. Unlike much romantic historical suspense, this is quiet and credibleâeven the surprise twistsâfurther cementing Jenoff's reputation for adeptly using the harsh realities of WWII Europe as a context for a timeless love story.

June 15, 2011

Charlotte Gold, a Philadelphia attorney with an expertise in war crimes who escaped the big bad world of legal firms to work as a public defender, is talked into helping defend aged financier Roger Dykmans, who is being held in Germany as a Nazi collaborator. As she unravels mysteries from the past, she discovers important truths about herself.

The younger brother of Hans Dykmans, a Schindler-like hero, Roger is an uncooperative client, leading Charlotte to search the dark mysteries of the past in Germany, Poland and Italy. Her partner on the case is the starchy Jack Warrington, younger brother of Brian, the slick lawyer who broke Charlotte's heart years ago by leaving her for another woman when Charlotte was caring for her ill mother, but who shows up out of the blue to ask her to drop everything and go to Europe. Jenoff, a Holocaust authority herself (The Kommandant's Girl, 2007, etc.), moves between past and present to trace the events leading to Roger's arrest. His reticence is tied to his star-crossed love affair with his brother's wife Magda, who would perish in a concentration camp. At the center of the mystery is a rare clock crafted by a Bavarian farmer in 1903 who sold it hoping to use the proceeds to save his pregnant wife from an earlier campaign against European Jews. The book boasts a sure grasp of period details, and shows a subtle hand in depicting the Nazis' slowly intensifying threat. But the unlikely romance of Charlotte and Jack struggles to rise above standard romance-novel fare, and Jenoff's matching threesomes are a bit schematic.

It would help if the men were more appealing. Still, a skillfully rendered tale of undying love, unthinkable loss and the relentless grip of the past on the present.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

June 1, 2011

Philadelphia public defender Charlotte Gold is thrown for a loop when her old boyfriend, Brian Warrington, shows up in her office. They had met at The Hague ten years earlier prosecuting Bosnian war crimes--then Brian broke her heart. He's now a New York attorney, and he needs Charlotte's forensics skills on a high-profile case involving Roger Dykmans, a man accused of collaborating with the Nazis now being tried in Munich. Charlotte warily agrees, but Brian misses the plane, leaving Charlotte on her own in Munich. Oddly, her contact there is Brian's estranged brother, Jack, whom Charlotte had always found intimidating. Together, they must prove Roger's innocence, the key to which could be a magnificent antique clock. VERDICT Jenoff's (The Kommandant's Girl; A Hidden Affair) heroine falls in too easily with the man who did her wrong and is hesitant and indecisive about nearly everything involving the Warringtons. Far more intriguing is the story of the clock and its provenance, but Jenoff pins her tale on a near impossibility. The author might know her European history, but she hasn't quite figured out how to tell a convincing tale. If her other books circulate well, you should probably consider getting this one, too. [See Prepub Alert, 1/9/11.]--Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2011
Charlotte Gold and Brian Warrington, high-powered attorneys who used to be a couple, suddenly find themselves working together on an international war-crimes case. With the help of Brian's brother, Jack, they travel to Europe to defend wealthy banker Roger Dykmans, accused of working with the gestapo during WWII. Roger's refusal to aid in his own defense leaves the trio scrambling to solve a decades-long mystery. Is Dykmans guilty of collaboration? The search for answers sends Charlotte and the Warrington brothers to Germany, Poland, and Italy in search of the information that will either clear Roger's name or send him to prison. The group digs deep into Roger's past, where they discover the importance of an anniversary clock, the consequences of a forbidden love affair, and the difficult choices ordinary people made in extraordinary times. A powerful novel rich in period detail, The Things We Cherished is a fascinating contemporary and historical drama, a unique glimpse into a disappearing world, and a reminder that past and present often come together in unexpected ways.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)