This was the second July pick for the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club.

In 2003, the Berest family received a mysterious postcard in the mail. Nothing is written on the postcard except for the names of four family members who were killed in Auschwitz. Who would have sent such a thing? And why? Twenty years later, Anne decides to investigate and uncover the identity of the postcard writer. The investigation takes Anne into the past and along on her family’s journey from post-revolution Russia to Latvia, Palestine, and finally to Paris, during the Second World War.

I found the historical elements of this book incredibly fascinating. As a Canadian mostly of English and Scottish descent, I don’t know a lot about countries like Russia, Latvia, and Palestine, especially what these countries were like pre-World War II. The history of this family’s triumphs and tribulations as they seek to find a country that will welcome them was extremely poignant. I really appreciated that while World War II is written about often, this novel taught me many things I didn’t yet know and showed me the war and the years preceding it through perspectives I hadn’t yet experienced through reading. While I learned a lot from this book, there was just something missing that I can’t quite put my finger on and that’s why I chose the rating I did.